title: A highly diverse, desert-like microbial biocenosis on solar panels in a Mediterranean city.
abstract: Microorganisms colonize a wide range of natural and artificial environments although there are hardly any data on the microbial ecology of one the most widespread man-made extreme structures: solar panels. Here we show that solar panels in a Mediterranean city (Valencia, Spain) harbor a highly diverse microbial community with more than 500 different species per panel, most of which belong to drought-, heat- and radiation-adapted bacterial genera, and sun-irradiation adapted epiphytic fungi. The taxonomic and functional profiles of this microbial community and the characterization of selected culturable bacteria reveal the existence of a diverse mesophilic microbial community on the panels' surface. This biocenosis proved to be more similar to the ones inhabiting deserts than to any human or urban microbial ecosystem. This unique microbial community shows different day/night proteomic profiles; it is dominated by reddish pigment- and sphingolipid-producers, and is adapted to withstand circadian cycles of high temperatures, desiccation and solar radiation.
authors.affiliation: Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, Paterna 46980, Spain.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dorado-Morales
authors.affiliation: Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, Paterna 46980, Spain.|Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence, SL., Parc Cientific Universitat de València, Paterna, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vilanova
authors.affiliation: Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, Paterna 46980, Spain.|Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence, SL., Parc Cientific Universitat de València, Paterna, Valencia, Spain.|Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular, Universitat de València, Burjassot 46100, Spain.
authors.forename: Juli
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peretó
authors.affiliation: Lifesequencing S.L., Parc Científic Universitat de València, Paterna, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Codoñer
authors.affiliation: Biopolis S.L., Parc Cientific Universitat de València, Paterna, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ramón
authors.affiliation: Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, Paterna 46980, Spain.|Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence, SL., Parc Cientific Universitat de València, Paterna, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Porcar
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002947:Cities; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D064307:Microbiota; D013030:Spain