Mutactimycin AP, a New Mutactimycin Isolated from an Actinobacteria from the Atacama Desert

Funding: This work was supported by national funds from FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., within the projects UIDB/04564/2020 and UIDP/04564/2020.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Heterologous expression of a cryptic gene cluster from Streptomyces leeuwenhoekii C34T yields a novel lasso peptide, leepeptin

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We are grateful to Michael Goodfellow and Alan Bull for providing S. leeuwenhoekii C34T , and to Michael Fischbach and Jan Claesen for S. viridochromogenes and S. pristinaspiralis, Matthias Mach for S. davawensis, and Kristian Apel on October 31, 2019 at University of Aberdeen http://aem.asm.org/ Downloaded from 17 for S. roseochromogenes. We thank Govind Chandra for advice on blastP analyses of the lasso peptide data sets, Solène Rollet for technical support in the isolation of leepeptin and Andrew Truman for his comments on the manuscript. J.F.C. and V.R. received National PhD Scholarships (#21110356 and #21110384, respectively) and Visiting Student Scholarships (Becas Chile, 2013–2014) from the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT). S.A.J. thanks the University of Aberdeen for an Elphinstone Scholarship. This work was supported financially by the Biotechnological and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC, United Kingdom) Institute Strategic Programme Grant “Understanding and Exploiting Plant and Microbial Secondary Metabolism” (BB/J004561/1), the Basal Programme of CONICYT (Chile) for funding of the Centre for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, CeBiB (project FB0001) and the UK Newton Project for UK–Chile collaboration (grant JIC CA586).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Uncovering the potential of novel micromonosporae isolated from an extreme hyper-arid Atacama Desert soil

The taxonomic status, biotechnological and ecological potential of several Micromonospora strains isolated from an extreme hyper arid Atacama Desert soil were determined. Initially, a polyphasic study was undertaken to clarify the taxonomic status of five micromonosporae, strains LB4, LB19, LB32T, LB39T and LB41, isolated from an extreme hyper-arid soil collected from one of the driest regions of the Atacama Desert. All of the isolates were found to have chemotaxonomic, cultural and morphological properties consistent with their classification in the genus Micromonospora. Isolates LB32T and LB39T were distinguished from their nearest phylogenetic neighbours and proposed as new species, namely as Micromonospora arida sp. nov. and Micromonospora inaquosa sp. nov., respectively. Eluted methanol extracts of all of the isolates showed activity against a panel of bacterial and fungal indicator strains, notably against multi-drug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 700603 while isolates LB4 and LB41 showed pronounced anti-tumour activity against HepG2 cells. Draft genomes generated for the isolates revealed a rich source of novel biosynthetic gene clusters, some of which were unique to individual strains thereby opening up the prospect of selecting especially gifted micromonosporae for natural product discovery. Key stress-related genes detected in the genomes of all of the isolates provided an insight into how micromonosporae adapt to the harsh environmental conditions that prevail in extreme hyper-arid Atacama Desert soils

Hunting for cultivable Micromonospora strains in soils of the Atacama Desert

Innovative procedures were used to selectively isolate small numbers of Micromonospora strains from extreme hyper-arid and high altitude Atacama Desert soils. Micromonosporae were recognised on isolation plates by their ability to produce filamentous microcolonies that were strongly attached to the agar. Most of the isolates formed characteristic orange colonies that lacked aerial hyphae and turned black on spore formation, whereas those from the high altitude soil were dry, blue-green and covered by white aerial hyphae. The isolates were assigned to seven multi- and eleven single-membered groups based on BOX-PCR profiles. Representatives of the groups were assigned to either multi-membered clades that also contained marker strains or formed distinct phyletic lines in the Micromonospora 16S rRNA gene tree; many of the isolates were considered to be putatively novel species of Micromonospora. Most of the isolates from the high altitude soils showed activity against wild type strains of Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescens while those from the rhizosphere of Parastrephia quadrangulares and from the Lomas Bayas hyper-arid soil showed resistance to UV radiation

Metabolism analysis of streptomyces leeuwenhoekii C34 with a genome scale model and identification of Biosynthetic genes of specialized metabolites by genome mining

