<i>Staphylococcus sciuri</i> Strain LCHXa is a Free-Living Lithium-Tolerant Bacterium Isolated from Salar de Atacama, Chile

• Main Authors: Camila Salazar-Ardiles, Tamara Caimanque, Alexandra Galetović, Claudia Vilo, Jorge E. Araya, Nataly Flores, Benito Gómez-Silva
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
• Series: Microorganisms
• Subjects: antibiotic susceptibility; Atacama Desert; Laguna Chaxa; lithium tolerance; Novobiocin resistance; osmoregulation
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/8/5/668

In addition to the industrial and biomedical applications of lithium, information on the tolerance of microorganisms to high Li concentrations in natural biological systems is limited. Strain LCHXa is a novel free-living Gram-positive, non-motile bacterium strain isolated from water samples taken at Laguna Chaxa, a non-industrial water body with the highest soluble Li content (33 mM LiCl) within the Salar de Atacama basin in northern Chile. Enrichment was conducted in Luria-Bertani (LB) medium supplemented with 1 M LiCl. Strain LCHXa was a Novobiocin-resistant and coagulase negative <i>Staphylococcus</i>. Phylogenetically, strain LCHXa belongs to the species <i>Staphylococcus</i> <i>sciuri</i>. Strain LCHXa grew optimally in LB medium at pH 6–8 and 37 °C, and it was able to sustain growth at molar Li concentrations at 2 M LiCl, with a decrease in the specific growth rate of 85%. Osmoregulation in strain LCHXa partially involves glycine betaine and glycerol as compatible solutes.