BackgroundPhytopathogenic fungi affecting crop and post-harvested vegetables are a major threat to food production and food storage. To face these drawbacks, producers have become increasingly dependent on agrochemicals. However, intensive use of these compounds has led to the emergence of pathogen resistance and severe negative environmental impacts. There are also a number of plant diseases for which chemical solutions are ineffective or non-existent as well as an increasing demand by consumers for pesticide-free food. Thus, biological control through the use of natural antagonistic microorganisms has emerged as a promising alternative to chemical pesticides for more rational and safe crop management.ResultsThe genome of the plant-associated B. amyloliquefaciens GA1 was sample sequenced. Several gene clusters involved in the synthesis of biocontrol agents were detected. Four gene clusters were shown to direct the synthesis of the cyclic lipopeptides surfactin, iturin A and fengycin as well as the iron-siderophore bacillibactin. Beside these non-ribosomaly synthetised peptides, three additional gene clusters directing the synthesis of the antibacterial polyketides macrolactin, bacillaene and difficidin were identified. Mass spectrometry analysis of culture supernatants led to the identification of these secondary metabolites, hence demonstrating that the corresponding biosynthetic gene clusters are functional in strain GA1. In addition, genes encoding enzymes involved in synthesis and export of the dipeptide antibiotic bacilysin were highlighted. However, only its chlorinated derivative, chlorotetaine, could be detected in culture supernatants. On the contrary, genes involved in ribosome-dependent synthesis of bacteriocin and other antibiotic peptides were not detected as compared to the reference strain B. amyloliquefaciens FZB42.ConclusionThe production of all of these antibiotic compounds highlights B. amyloliquefaciens GA1 as a good candidate for the development of biocontrol agents.

Publicly available genomes are crucial for phylogenetic and metagenomic studies, in which contaminating sequences can be the cause of major problems. This issue is expected to be especially important for Cyanobacteria because axenic strains are notoriously difficult to obtain and keep in culture. Yet, despite their great scientific interest, no data are currently available concerning the quality of publicly available cyanobacterial genomes. As reliably detecting contaminants is a complex task, we designed a pipeline combining six methods in a consensus strategy to assess the contamination level of 440 genome assemblies of Cyanobacteria. Two methods are based on published reference databases of ribosomal genes (SSU rRNA 16S and ribosomal proteins), one is indirectly based on a reference database of marker genes (CheckM), and three are based on complete genome analysis. Among those genome-wide methods, Kraken and DIAMOND blastx share the same reference database that we derived from Ensembl Bacteria, whereas CONCOCT does not require any reference database, instead relying on differences in DNA tetramer frequencies. Given that all the six methods appear to have their own strengths and limitations, we used the consensus of their rankings to infer that >5% of cyanobacterial genome assemblies are highly contaminated by foreign DNA (i.e., contaminants were detected by 5 or 6 methods). Our results will help researchers to check the quality of publicly available genomic data before use in their own analyses. Moreover, we argue that journals should make mandatory the submission of raw read data along with genome assemblies in order to facilitate the detection of contaminants in sequence databases.

Cyanobacteria played an important role in the evolution of Early Earth and the biosphere. They are responsible for the oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans since the Great Oxidation Event around 2.4 Ga, debatably earlier. They are also major primary producers in past and present oceans, and the ancestors of the chloroplast. Nevertheless, the identification of cyanobacteria in the early fossil record remains ambiguous because the morphological criteria commonly used are not always reliable for microfossil interpretation. Recently, new biosignatures specific to cyanobacteria were proposed. Here, we review the classic and new cyanobacterial biosignatures. We also assess the reliability of the previously described cyanobacteria fossil record and the challenges of molecular approaches on modern cyanobacteria. Finally, we suggest possible new calibration points for molecular clocks, and strategies to improve our understanding of the timing and pattern of the evolution of cyanobacteria and oxygenic photosynthesis.

In this study, we report on the ability of the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica W29 to produce an extracellular melanin‐like brown pigment at high yield (0.5 mg/ml) in culture medium supplemented with L‐tyrosine. This pigment has been characterized as pyomelanin and its synthesis was found to occur by the so‐called HGA‐melanin pathway. The purified pyomelanin was found embedded with antioxidant properties as it exhibited a radical scavenging activity toward 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) with IC50 of 230 μg/ml. It was also characterized as noncytotoxic toward two mammalian cell lines, namely the mouse fibroblast NIH3T3 and human keratinocytes HaCaT. When blended with different commercial sunscreens, the purified pyomelanin increased significantly the sun protection factor (SPF) value, highlighting its potential utilization as UV‐filter in cosmetic preparations.