Legionella relative abundance in shower hose biofilms is associated with specific microbiome members

Abstract

Legionella are natural inhabitants of building plumbing biofilms, where interactions with other microorganisms influence their survival, proliferation, and death. Here, we investigated the associations of Legionella with bacterial and eukaryotic microbiomes in biofilm samples extracted from 85 shower hoses of a multiunit residential building. Legionella spp. relative abundance in the biofilms ranged between 0–7.8%, of which only 0–0.46% was L. pneumophila. Our data suggest that some microbiome members were associated with high (e.g. Chthonomonas, Vrihiamoeba) or low (e.g. Aquabacterium, Vannella) Legionella relative abundance. The correlations of the different Legionella variants (30 Zero-Radius OTUs detected) showed distinct patterns, suggesting separate ecological niches occupied by different Legionella species. This study provides insights into the ecology of Legionella with respect to: (i) the colonization of a high number of real shower hoses biofilm samples; (ii) the ecological meaning of associations between Legionella and co-occurring bacterial/eukaryotic organisms; (iii) critical points and future directions of microbial-interaction-based-ecological-investigations.