Reverdy A, Hathaway D, Jha J, Michaels G, Sullivan J, McAdoo DD, Riquelme C, Chai Y, Godoy-Carter V. Insights into the diversity and survival strategies of soil bacterial isolates from the Atacama Desert.
Front Microbiol 2024;
15:1335989. [PMID:
38516016 PMCID:
PMC10955380 DOI:
10.3389/fmicb.2024.1335989]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024] Open
Abstract
The Atacama Desert, the driest, with the highest radiation, and one of the most ancient deserts in the world, is a hostile environment for life. We have a collection of 74 unique bacterial isolates after cultivation and confirmation by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Pigmentation, biofilm formation, antimicrobial production against Escherichia coli MG1655 and Staphylococcus aureus HG003, and antibiotic resistance were assessed on these isolates. We found that approximately a third of the colonies produced pigments, 80% of isolates formed biofilms, many isolates produce growth inhibiting activities against E. coli and/or S. aureus, and many were resistant to antibiotics. The functional characterization of these isolates gives us insight into the adaptive bacterial strategies in harsh environments and enables us to learn about their possible use in agriculture, healthcare, or biotechnology.
Collapse