Exploring the Bacteriome Diversity and Use as a Proxy for Climate Change and Human Impacts on Groundwater in...

This research investigates bacterial communities in various cave pool water and substrates from Brazil and Romania for their use as indicators of environmental impacts on groundwater. Regional and seasonal differences were observed even if, at the phylum level, common bacteria for both countries were found. Distinct patterns emerged at the genus level due to the different climates (tropical vs. temperate) and ecosystems. Chemoautotrophic conditions define an utterly different groundwater bacteriome than oligotrophic conditions independent of the temperature. Bacteria as a proxy for climate change were explored using seasonal changes in Romanian caves; specific genera become dominant in summer months, such as Acinetobacter, Paeniglutamicibacter, Polaromonas, and Saccharimonadales, indicating processes that occur during the low-water season. Climate change, particularly dryness, is expected to exacerbate these variations, threatening the stability of groundwater ecosystems. The research also identified anthropic pollution indicators (Vogesella, Cutibacterium) and potential decontaminants (Bacillus) in Brazilian cave waters. Anthropic pollution indicators, like Pseudoarthrobacter. were also found in Romanian caves. Other key bacteria genera, such as Flavobacterium, Pseudomonas, and Acinetobacter, are chemolithotrophs or involved in the nitrogen cycle, which is critical in supplying nutrients for the cave food web. Marked differences between water and substrate microbiomes within the same pools suggested that substrates may play a crucial, underexplored role in groundwater ecosystem processes. Our study found unassigned taxa, 3 phyla, 2 families, and 832 genera (> 40%) in the studied pools. The results underscore the need to further explore groundwater microbiomes as potentially crucial yet fragile ecosystems in the face of climate change and human impacts.