The Variety and Inscrutability of Polar Environments as a Resource of Biotechnologically Relevant Molecules

Abstract

The application of an ever-increasing number of methodological approaches and tools is positively contributing to the development and yield of bioprospecting procedures. In this context, cold-adapted bacteria from polar environments are becoming more and more intriguing as valuable sources of novel biomolecules, with peculiar properties to be exploited in a number of biotechnological fields. This review aims at highlighting the biotechnological potentialities of bacteria from Arctic and Antarctic habitats, both biotic and abiotic. In addition to cold-enzymes, which have been intensively analysed, relevance is given to recent advances in the search for less investigated biomolecules, such as biosurfactants, exopolysaccharides and antibiotics.

Diversity, Ecological Role and Biotechnological Potential of Antarctic Marine Fungi

“…The diversity of large organisms inhabiting Antarctic ecosystems has received a larger attention than the diversity of microbial assemblages, although the microbial component represents an important fraction of the whole biomass and plays pivotal roles in biogeochemical cycles and marine food web functioning [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. There is also evidence that microbial diversity represents a major reservoir of novel taxa, biochemical pathways, genes and compounds with biotechnological applications [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ].…”

Life from a Snowflake: Diversity and Adaptation of Cold-Loving Bacteria among Ice Crystals

“…The metabolic profile of bacterial communities subsequently studied disclosed that the biosynthesis of amino acids as most predicted pattern, and the carbon metabolism, methane metabolism, and oxidative phosphorylation as most prominent energy-generating metabolic pathways, suggesting ATP production by electron transfer to terminal acceptor, i.e., oxygen, nitrate, or sulfate [97]. The cultivable bacteria partially reflected the information gained by molecular approach applied on Tarn Flat and Boulder Clay brine systems, as Proteobacteria was confirmed as the dominant taxonomic group, followed by Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes [5]. The occurrence of other taxonomic groups, namely, Epsilonproteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia, was highlighted firstly by Murray et al [39] in brine system of Lake Vida, Antarctica.…”

“…If photoautotrophy dominates habitats where sunlight penetrates the ice, chemoautotrophy is the strategy adopted by microorganisms living in dark cold environments. If the membrane integrity and biochemical processes are threatened by the freezing point, flexibility and homeostasis are implemented thanks to special cold lipids and enzymes or by the production of anti-freeze proteins and extracellular polymeric substances that act as cryoprotectants [5].…”

“…The efforts in this research area are still inconsistent, as they are limited to the isolation of bacterial producers of cold-enzymes or to the detection of genes encoding for such type of proteins. However, all the aspects related to the optimal conditions for the optimal functioning of cold enzymes, as well as the deep chemical elucidation of their structure, remain mostly untapped and needs to be improved [5].…”

“…At genus level, cultivable bacterial isolates in cryogenic environments, with special regards to water brine lenses, were affiliated with Psychrobacter and Marinobacter [164,165], detected in brines from Tarn Flat area and Lake Vida [5,30,166,167], Devosia and Rhodobacter, well represented in Tarn Flat brines but detected also in alpine glacier and saline systems [168], Carnobacterium and Sporosarcina, retrieved in Antarctic lake systems and Arctic permafrost ice [169][170][171].…”