title: Bioprospecting around Arctic islands: Marine bacteria as rich source of biocatalysts.
abstract: We have investigated the biotechnological potential of Arctic marine bacteria for their ability to produce a broad spectrum of cold-active enzymes. Marine bacteria exhibiting these features are of great interest for both fundamental research and industrial applications. Macrobiota, water and sediment samples have been collected during 2010 and 2011 expeditions around the Lofoten and Svalbard islands. Bacteria were isolated from this material and identified through 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis for the purpose of establishing a culture collection of marine Arctic bacteria. Herein, we present the functional screening for different extracellular enzymatic activities from 100 diversely chosen microbial isolates incubated at 4 and 20 °C. The production of esterase/lipase, DNase, and protease activities were revealed in 67, 53, and 56% of the strains, respectively, while 41, 23, 9, and 7% of the strains possessed amylase, chitinase, cellulase, and xylanase activities, respectively. Our findings show that phylogenetically diverse bacteria, including many new species, could be cultured from the marine arctic environment. The Arctic polar environment is still an untapped reservoir of biodiversity for bioprospecting.
authors.affiliation: NorStruct, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Concetta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Santi
authors.affiliation: NorStruct, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Bjørn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Altermark
authors.affiliation: Institute of Protein Biochemistry, National Research Council, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Donatella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: de Pascale
authors.affiliation: NorStruct, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Nils-Peder
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Willassen
mesh_terms: D001110:Arctic Regions; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D044822:Biodiversity; D065132:Bioprospecting; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D057075:Enzyme Assays; D004798:Enzymes / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology; D062312:Islands; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D004798:Enzymes; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: Cold-active enzymes; Extracellular activities; Marine bacteria