The Source of the River as a Nursery for Microbial Diversity

Bacteria are highly diverse and ubiquitous organisms that play a key role as drivers for ecosystem processes. The application of NGS (next-generation sequencing technologies) for 16S analysis has been broadly used for understanding bacterioplankton composition and structure. Most of studies conducted on aquatic ecosystems with 16S NGS have been in seawater and lakes. A few studies using NGS have been conducted in river environments and have suggested the presence of a bacterial seed-bank. We performed 16S highly variable V4 region high-throughput analysis in the Sinos River, which is located in one of most important Brazilian industrial centers. This region has several contrasts in its environmental characteristics, presenting a longitudinal gradient of eutrophication and making it a remarkable study site for observing the dynamics of bacterioplankton. We demonstrated consistent evidence for the existence of a bacterial seed-bank and its longitudinal persistence. Seasonal shifts reinforce the importance of the source of the river in maintaining the bacterial seed-bank that spreads throughout the river. Therefore, the preservation of the source of the river is important not only for hydrologic reasons but also to maintain the microbial composition and the ecological integrity of the river.