Membrane biofouling poses an ongoing challenge in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination. Here we delved into the impact of seasonal variations in microbial communities on membrane biofouling and innovatively fabricated quorum sensing inhibitors (acylase (AC) and methyl anthranilate (MA))-modified membranes to combat it. Results indicated that Proteobacteria dominated in seawater and membrane biofilm across all seasons, while other phyla varied seasonally. At the class level, the two leading bacteria on the membrane were Gamma- and Alphaproteobacteria, constituting 14–48% and 4–27%, respectively. Genera like Arcobacter, Vibrio, and Rhodobacteraceae were identified as keystone species that exhibited a significant positive correlation with extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) and biofilm formation, leading to a substantive reduction in membrane flux by 70 to 77%. The introduction of AC and MA inhibitors on the membrane suppressed keystone bacteria Rhodobacteraceae and Arcobacter and affected their metabolism, thereby significantly reducing EPS by 65–69% and 55–59%, respectively, and alleviating membrane flux decline by 30–32% and 18–22%, respectively, compared to the pristine membrane. These findings shed new light on the seasonal patterns of membrane biofouling and provide valuable insights into anti-biofouling strategies based on QS inhibition for collaborative biofilm formation.

膜生物污垢对海水反渗透 (SWRO) 淡化提出了持续的挑战。在这里，我们深入研究了微生物群落的季节性变化对膜生物污染的影响，并创新地制造了群体感应抑制剂（酰基酶（AC）和邻氨基苯甲酸甲酯（MA））修饰的膜来对抗它。结果表明，变形菌门在所有季节的海水和膜生物膜中都占主导地位，而其他门则随季节变化。在类水平上，膜上的两种主要细菌是γ-和α-变形菌门，分别占14-48%和4-27%。弧菌属、弧菌属和红细菌属等属被确定为关键物种，与细胞外聚合物 (EPS) 和生物膜形成呈显着正相关，导致膜通量大幅降低 70% 至 77%。在膜上引入AC和MA抑制剂抑制了关键细菌Rhodobacteraceae和Arcobacter并影响其代谢，从而使EPS分别显着降低65-69%和55-59%，并减轻膜通量下降30-32%和18与原始膜相比分别为 –22%。这些发现为膜生物污垢的季节性模式提供了新的线索，并为基于 QS 抑制协同生物膜形成的抗生物污垢策略提供了宝贵的见解。