title: A bacterial community-based index to assess the ecological status of estuarine and coastal environments.
abstract: Biotic indices for monitoring marine ecosystems are mostly based on the analysis of benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Due to their high sensitivity to pollution and fast response to environmental changes, bacterial assemblages could complement the information provided by benthic metazoan communities as indicators of human-induced impacts, but so far, this biological component has not been well explored for this purpose. Here we performed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to analyze the bacterial assemblage composition of 51 estuarine and coastal stations characterized by different environmental conditions and human-derived pressures. Using the relative abundance of putative indicator bacterial taxa, we developed a biotic index that is significantly correlated with a sediment quality index calculated on the basis of organic and inorganic compound concentrations. This new index based on bacterial assemblage composition can be a sensitive tool for providing a fast environmental assessment and allow a more comprehensive integrative ecosystem approach for environmental management.
authors: AZTI - Marine Research, Herrera Kaia, Portualdea z/g - 20110 Pasaia, Gipuzkoa, Spain. Electronic address: eaylagas@azti.es.
authors: Eva
authors: E
authors: Aylagas
authors: AZTI - Marine Research, Herrera Kaia, Portualdea z/g - 20110 Pasaia, Gipuzkoa, Spain. Electronic address: aborja@azti.es.
authors: Ángel
authors: Á
authors: Borja
authors: Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Tangherlini
authors: Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy.
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Dell'Anno
authors: Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy.
authors: Cinzia
authors: C
authors: Corinaldesi
authors: Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Craig T
authors: CT
authors: Michell
authors: AZTI - Marine Research, Herrera Kaia, Portualdea z/g - 20110 Pasaia, Gipuzkoa, Spain; Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia; IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain.
authors: Xabier
authors: X
authors: Irigoien
authors: Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy.
authors: Roberto
authors: R
authors: Danovaro
authors: AZTI - Marine Research, Herrera Kaia, Portualdea z/g - 20110 Pasaia, Gipuzkoa, Spain.
authors: Naiara
authors: N
authors: Rodríguez-Ezpeleta
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D063366:Estuaries; D005417:Flavobacterium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology; D059013:Microbial Consortia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D020560:Proteobacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D013030:Spain; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Amplicon sequencing; Bacterial assemblages; Biomonitoring; Biotic index; Indicator of pollution