High Culturable Bacterial Diversity From a European Desert: The Tabernas Desert
One of the most diverse ecological niches for microbial bioprospecting is soil, including that of drylands. Drylands are one of the most abundant biomes on Earth, but extreme cases, such as deserts, are considered very rare in Europe. The so-called Tabernas Desert is one of the few examples of a des...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-01-01
|
Series: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.583120/full |
id |
doaj-a4959f28fb45423b8f2f535b134ce34c |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-a4959f28fb45423b8f2f535b134ce34c2021-01-08T12:01:09ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2021-01-011110.3389/fmicb.2020.583120583120High Culturable Bacterial Diversity From a European Desert: The Tabernas DesertEsther Molina-Menor0Helena Gimeno-Valero1Javier Pascual2Juli Peretó3Juli Peretó4Juli Peretó5Manuel Porcar6Manuel Porcar7Institute for Integrative Systems Biology I2SysBio (University of València-CSIC), Paterna, SpainDarwin Bioprospecting Excellence S.L., Parc Científic Universitat de València, Paterna, SpainDarwin Bioprospecting Excellence S.L., Parc Científic Universitat de València, Paterna, SpainInstitute for Integrative Systems Biology I2SysBio (University of València-CSIC), Paterna, SpainDarwin Bioprospecting Excellence S.L., Parc Científic Universitat de València, Paterna, SpainDepartament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular, Universitat de València, Burjassot, SpainInstitute for Integrative Systems Biology I2SysBio (University of València-CSIC), Paterna, SpainDarwin Bioprospecting Excellence S.L., Parc Científic Universitat de València, Paterna, SpainOne of the most diverse ecological niches for microbial bioprospecting is soil, including that of drylands. Drylands are one of the most abundant biomes on Earth, but extreme cases, such as deserts, are considered very rare in Europe. The so-called Tabernas Desert is one of the few examples of a desert area in continental Europe, and although some microbial studies have been performed on this region, a comprehensive strategy to maximize the isolation of environmental bacteria has not been conducted to date. We report here a culturomics approach to study the bacterial diversity of this dryland by using a simple strategy consisting of combining different media, using serial dilutions of the nutrients, and using extended incubation times. With this strategy, we were able to set a large (254 strains) collection of bacteria, the majority of which (93%) were identified through 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene amplification and sequencing. A significant fraction of the collection consisted of Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria, as well as Firmicutes strains. Among the 254 isolates, 37 different genera were represented, and a high number of possible new taxa were identified (31%), of which, three new Kineococcus species. Moreover, 5 out of the 13 genera represented by one isolate were also possible new species. Specifically, the sequences of 80 isolates held a percentage of identity below the 98.7% threshold considered for potentially new species. These strains belonged to 20 genera. Our results reveal a clear link between medium dilution and isolation of new species, highlight the unexploited bacterial biodiversity of the Tabernas Desert, and evidence the potential of simple strategies to yield surprisingly large numbers of diverse, previously unreported, bacterial strains and species.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.583120/fullmicrobial diversityTabernas Desertdrylands ecologybiocrustActinobacteria |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Esther Molina-Menor Helena Gimeno-Valero Javier Pascual Juli Peretó Juli Peretó Juli Peretó Manuel Porcar Manuel Porcar |
spellingShingle |
Esther Molina-Menor Helena Gimeno-Valero Javier Pascual Juli Peretó Juli Peretó Juli Peretó Manuel Porcar Manuel Porcar High Culturable Bacterial Diversity From a European Desert: The Tabernas Desert Frontiers in Microbiology microbial diversity Tabernas Desert drylands ecology biocrust Actinobacteria |
author_facet |
Esther Molina-Menor Helena Gimeno-Valero Javier Pascual Juli Peretó Juli Peretó Juli Peretó Manuel Porcar Manuel Porcar |
author_sort |
Esther Molina-Menor |
title |
High Culturable Bacterial Diversity From a European Desert: The Tabernas Desert |
title_short |
High Culturable Bacterial Diversity From a European Desert: The Tabernas Desert |
title_full |
High Culturable Bacterial Diversity From a European Desert: The Tabernas Desert |
title_fullStr |
High Culturable Bacterial Diversity From a European Desert: The Tabernas Desert |
title_full_unstemmed |
High Culturable Bacterial Diversity From a European Desert: The Tabernas Desert |
title_sort |
high culturable bacterial diversity from a european desert: the tabernas desert |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
issn |
1664-302X |
publishDate |
2021-01-01 |
description |
One of the most diverse ecological niches for microbial bioprospecting is soil, including that of drylands. Drylands are one of the most abundant biomes on Earth, but extreme cases, such as deserts, are considered very rare in Europe. The so-called Tabernas Desert is one of the few examples of a desert area in continental Europe, and although some microbial studies have been performed on this region, a comprehensive strategy to maximize the isolation of environmental bacteria has not been conducted to date. We report here a culturomics approach to study the bacterial diversity of this dryland by using a simple strategy consisting of combining different media, using serial dilutions of the nutrients, and using extended incubation times. With this strategy, we were able to set a large (254 strains) collection of bacteria, the majority of which (93%) were identified through 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene amplification and sequencing. A significant fraction of the collection consisted of Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria, as well as Firmicutes strains. Among the 254 isolates, 37 different genera were represented, and a high number of possible new taxa were identified (31%), of which, three new Kineococcus species. Moreover, 5 out of the 13 genera represented by one isolate were also possible new species. Specifically, the sequences of 80 isolates held a percentage of identity below the 98.7% threshold considered for potentially new species. These strains belonged to 20 genera. Our results reveal a clear link between medium dilution and isolation of new species, highlight the unexploited bacterial biodiversity of the Tabernas Desert, and evidence the potential of simple strategies to yield surprisingly large numbers of diverse, previously unreported, bacterial strains and species. |
topic |
microbial diversity Tabernas Desert drylands ecology biocrust Actinobacteria |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.583120/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT esthermolinamenor highculturablebacterialdiversityfromaeuropeandesertthetabernasdesert AT helenagimenovalero highculturablebacterialdiversityfromaeuropeandesertthetabernasdesert AT javierpascual highculturablebacterialdiversityfromaeuropeandesertthetabernasdesert AT julipereto highculturablebacterialdiversityfromaeuropeandesertthetabernasdesert AT julipereto highculturablebacterialdiversityfromaeuropeandesertthetabernasdesert AT julipereto highculturablebacterialdiversityfromaeuropeandesertthetabernasdesert AT manuelporcar highculturablebacterialdiversityfromaeuropeandesertthetabernasdesert AT manuelporcar highculturablebacterialdiversityfromaeuropeandesertthetabernasdesert |
_version_ |
1724344542283431936 |