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Organic composition of epilithic biofilms from agricultural and urban watershed in South Brazil

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Abstract

Active functional groups in biofilms determine the adsorption and desorption of contaminants and nutrients. Epilithic biofilms were characterized in order to understand the association between the chemistry alteration patterns and the surrounding anthropic activities of the Guaporé River watershed. The instrumental analyses included pyrolysis coupled to gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy, spectroscopy in the IR region with attenuated total reflectance, and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance. Spectrometric techniques demonstrated that epilithic biofilms are mainly composed of polysaccharides, nitrogen-containing compounds, lipids, and aromatic and phenolic structures, which have functional groups characteristic of alcohols, esters, ethers, and amides. The polysaccharide levels reflect well the environmental pressures. The chemical composition of epilithic biofilms can be an effective tool for environmental assessment in watercourses, since the different anthropic actions developed in watersheds, mainly agriculture and urban areas, can modify the organic fraction of biofilms.

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All data generated during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files. Additional data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Clarissa Piccinin Frizzo for assistance with spectral measurements and Núcleo de Análises e Pesquisas Orgânicas of the Chemistry Department of the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria for technical support.

Funding

This research was funded by Mais Água of FINEP/FEPAGRO, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, Brazil) for fellowships awarded to DS Rheinheimer (309515/2015–7), FAPERGS (19/2551–0001641-7), and Région Nouvelle Aquitaine (France).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Ciências Rurais, Prédio 42, Departamento de Solos, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, UFSM, Avenida Roraima n° 1000, Cidade Universitária, Bairro Camobi, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, CEP: 97105-900, Brazil

    Gracieli Fernandes, Marilia Camotti Bastos & Danilo dos Santos Rheinheimer

  2. UMR IC2MP 7285, CNRS/ Université de Poitiers, ENSIP, TSA41105, 1 rue Marcel Doré, 86073 Poitiers, Cedex 9, France

    Marilia Camotti Bastos, Leslie Mondamert & Jérôme Labanowski

  3. Centro de Ciências Naturais e Exatas, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, UFSM, Avenida Roraima n° 1000, Cidade Universitária, Bairro Camobi, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, CEP: 97105-900, Brazil

    Robert Alan Burrow

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  1. Gracieli Fernandes
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  2. Marilia Camotti Bastos
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  3. Leslie Mondamert
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  4. Jérôme Labanowski
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  6. Danilo dos Santos Rheinheimer
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Contributions

GF, MCB, JL, and DRS participated in the conception of the work. GF, MCB, LM, RAB, and DRS participated in methodology, data acquisition, and data interpretation. GF leads the writing of the manuscript. GF, DRS, MCB, and LM purchased funding. All authors contributed to the manuscript correction, discussion, and interpretation of results. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Gracieli Fernandes.

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Fernandes, G., Bastos, M.C., Mondamert, L. et al. Organic composition of epilithic biofilms from agricultural and urban watershed in South Brazil. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 28808–28824 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11389-5

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