Integrating 16S and 18S sequencing reveals coupled prokaryotic and eukaryotic relationships in drinking water biofilms
- 1Eawag
Abstract
Drinking water biofilms host diverse communities spanning all realms of life. However, despite the known interactions between opportunistic pathogens and microbial eukaryotes such as amoebae, most studies focus only on the prokaryotic populations in these systems. As a result, the degree to which microbial eukaryotes shape biofilm communities and the persistence of opportunistic waterborne pathogens, such as Legionella spp. is still largely unknown. Here we leveraged a set of 128 non-disinfected drinking water shower hose biofilms collected across Switzerland to characterize both communities and quantify eukaryotes' role in shaping prokaryotic communities and Legionella persistence. We found both communities to present a conserved set of core taxa dominated by oligotrophic bacterial families and amoebae. The prevalence of taxa was mainly driven by the phylogenetic diversity among their sequence variants rather than their number alone. We detected prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities to show similar patterns in their richness and composition, influencing each other more than abiotic building-level factors. Legionellaceae bacteria were detected in 82% of samples presenting a diversity extending known reference species and no clear dominant taxa. Legionellaceae richness did not correlate with the richness of known amoebal hosts, but rather other amoebae, indicating that eukaryotic taxa relevant for Legionella persistence extend beyond the classically described hosts. These findings highlight the importance of integrating the eukaryotic communities to understand the microbial ecology in drinking water biofilms and recognize the conditions which allow opportunistic waterborne pathogens such as Legionella to persist.
Related
- Integrating bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing to identify mitochondrial quality control-related key genes in rheumatoid arthritis
- Integrating single-cell RNA sequencing and transcriptome analysis to explore uric acid–related biomarkers and regulatory mechanisms in preeclampsia
- Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Rural Eastern Cape: Integrating Whole-Genome Sequencing, Conceptual Transmission Modelling and Community-Based Participatory Research
- Whole-genome sequencing analysis of phylogenetic relationships and lineage diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Western Kenya
- A New Era of Treatment Sequencing in Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer: Integrating Immunotherapy, Antibody-Drug Conjugates, and Targeted Therapies.
BibTeX
@misc{caligaris2026integrating,
title = {{Integrating 16S and 18S sequencing reveals coupled prokaryotic and eukaryotic relationships in drinking water biofilms}},
author = {L. Caligaris and F. Hammes and S. Cristino and M. Gabrielli},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.29.26366860},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.26366860v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Integrating 16S and 18S sequencing reveals coupled prokaryotic and eukaryotic relationships in drinking water biofilms
AU - L. Caligaris
AU - F. Hammes
AU - S. Cristino
AU - M. Gabrielli
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.29.26366860
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.26366860v1
AB - Drinking water biofilms host diverse communities spanning all realms of life. However, despite the known interactions between opportunistic pathogens and microbial eukaryotes such as amoebae, most studies focus only on the prokaryotic populations in these systems. As a result, the degree to which microbial eukaryotes shape biofilm communities and the persistence of opportunistic waterborne pathogens, such as Legionella spp. is still largely unknown. Here we leveraged a set of 128 non-disinfected drinking water shower hose biofilms collected across Switzerland to characterize both communities and quantify eukaryotes' role in shaping prokaryotic communities and Legionella persistence. We found both communities to present a conserved set of core taxa dominated by oligotrophic bacterial families and amoebae. The prevalence of taxa was mainly driven by the phylogenetic diversity among their sequence variants rather than their number alone. We detected prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities to show similar patterns in their richness and composition, influencing each other more than abiotic building-level factors. Legionellaceae bacteria were detected in 82% of samples presenting a diversity extending known reference species and no clear dominant taxa. Legionellaceae richness did not correlate with the richness of known amoebal hosts, but rather other amoebae, indicating that eukaryotic taxa relevant for Legionella persistence extend beyond the classically described hosts. These findings highlight the importance of integrating the eukaryotic communities to understand the microbial ecology in drinking water biofilms and recognize the conditions which allow opportunistic waterborne pathogens such as Legionella to persist.
ER -