Doctor en Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Mención Ingeniería Química y BiotecnologíaStreptomyces leeuwenhoekii C34 es una nueva cepa que fue aislada desde la laguna Chaxa ubicada en el Desierto de Atacama, Chile. Esta cepa produce metabolitos especializados con actividad contra Staph. aureus resistente a meticilina (MRSA): chaxamicinas y chaxalactinas. La secuencia genómica de S. leeuwenhoekii C34 se obtuvo mediante las tecnologías de Illumina Miseq y PACbio RS II SMRT. El genoma se utilizó para identificar clústers de genes biosintéticos (BGCs) que codifican para metabolitos especializados a través de minería de genomas, y para desarrollar un modelo a escala genómica (GSM) para estudiar las rutas de biosíntesis de producción de metabolitos especializados. Se encontraron 34 BGCs en el genoma de S. leeuwenhoekii C34, más un BGC ubicado en el plásmido pSLE2. Se encontró tres BGCs para lazo-péptidos. Específicamente, se identificó el producto del BGC del lazo-péptido 3 en el sobrenadante de S. leeuwenhoekii C34 cultivado en medio TSB/YEME y se expresó exitosamente en el huésped heterólogo S. coelicolor M1152. Se confirmó que este lazo-péptido era el mismo que la chaxapeptina, recientemente descrita para S. leeuwenhoekii C58. Por otra parte, se identificó un BGC de 64 kb (locus 1083651 a 1147687) que codifica para un híbrido trans-AT PKS/NRPS. Es probable que el producto de este BGC sea un compuesto halogenado debido a la presencia de un gen, sle09470, que codifica para una enzima cloradora. Para estudiar este clúster de genes, se desarrollaron diferentes cepas derivadas de S. leeuwenhoekii. También, el BGC se clonó en huéspedes heterólogos: S. coelicolor M1152, M1154 and S. albus. A través de análisis de HPLC MS/MS y comparación de perfiles de metabolitos, se identificó un grupo de compuestos con patrón clorado, sin embargo se descartaron como posibles productos del BGC ya que además de encontrarse en las cepas de S. leeuwenhoekii también se encontraron en muestras de S. coelicolor M1152. Por otra parte, se detecto un metabolito con una señal de m/z 611.53 [M + H]+ solamente en las muestras de S. leeuwenhoekii M1614 ( chaxamycin BGC) y M1619 ( chaxamycin BGC; sle09560). Se requieren msá estudios para confirmar si los metabolitos expresados diferencialmente corresponden a un producto del híbrido transAT-PKS/NRPS BGC. Para construir el GSM de S. leeuwenhoekii C34 se desarrolló una interfaz basada en python, que permite: buscar genes de Streptomyces asociados a reacciones en la base de datos KEGG, realizar BLAST local contra S. leeuwenhoekii C34, comparar los dominios de proteínas, descargar información de los metabolitos, construir el GSM y realizar simulaciones usando COBRApy. Las rutas biosintéticas de chaxamicinas, chaxalactinas, desferrioxaminas, ectoina y el producto del híbrido transAT-PKS/NRPS BGC (híbrido PK-NP) se incluyeron en el modelo. El modelo, iVR1007, consiste de 1722 reacciones, 1463 metabolitos y 1007 genes, y se validó usando información experimental de crecimiento en diferentes fuentes de carbono, nitrógeno y fósforo, mostrando un 83.7 % de precisión. El modelo se usó para encontrar deleción y sobre-expresión de genes no intuitivas que predicen un aumento en la producción de precursores de chaxamicinas, chaxalactinas e híbrido PK-NP. Las modificaciones predichas podrán ser usadas para realizar ingeniería metabólica de S. leeuwenhoekii C34 para incrementar la producción de metabolitos especializados

Metabolic modelling and flux analysis of microorganisms from the Atacama Desert used in biotechnological processes

Metabolic modelling is a useful tool thatenables the rational design of metabolic engineeringexperiments and the study of the unique capabilities ofbiotechnologically important microorganisms. Theextreme abiotic conditions of the Atacama Deserthave selected microbial diversity with exceptionalcharacteristics that can be applied in the miningindustry for bioleaching processes and for productionof specialised metabolites with antimicrobial, antifungal,antiviral, antitumoral, among other activities. Inthis review we summarise the scientific data availableof the use of metabolic modelling and flux analysis toimprove the performance of Atacama Desert microorganismsin biotechnological applications.Keywords Actinobacteria Atacama Desert Bioleaching microorganisms Flux balance analysis Metabolic flux analysis Metabolic modelling Specialised metabolite

