Blastococcus atacamensis sp. nov., a novel strain adapted to life in the Yungay core region of the Atacama Desert

Castro, Jean Franco; Nouioui, Imen; Sangal, Vartul; Choi, Seon-Bin; Yang, Seung‐Jo; Kim, Byung-Yong; Trujillo, Martha E.; Riesco, Raúl; Montero‐Calasanz, Maria del Carmen; Rahmani, Tara Puri Ducha; Bull, Alan T.; Sutcliffe, Iain C.; Asenjo, Juan A.; Andrews, Bárbara A.; Goodfellow, Michael

doi:10.1099/ijsem.0.002828

Cited by 42 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Members of the family Geodermatophilaceae have received the most attention, notably the genera Blastococcus, Geodermatophilus and Modestobacter ; members of these taxa are known to be resistant to desiccation, ionizing radiation, UV‐light and heavy metals (Sghaier et al ). Dereplicated Geodermatophilaceae strains from Atacama Desert habitats have been validly named as Blastococcus atacamensis (Castro et al ), Geodermatophilus chilensis (Castro et al ) and Modestobacter caceresii (Busarakam et al ) and shown to have moderately large genomes (3·9–5·9 Mb). Representatives of these taxa not only contain NP‐BGCs but also stress‐related genes that encode for properties such as carbon starvation, temperature fluxes, osmotic stress and UV‐light.…”

Section: Desertsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another important development is the realization that in some actinobacterial taxa, such as the genera Amycolatopsis , Frankia and Micromonospora , there is a link between the distribution of NP‐BGCs and phylogeny (Adamek et al ; Carro et al ; Nouioui et al ). In addition, information drawn from whole‐genome sequences is providing fascinating insights into how micro‐organisms adapt to extreme habitats, as witnessed by the ability of members of the actinobacterial family Geodermatophilaceae to withstand extreme environmental conditions that prevail in hyperarid desert habitats (Castro et al , b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extreme environments: microbiology leading to specialized metabolites

et al. 2019

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Summary The prevalence of multidrug‐resistant microbial pathogens due to the continued misuse and overuse of antibiotics in agriculture and medicine is raising the prospect of a return to the preantibiotic days of medicine at the time of diminishing numbers of drug leads. The good news is that an increased understanding of the nature and extent of microbial diversity in natural habitats coupled with the application of new technologies in microbiology and chemistry is opening up new strategies in the search for new specialized products with therapeutic properties. This review explores the premise that harsh environmental conditions in extreme biomes, notably in deserts, permafrost soils and deep‐sea sediments select for micro‐organisms, especially actinobacteria, cyanobacteria and fungi, with the potential to synthesize new druggable molecules. There is evidence over the past decade that micro‐organisms adapted to life in extreme habitats are a rich source of new specialized metabolites. Extreme habitats by their very nature tend to be fragile hence there is a need to conserve those known to be hot‐spots of novel gifted micro‐organisms needed to drive drug discovery campaigns and innovative biotechnology. This review also provides an overview of microbial‐derived molecules and their biological activities focusing on the period from 2010 until 2018, over this time 186 novel structures were isolated from 129 representatives of microbial taxa recovered from extreme habitats.

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Section: Desertsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme environments: microbiology leading to specialized metabolites

et al. 2019

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“…In turn, many of the stress related genes were shown to be linked with carbon starvation, oxidative and osmotic stress, resistance to UV radiation and temperature fluxes, as exemplified by genes encoding for carbon starvation protein A (CstA), which promotes peptide uptake [72][73][74]; sox genes associated with responses to oxidative stress [75,76]; KatE and uvrD genes linked to protection against reactive oxygen and UV-radiation [77]; dnaK and dnaJ, hrcA, grpE and Hsp genes related to responses to heat shock [78]; a family of proteins associated with cold shock responses [79] and coxE, coxD and coxG genes along with a coxSML cluster coding for utilisation of carbon monoxide indicating that the isolate may have a chemolithoautotrophic lifestyle [80]. Similar patterns of stress-related genes have been detected in the genomes of the type strains of the B. atacamensis [16], G. chilensis [17], M. caceresii [10] and 'M. excelsi' [3].…”

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confidence: 60%

“…excelsi' are rich in stress genes that provide an insight into how these organisms have adapted to the prevailing environmental conditions in hyper-arid Atacama Desert soils [3,10]. Moreover, genomes of representative type strains of the family Geodermatophilaceae revealed many biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) related to the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, as exemplified by the genomes of the type strains of Blastococcus atacamensis [16], Geodermatophilus chilensis [17], M. caceresii [10] and 'M. excelsi' [3].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Modestobacter altitudinis sp. nov., a novel actinobacterium isolated from Atacama Desert soil

