Microbial Diversity of Some Sabkha and Desert Sites in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Several studies isolated fungal and bacterial species from extreme environments, such as Sabkha and hot deserts, as their natural habitat, some of which are of medicinal importance. Current research aimed investigating the microbial (fungi and bacteria) diversity and abundance in Sabkha and desert areas in Saudi Arabia. Soil samples from nine different geographical areas (Al-Aushazia lake, AlQasab, AlKasar, Tabuk, Al-Kharj, Al-Madina, Jubail, Taif and Abqaiq) were collected and cultured for microbial isolation. Isolated fungi and bacteria were identified by molecular techniques (PCR and sequencing). Based on 18S rDNA sequencing, 203 fungal species belonging to 33 genera were identified. The most common fungal genera were Fusarium , Alternaria , Chaetomium , Aspergillus Cochliobolus and Pencillium , while the most common species were Chaetomium globosum and Fusarium oxysporum . By 16S rDNA sequencing 22 bacterial species belonging to only two genera, Bacillus and Lactobacillus , were identified. The most commonly isolated bacterial species were Bacillus subtilis and Lactobacillus murinus . Some fungal species were confined to specific locations, such as Actinomyces elegans, Fusarium proliferatum, Gymnoascus reesii and Myzostoma spp . that were only isolated from Al-Aushazia soil. AlQasab soil had the highest microbial diversity among other areas with abundances of 23.5% and 4.4% of total fungi, and bacteria, respectively. Findings of this study show a higher degree of fungal diversity than that of bacteria in all studied areas. Further studies needed to investigate the connection between some isolated species and their habitat ecology, as well as to identify those of medicinal importance.

Investigation of biological activity of soil fungal extracts and LC/MS-QTOF based metabolite profiling

“…( Bipolaris sp. ) and Chaetomium sp., were from AlQasab and Tabuk, respectively 24 , and F. venenatum was isolated from Almuzahimiyah. The isolates have been recognized in relation to colonies and conidia following the appearance of colonies on PDA medium after five days (Fig.…”

“…The natural bioactive materials from microorganisms have gained much-needed attention regarding antimicrobial drugs and cancer treatment in the last decade. Therefore, the current investigation partially relayed on some different fungal strains identified from different soils in Saudi Arabia 24 . Currently, some biological activities from such organisms’ inhabitants’ harsh conditions being addressed.…”

“…The soil samples were collected in clean plastic bags, at a depth of 5–20 cm, from different sites of Saudi Arabia's deserts 24 . Fungi were isolated from the soil samples by the dilution method and soil plate method 1,2 using Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) containing Sabouraud dextrose agar, Czapek-Dox Agar with chloramphenicol 1%.…”

“…Hence, the current study is anticipated to impact discovering fungal isolates from desert environments as producers of valuable and novel metabolic compounds. So far, the number of mycological studies on Saudi Arabia's desert soil is rather limited 21 – 24 . Therefore, this study was undertaken to identify fungi from desert soils in Saudi Arabia and test their antimicrobial and anticancer activities, as well as to explore their molecular and chemical constituents.…”

Microbial Ecology of Qatar, the Arabian Gulf: Possible Roles of Microorganisms

“…The previously published data on cell forms at the rhizosphere and phyllosphere at saline habitats in the Arabia region (Egypt and Arabian Gulf regions) confirmed the results of this case study: that the Gram-positive bacilli and cocci forms are predominant (Zahran et al, 1992(Zahran et al, , 1995Al-Thani and Mahasneh, 2002;Fahmy and Al-Thani, 2006). Saudi Arabia Sabkhas showed that the most commonly isolated bacterial species were Bacillus subtilis and Lactobacillus murinus (Alotaibi et al, 2020). Bacillus spp., on the other hand, were activated at soil polluted with chlorophenol compounds at the industrial zone at Umm-Saied city (Qatar) (Al-Thani et al, 2007;Personal observation).…”