title: Investigation of the microbial communities colonizing prepainted steel used for roofing and walling.
abstract: Microbial colonization of prepainted steel, commonly used in roofing applications, impacts their aesthetics, durability, and functionality. Understanding the relevant organisms and the mechanisms by which colonization occurs would provide valuable information that can be subsequently used to design fouling prevention strategies. Here, next-generation sequencing and microbial community finger printing (T-RFLP) were used to study the community composition of microbes colonizing prepainted steel roofing materials at Burrawang, Australia and Kapar, Malaysia over a 52-week period. Community diversity was low and was dominated by Bacillus spp., cyanobacteria, actinobacteria, Cladosporium sp., Epicoccum nigrum, and Teratosphaeriaceae sp. Cultivation-based methods isolated approximately 20 different fungi and bacteria, some of which, such as E. nigrum and Cladosporium sp., were represented in the community sequence data. Fluorescence in situ hybridization imaging showed that fungi were the most dominant organisms present. Analysis of the sequence and T-RFLP data indicated that the microbial communities differed significantly between locations and changed significantly over time. The study demonstrates the utility of molecular ecology tools to identify and characterize microbial communities associated with the fouling of painted steel surfaces and ultimately can enable the targeted development of control strategies based on the dominant species responsible for fouling.
authors.affiliation: The Centre for Marine Bio-Innovation, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Tran T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Huynh
authors.affiliation: The Centre for Marine Bio-Innovation, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.|The School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Ili
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jamil
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.|BlueScope Innovation, Port Kembla, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Nicole A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Pianegonda
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.|Central Analytical Research Facility, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Blanksby
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.|BlueScope Innovation, Port Kembla, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Philip J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Barker
authors.affiliation: The School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manefield
authors.affiliation: The Centre for Marine Bio-Innovation, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.|The School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.|The Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering and the School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rice
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001483:Base Sequence; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D003252:Construction Materials / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D010150:Paint / Q000382:microbiology; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013232:Steel
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D013232:Steel
keywords: biofilms; biofouling; building materials; environmental exposure; microbial communities