MMR_2024v14n3

Molecular Microbiology Research 2024, Vol.14, No.3, 131-140 http://microbescipublisher.com/index.php/mmr 134 Figure 1 Application of high-throughput molecular technologies for the microbial biomonitoring of aquatic environments (Adopted from Michán et al., 2021) 5 Interactions with Other Aquatic Organisms 5.1 Symbiotic relationships Microbial symbionts are essential for the survival and health of many aquatic organisms. These symbionts help hosts cope with stress, defend against predators, pathogens, and parasites, and are often indispensable for the host's development or life cycle completion. Human activities, however, are altering these interactions, potentially impacting the health of the host and the ecosystem at large (Stock et al., 2021). For instance, fungi and bacteria interact in aquatic decomposer communities, where bacteria can promote fungal diversity by alleviating competition among fungi, leading to synergistic interactions that enhance ecosystem functioning (Baudy et al., 2021). 5.2 Food web dynamics Microbial communities are fundamental components of aquatic food webs, contributing to biogeochemical processes and energy flow. During different productive periods, such as phytoplankton blooms, microbial interactions shift, with complex networks dominated by competition and mutualism during blooms and simpler networks during non-bloom periods (Trombetta et al., 2020). Additionally, parasitic fungi can significantly alter microbial interactions by transferring photosynthetic carbon to themselves and stimulating bacterial colonization on phytoplankton cells, thereby modifying the carbon flow and microbial community composition (Klawonn et al., 2021). The presence of microplastics also affects food web dynamics by interacting with microalgae, potentially altering their growth and photosynthetic activity, which can propagate throughout the food web and impact aquatic productivity (Nava and Leoni, 2020). 5.3 Impact on aquatic biodiversity Microbial diversity is immense and plays a critical role in shaping community dynamics and ecosystem-scale biogeochemical transformations. Metagenomic approaches have provided insights into the discovery of new taxa

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