Microbial communities of the Mediterranean rocky coast: ecology and biotechnological potential
AbstractMicrobial communities from harsh environments hold great promise as sources of biotechnologically-relevant strains. In the present work, we have deeply characterized the microorganisms from three different rocky locations of the Mediterranean coast, an environment characterised by being subjected to harsh conditions such as high levels of irradiation and large temperature and salinity fluctuations. Through culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques, we have retrieved a complete view of the ecology and functional aspects of these communities and assessed the biotechnological potential of the cultivable microorganisms. A culture-independent approach through high-throughput 1…
Kineococcus vitellinus sp. nov., Kineococcus indalonis sp. nov. and Kineococcus siccus sp. nov., isolated nearby the Tabernas desert (Almería, Spain)
This article belongs to the Section Environmental Microbiology.
Polar solar panels: Arctic and Antarctic microbiomes display similar taxonomic profiles
Solar panels located on high (Arctic and Antarctic) latitudes combine the harshness of the climate with that of the solar exposure. We report here that these polar solar panels are inhabited by similar microbial communities in taxonomic terms, dominated by Hymenobacter spp., Sphingomonas spp. and Ascomycota. Our results suggest that solar panels, even on high latitudes, can shape a microbial ecosystem adapted to irradiation and desiccation.
Belnapia mucosa sp. nov. and Belnapia arida sp. nov., isolated from desert biocrust
Two novel Gram-staining-negative, aerobic, cocci-shaped, non-motile, non-spore forming, pink-pigmented bacteria designated strains T6T and T18T, were isolated from a biocrust (biological soil crust) sample from the vicinity of the Tabernas Desert (Spain). Both strains were catalase-positive and oxidase-negative, and grew under mesophilic, neutrophilic and non-halophilic conditions. According to the 16S rRNA gene sequences, strains T6T and T18T showed similarities with Belnapia rosea CGMCC 1.10758T and Belnapia moabensis CP2CT (98.11 and 98.55% gene sequence similarity, respectively). The DNA G+C content was 69.80 and 68.96% for strains T6T and T18T, respectively; the average nucleotide iden…
Extremophilic microbial communities on photovoltaic panel surfaces: a two‐year study
Solar panel surfaces can be colonized by microorganisms adapted to desiccation, temperature fluctuations and solar radiation. Although the taxonomic and functional composition of these communities has been studied, the microbial colonization process remains unclear. In the present work, we have monitored this microbial colonization process during 24 months by performing weekly measurements of the photovoltaic efficiency, carrying out 16S rRNA gene high‐throughput sequencing, and studying the effect of antimicrobial compounds on the composition of the microbial biocenosis. This is the first time a long‐term study of the colonization process of solar panels has been performed, and our results…
Words, images and gender
Financial support from the European CSA on biological standardization BIOROBOOST (EU grant number 820699, http://standardsinsynbio.eu) is acknowledged. EMM is funded with a Formacion de Profesorado Universitario (FPU) grant from the Spanish Government (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades), with reference FPU17/04184. ALP is a recipient of a Doctorado Industrial fellowship from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (Spain), with reference DI‐17‐09613.
High Culturable Bacterial Diversity From a European Desert: The Tabernas Desert.
One of the most diverse ecological niches for microbial bioprospecting is soil, including that of drylands. Drylands are one of the most abundant biomes on Earth, but extreme cases, such as deserts, are considered very rare in Europe. The so-called Tabernas Desert is one of the few examples of a desert area in continental Europe, and although some microbial studies have been performed on this region, a comprehensive strategy to maximize the isolation of environmental bacteria has not been conducted to date. We report here a culturomics approach to study the bacterial diversity of this dryland by using a simple strategy consisting of combining different media, using serial dilutions of the n…
Microbial communities of the Mediterranean rocky shore: ecology and biotechnological potential of the sea‐land transition
Microbial communities from harsh environments hold great promise as sources of biotechnologically relevant strains and compounds. In the present work, we have characterized the microorganisms from the supralittoral and splash zone in three different rocky locations of the Western Mediterranean coast, a tough environment characterized by high levels of irradiation and large temperature and salinity fluctuations. We have retrieved a complete view of the ecology and functional aspects of these communities and assessed the biotechnological potential of the cultivable microorganisms. All three locations displayed very similar taxonomic profiles, with the genus Rubrobacter and the families Xenoco…