Comprehensive insights on environmental adaptation strategies in Antarctic bacteria and biotechnological applications of cold adapted molecules

Climate change and the induced environmental disturbances is one of the major threats that have a strong impact on bacterial communities in the Antarctic environment. To cope with the persistent extreme environment and inhospitable conditions, psychrophilic bacteria are thriving and displaying striking adaptive characteristics towards severe external factors including freezing temperature, sea ice, high radiation and salinity which indicates their potential in regulating climate change’s environmental impacts. The review illustrates the different adaptation strategies of Antarctic microbes to changing climate factors at the structural, physiological and molecular level. Moreover, we discuss the recent developments in “omics” approaches to reveal polar “blackbox” of psychrophiles in order to gain a comprehensive picture of bacterial communities. The psychrophilic bacteria synthesize distinctive cold-adapted enzymes and molecules that have many more industrial applications than mesophilic ones in biotechnological industries. Hence, the review also emphasizes on the biotechnological potential of psychrophilic enzymes in different sectors and suggests the machine learning approach to study cold–adapted bacteria and engineering the industrially important enzymes for sustainable bioeconomy

Genomic and metabolic properties of Staphylococcus gallinarum FCW1 MCC4687 isolated from naturally fermented coconut water towards GRAS assessment

Staphylococcus gallinarum FCW1 was isolated from naturally fermented coconut-water and identified by biochemical and molecular methods. Probiotic characterization and safety assessment were conducted through a series of in vitro tests. A high survival rate was observed when the strain was tested for resistance to bile, lysozyme, simulated gastric and intestinal fluid, phenol, and different temperature and salt concentrations. The strain showed antagonism against some pathogens, was susceptible to all antibiotics tested except penicillin, and showed no hemolytic and DNase activity. Hydrophobicity, autoaggregation, biofilm formation, and antioxidation tests indicated that the strain possessed a high adhesive and antioxidant ability. Enzymatic activity was used to evaluate the metabolic capacities of the strain. In-vivo experiment on zebrafish was performed to check its safety status. The whole-genome sequencing indicated that the genome contained 2,880,305 bp with a GC content of 33.23%. The genome annotation confirmed the presence of probiotic-associated genes and genes for oxalate degradation, sulfate reduction, acetate metabolism, and ammonium transport in the FCW1 strain, adding to the theory that this strain may be helpful in treating kidney stones. This study revealed that the strain FCW1 might be an excellent potential probiotic in developing fermented coconut beverages and treating and preventing kidney stone disease. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.