Microbial engineering of new Streptomyces sp. from extreme environments for novel antibiotics, anticancer and antifungal Drugs

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Metabolic modelling and flux analysis of microorganisms from the Atacama Desert used in biotechnological processes

Metabolic modelling is a useful tool that enables the rational design of metabolic engineering experiments and the study of the unique capabilities of biotechnologically important microorganisms. The extreme abiotic conditions of the Atacama Desert have selected microbial diversity with exceptional characteristics that can be applied in the mining industry for bioleaching processes and for production of specialised metabolites with antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, antitumoral, among other activities. In this review we summarise the scientific data available of the use of metabolic modelling and flux analysis to improve the performance of Atacama Desert microorganisms in biotechnological applications

Analysis of metabolic networks of Streptomyces leeuwenhoekii C34 by means of a genome scale model: Prediction of modifications that enhance the production of specialized metabolites

The first genome scale model (GSM) for Streptomyces leeuwenhoekii C34 was developed to study the biosynthesis pathways of specialized metabolites and to find metabolic engineering targets for enhancing their production. The model, iVR1007, consists of 1,722 reactions, 1,463 metabolites, and 1,007 genes, it includes the biosynthesis pathways of chaxamycins, chaxalactins, desferrioxamines, ectoine, and other specialized metabolites. iVR1007 was validated using experimental information of growth on 166 different sources of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous, showing an 83.7% accuracy. The model was used to predict metabolic engineering targets for enhancing the biosynthesis of chaxamycins and chaxalactins. Gene knockouts, such as sle03600 (L-homoserine O-acetyltransferase), and sle39090 (trehalose-phosphate synthase), that enhance the production of the specialized metabolites by increasing the pool of precursors were identified. Using the algorithm of flux scanning based on enforced objective flux (FSEOF) implemented in python, 35 and 25 over-expression targets for increasing the production of chaxamycin A and chaxalactin A, respectively, that were not directly associated with their biosynthesis routes were identified. Nineteen over-expression targets that were common to the two specialized metabolites studied, like the over-expression of the acetyl carboxylase complex (sle47660 (accA) and any of the following genes: sle44630 (accA_1) or sle39830 (accA_2) or sle27560 (bccA) or sle59710) were identified. The predicted knockouts and over-expression targets will be used to perform metabolic engineering of S. leeuwenhoekii C34 and obtain overproducer strainsComision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica FB0001 UK Newton Project for UK-Chile collaboration JIC CA 586 Basal Programme of CONICYT (Chile

Micromonospora parastrephiae sp. nov. and Micromonospora tarensis sp. nov., isolated from the rhizosphere of a Parastrephia quadrangularis plant growing in the Salar de Tara region of the Central Andes in Chile.

[EN]Two novel Micromonospora strains, STR1-7T and STR1S-6T, were isolated from the rhizosphere of a Parastrephia quadrangularis plant growing in the Salar de Tara region of the Atacama Desert, Chile. Chemotaxonomic, cultural and phenotypic features confirmed that the isolates belonged to the genus Micromonospora. They grew from 20 to 37 °C, from pH7 to 8 and in the presence of up to 3 %, w/v NaCl. The isolates formed distinct branches in Micromonospora gene trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and on a multi-locus sequence analysis of conserved house-keeping genes. A phylogenomic tree generated from the draft genomes of the isolates and their closest phylogenetic neighbours showed that isolate STR1-7T is most closely related to Micromonospora orduensis S2509T, and isolate STR1S-6 T forms a distinct branch that is most closely related to 12 validly named Micromonospora species, including Micromonospora saelicesensis the earliest proposed member of the group. The isolates were separated from one another and from their closest phylogenomic neighbours using a combination of chemotaxonomic, genomic and phenotypic features, and by low average nucleotide index and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values. Consequently, it is proposed that isolates STR1-7T and STR1S-6T be recognized as representing new species in the genus Micromonospora, namely as Micromonospora parastrephiae sp. nov. and Micromonospora tarensis sp. nov.; the type strains are STR1-7T (=CECT 9665T=LMG 30768T) and STR1S-6T (=CECT 9666T=LMG 30770T), respectively. Genome mining showed that the isolates have the capacity to produce novel specialized metabolites, notably antibiotics and compounds that promote plant growth, as well as a broad-range of stress-related genes that provide an insight into how they cope with harsh abiotic conditions that prevail in high-altitude Atacama Desert soils