Author(s):
Almeida, João F ; Marques, Matilde S. ; Oliveira, Vanessa ; Egas, Conceição ; Mil-Homens, Dalila ; Viana, Romeu ; Cleary, Daniel F. R. ; Huang, Yusheng M ; Fialho, Arsénio M ; Teixeira, Miguel C ; Gomes, Newton C. M. ; Costa, Rodrigo ; Keller-Costa, Tina
Date: 2022
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/10316/114894
Origin: Estudo Geral - Universidade de Coimbra
Subject(s): bioprospection; biosynthetic gene clusters; blue biotechnology; culture collections; genomics; marine bacteria; Animals; Humans; Secondary Metabolism; Bacteria; Multigene Family; Candida; Phylogeny; Porifera; Anti-Infective Agents; Anthozoa
Description
Marine microbiomes are prolific sources of bioactive natural products of potential pharmaceutical value. This study inspected two culture collections comprising 919 host-associated marine bacteria belonging to 55 genera and several thus-far unclassified lineages to identify isolates with potentially rich secondary metabolism and antimicrobial activities. Seventy representative isolates had their genomes mined for secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters (SM-BGCs) and were screened for antimicrobial activities against four pathogenic bacteria and five pathogenic Candida strains. In total, 466 SM-BGCs were identified, with antimicrobial peptide- and polyketide synthase-related SM-BGCs being frequently detected. Only 38 SM-BGCs had similarities greater than 70% to SM-BGCs encoding known compounds, highlighting the potential biosynthetic novelty encoded by these genomes. Cross-streak assays showed that 33 of the 70 genome-sequenced isolates were active against at least one Candida species, while 44 isolates showed activity against at least one bacterial pathogen. Taxon-specific differences in antimicrobial activity among isolates suggested distinct molecules involved in antagonism against bacterial versus Candida pathogens. The here reported culture collections and genome-sequenced isolates constitute a valuable resource of understudied marine bacteria displaying antimicrobial activities and potential for the biosynthesis of novel secondary metabolites, holding promise for a future sustainable production of marine drug leads.
