0000000000241504
AUTHOR
Helena Gimeno-valero
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.
A round trip to the desert: In situ nanopore sequencing informs targeted bioprospecting
Bioprospecting expeditions are often performed in remote locations, in order to access previously unexplored samples. Nevertheless, the actual potential of those samples is only assessed once scientists are back in the laboratory, where a time-consuming screening must take place. This work evaluates the suitability of using Nanopore sequencing during a journey to the Tabernas Desert (Spain) for forecasting the potential of specific samples in terms of bacterial diversity and prevalence of radiation- and desiccation-resistant taxa, which were the target of the bioprospecting activities. Samples collected during the first day were analyzed through 16S rRNA gene sequencing using a mobile labor…
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…