title: Diversity, Antimicrobial Activity, and Biosynthetic Potential of Cultivable Actinomycetes Associated with Lichen Symbiosis.
abstract: Lichens are structured associations of a fungus with a cyanobacteria and/or green algae in a symbiotic relationship, which provide specific habitats for diverse bacterial communities, including actinomycetes. However, few studies have been performed on the phylogenetic relationships and biosynthetic potential of actinomycetes across lichen species. In the present study, a total of 213 actinomycetes strains were isolated from 35 lichen samples (22 lichen genera) collected in Yunnan Province, China. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed an unexpected level of diversity among these isolates, which were distributed into 38 genera, 19 families, and 9 orders within the Actinobacteria phylum. The detailed taxa of isolates had no clear relationship to the taxonomic affiliations of the associated lichens. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to describe the isolation of Actinophytocola, Angustibacter, Herbiconiux, Kibdelosporangium, Kineosporia, Kitasatospora, Nakamurella, Nonomuraea, Labedella, Lechevalieria, Lentzea, Schumannella, and Umezawaea species from lichens. At least 40 isolates (18.78%) are likely to represent novel actinomycetes taxa within 15 genera. In addition, all 213 isolates were tested for antimicrobial activity and screened for genes associated with secondary metabolite production to evaluate their biosynthetic potential. These results demonstrate that the lichens of Yunnan Province represent an extremely rich reservoir for the isolation of a significant diversity of actinomycetes, including novel species, which are potential source for discovering biologically active compounds.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbial Pharmaceuticals, College of Life and Health Science, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China.
authors.forename: Chengbin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Institute of Microbiology, School of Life Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China. jiangyi@ynu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Key Lab for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, China.
authors.forename: Xinyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Institute of Microbiology, School of Life Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China.
authors.forename: Dongbo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbial Pharmaceuticals, College of Life and Health Science, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China.|Yunnan Institute of Microbiology, School of Life Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China.
authors.forename: Xiu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Lab for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, China.
authors.forename: Lisong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbial Pharmaceuticals, College of Life and Health Science, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China. hanli@mail.neu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbial Pharmaceuticals, College of Life and Health Science, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China.
authors.forename: Xueshi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Institute of Microbiology, School of Life Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China.
authors.forename: Chenglin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D039903:Actinobacteria / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000378:metabolism; D000898:Antibiosis; D044822:Biodiversity; D008011:Lichens / Q000502:physiology*; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents
keywords: 16S rRNA; APH; Actinobacteria; HMG CoA and CYP biosynthetic genes; Lichens; NRPS; PKS I; PKS II; Selective isolation