Influence of Temperature and Nickel on Algal Biofilm Fatty Acid Composition

Freshwater biofilms play an important role in aquatic ecosystems and are widely used to evaluate environmental conditions. Little is known about the effects of temperature and metals on biofilm fatty acid composition. In the present study, we exposed a natural biofilm cultured in mesocosms to a gradient of nickel (Ni) concentrations at 15 and 21 °C for 28 d. Metal bioaccumulation, algal taxonomic composition, and biofilm fatty acid profiles were determined. At both temperatures, bioaccumulated Ni increased with Ni exposure concentration and reached the highest values at 25 µM Ni, followed by a decrease at 55 and 105 µM Ni. In control biofilms, palmitic acid (16:0), palmitoleic acid (16:1n7), oleic acid (18:1n9), linoleic acid (18:2n6), and linolenic acid (18:3n3) were the dominant fatty acids at 15 and 21 °C. This composition suggests a dominance of cyanobacteria and green algae, which was subsequently confirmed by microscopic observations. The increase in temperature resulted in a decrease in the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids, which is considered to be an adaptive response to temperature variation. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) tended to decrease along the Ni gradient, as opposed to saturated fatty acids which increased with Ni concentrations. Temperature and Ni affected differently the estimated desaturase and elongase activities (product/precursor ratios). The increase in PUFAs at 15 °C was concomitant to an increase in Δ9-desaturase (D9D). The estimated activities of D9D, Δ12-desaturase, and Δ15-desaturase decreased along the Ni gradient and reflected a decline in PUFAs. The elevated estimated elongase activity reflected the observed increase in saturated fatty acids at the highest Ni exposure concentration (105 µM). Our results suggest that fatty acids could be used as an endpoint to evaluate environmental perturbations. Environ Toxicol Chem 2020;39:1566-1577. © 2020 SETAC.