Golińska

Świecimska

Montero‐Calasanz

et al. 2020

International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology

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Three presumptive Modestobacter strains isolated from a high altitude Atacama Desert soil were the subject of a polyphasic study. The isolates, strains 1G4T, 1G51 and 1G52, were found to have chemotaxonomic and morphological properties that were consistent with their assignment to the genus Modestobacter . They formed a well supported clade in Modestobacter 16S rRNA gene trees and were most closely related to the type strain of ‘Modestobacter excelsi’ (99.8–99.9% similarity). They were also closely related to the type strains of Modestobacter caceresii (99.6 % similarity), Modestobacter italicus (99.7–99.9% similarity), Modestobacter lacusdianchii (98.4–99.2% similarity), Modestobacter marinus (99.4–99.5% similarity) and Modestobacter roseus (99.3–99.5% similarity), but were distinguished from their closest relatives by a combination of phenotypic features. Average nucleotide identity and digital DNA:DNA hybridization similarities drawn from comparisons of draft genome sequences of isolate 1G4T and its closest phylogenetic neighbours mentioned above, were well below the threshold used to assign closely related strains to the same species. The close relationship between isolate 1G4T and the type strain of M. excelsi was showed in a phylogenomic tree containing representative strains of family Geodermatophilaceae . The draft genome sequence of isolate 1G4T (size 5.18 Kb) was shown to be rich in stress related genes providing further evidence that the abundance of Modestobacter propagules in Atacama Desert habitats reflects their adaptation to the harsh environmental conditions prevalent in this biome. In light of all of these data it is proposed that the isolates be assigned to a novel species in the genus Modestobacter . The name proposed for this taxon is Modestobacter altitudinis sp. nov., with isolate 1G4T (=DSM 107534T=PCM 3003T) as the type strain.

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“…This genus was dominant in the SW control, whereas the contribution of Blastococcus was drastically lower. Blastococcus strains have been reported as adapting to drought conditions [33]. Touceda-González et al [34] reported a high abundance of Blastococcus genera in the rhizosphere of Alyssum serpyllifolium-nickel hyperaccumulating plant species growing in ultramafic soils.…”

Section: Plant Driven Changes In Functional and Genetic Diversity Of mentioning

confidence: 99%

Activity and Diversity of Microorganisms in Root Zone of Plant Species Spontaneously Inhabiting Smelter Waste Piles

Siebielec

Sugier

et al. 2020

Molecules

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The aim was to assess plant driven changes in the activity and diversity of microorganisms in the top layer of the zinc and lead smelter waste piles. The study sites comprised two types (flotation waste—FW and slag waste—SW) of smelter waste deposits in Piekary Slaskie, Poland. Cadmium, zinc, lead, and arsenic contents in these technosols were extremely high. The root zone of 8 spontaneous plant species (FW—Thymus serpyllum, Silene vulgaris, Solidago virgaurea, Echium vulgare, and Rumex acetosa; and SW—Verbascum thapsus; Solidago gigantea, Eupatorium cannabinum) and barren areas of each waste deposit were sampled. We observed a significant difference in microbial characteristics attributed to different plant species. The enzymatic activity was mostly driven by plant-microbial interactions and it was significantly greater in soil affected by plants than in bulk soil. Furthermore, as it was revealed by BIOLOG Ecoplate analysis, microorganisms inhabiting barren areas of the waste piles rely on significantly different sources of carbon than those found in the zone affected by spontaneous plants. Among phyla, Actinobacteriota were the most abundant, contributing to at least 25% of the total abundance. Bacteria belonging to Blastococcus genera were the most abundant with the substantial contribution of Nocardioides and Pseudonocardia, especially in the root zone. The contribution of unclassified bacteria was high—up to 38% of the total abundance. This demonstrates the unique character of bacterial communities in the smelter waste.

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Blastococcus atacamensis sp. nov., a novel strain adapted to life in the Yungay core region of the Atacama Desert

Cited by 42 publications

References 76 publications

Extreme environments: microbiology leading to specialized metabolites

Extreme environments: microbiology leading to specialized metabolites

Modestobacter altitudinis sp. nov., a novel actinobacterium isolated from Atacama Desert soil

Activity and Diversity of Microorganisms in Root Zone of Plant Species Spontaneously Inhabiting Smelter Waste Piles

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