Taxonomic identification and temperature stress tolerance mechanisms of Aequorivita scotiaensis sp. nov.

Abstract

The deep sea harbours microorganisms with unique life characteristics and life activities due to its special environmental conditions, but the limited sample collection and pure culture techniques available constrain the study of deep-sea microorganisms. In this study, strain Ant34-E75 was isolated from Antarctic deep-sea sediment samples and showed the highest 16S rDNA gene sequence similarity of 97.18%. Polyphasic taxonomy results suggested that strain Ant34-E75 is a new member of the genus Aequorivita. Strain Ant34-E75 belongs to the psychrotrophs and can effectively increase the cold tolerance of Chlamydomonas reininatus. Subsequent transcriptome analysis revealed multiple mechanisms involved in the Ant34-E75 response to temperature stress, and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) showed that the peptidoglycan synthesis pathway was the key component. Overall, this study provides insights into the characteristics of deep-sea microorganisms, elucidates the mechanism of temperature adaptation at the molecular level. Furthermore, it enriches our understanding of the species and genetic diversity of deep-sea microorganisms.