Modestobacter caceresii sp. nov., novel actinobacteria with an insight into their adaptive mechanisms for survival in extreme hyper-arid Atacama Desert soils.
A polyphasic study was designed to determine the taxonomic provenance of three Modestobacter strains isolated from an extreme hyper-arid Atacama Desert soil. The strains, isolates KNN 45-1a, KNN 45-2b(T) and KNN 45-3b, were shown to have chemotaxonomic and morphological properties in line with their classification in the genus Modestobacter. The isolates had identical 16S rRNA gene sequences and formed a branch in the Modestobacter gene tree that was most closely related to the type strain of Modestobacter marinus (99.6% similarity). All three isolates were distinguished readily from Modestobacter type strains by a broad range of phenotypic properties, by qualitative and quantitative differences in fatty acid profiles and by BOX fingerprint patterns. The whole genome sequence of isolate KNN 45-2b(T) showed 89.3% average nucleotide identity, 90.1% (SD: 10.97%) average amino acid identity and a digital DNA-DNA hybridization value of 42.4±3.1 against the genome sequence of M. marinus DSM 45201(T), values consistent with its assignment to a separate species. On the basis of all of these data, it is proposed that the isolates be assigned to the genus Modestobacter as Modestobacter caceresii sp. nov. with isolate KNN 45-2b(T) (CECT 9023(T)=DSM 101691(T)) as the type strain. Analysis of the whole-genome sequence of M. caceresii KNN 45-2b(T), with 4683 open reading frames and a genome size of ∽4.96Mb, revealed the presence of genes and gene-clusters that encode for properties relevant to its adaptability to harsh environmental conditions prevalent in extreme hyper arid Atacama Desert soils.
School of Biology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK.
Kanungnid
K
Busarakam
School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NJ, UK.
Alan T
AT
Bull
Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
Martha E
ME
Trujillo
Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
Raul
R
Riesco
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK.
Vartul
V
Sangal
Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Pathology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9505 230 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
Gilles P
GP
van Wezel
School of Biology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK. Electronic address: m.goodfellow@ncl.ac.uk.
Michael
M
Goodfellow
D039903:Actinobacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D003889:Desert Climate; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012988:Soil Microbiology
D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005227:Fatty Acids; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Average amino acid identity; Average nucleotide identity; Hyper-arid Atacama Desert soil; Modestobacter caceserii; Polyphasic taxonomy; Whole genome sequence