RT journal article
T1 The temperate seagrass species Cymodocea nodosa and the associated bacteria co-response to sunscreen pollution
A1 Vilaplana Páez, Marína Isabel
A1 Egea Tinoco, Luis Gonzalo
A1 Bautista Chamizo, Esther
A1 Rodríguez Romero, Araceli
A1 Tollardo, Rebecca
A1 Brun Murillo, Fernando Guillermo
A1 Vergara Oñate, Juan José
A1 Jiménez Ramos, Rocío
A2 Biología
K1 Blue carbon
K1 Dissolved organic carbon (DOC)
K1 Net community production
K1 Ultra-violet filters (UVF)
K1 Phyllosphere
K1 Rhizosphere
AB Sunscreens are included among the contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) as their production and use have spread over years while damaging aquatic biota. Sunscreens can damage the photosynthetic systems and change the microbiome of seagrasses, triggering alterations in carbon metabolism –including primary production and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) fluxes– and ecological functions. Here, we conducted a 31-day mesocosm experiment exposing Cymodocea nodosa plants to a mixture of commercial sunscreens. Sunscreens produced a significant reduction on net production rates, switching the system from autotrophic to heterotrophic, which was ascribable to an increase in heterotrophic bacteria families (some known to degrade complex substrates) and, more importantly, to a significant reduction of photosynthetic pigments in plants. Moreover, a significant release of DOC at night attributed to exudation from disrupted roots was recorded, which accounted for the observed increase in bacteria abundance and family richness recorded in the phyllosphere. A higher accumulation of starch in rhizomes suggests a certain degree of resistance of this species. However, we observed a trend to reduce some protective bacteria taxa, whereas promoted the growth of other pathogenic ones for seagrasses, along with other taxa related with the consumption of plant-derived polysaccharides and lignin compounds. Therefore, our results indicated that this CEC may reduce the contribution of seagrasses to the blue carbon pool, among others ecosystem services, and suggest a possible prompt of seagrass diseases if stressing conditions are maintained over time.
PB ELSEVIER
SN 1879-0291
YR 2025
FD 2025-06
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/38362
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/38362
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 09-nov-2026