First Insight into the Diversity and Antibacterial Potential of Psychrophilic and Psychotrophic Microbial Communities of Abandoned Amber Quarry

Margarita Shevchenko,Maria Zimina,Stanislav Sukhikh,Svetlana Noskova,Valery Lisun,Andrey Lomtev,Svetlana Ivanova,Olga Babich,Viktoriya Skripskaya

doi:10.3390/microorganisms9071521

Margarita Shevchenko, Maria Zimina + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9071521

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Abstract

Natural habitats, including extreme ones, are potential sources of new antimicrobial compound producers, such as bacteriocins and enzymes, capable of degrading the matrix polysaccharides of bacterial biofilms. This study aimed to investigate biodiversity and evaluate the antibacterial potential of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic microbial communities of the flooded Walter amber quarry (Kaliningrad region, Russia). As a result of 16S rDNA high-throughput profiling, 127 genera of bacteria belonging to 12 phyla of bacteria were found in sediment samples: Acidobacteria sp., Actinobacteria sp., Armatimonadetes sp., Bacteroidetes sp., Chloroflexi sp., Cyanobacteria sp., Firmicutes sp., Gemmatimonadetes sp., Planctomycetes sp., Proteobacteria sp., Tenericutes sp., and Verrucomicrobia sp. The dominant bacteria groups were the families Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae, belonging to the order Clostridiales phylum Firmicutes. Analysis of enrichment cultures obtained from sediments showed the presence of antibacterial and cellulolytic activity. It seems likely that the bacteria of the studied communities are producers of antimicrobial compounds and have the potential for biotechnological use.

Highlights

Antibiotic therapy is the most significant scientific achievement of the twentieth century in terms of its impact on human morbidity and mortality, but today, there are some problems that limit the use of antibiotics
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens is the main problem, while the high costs and risks associated with the development of new products lead to a shortage of new families of antibiotics that could compensate for resistance to existing ones [1,2]
This study aimed to investigate biodiversity and evaluate the antibacterial potential of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic microbial communities of the flooded amber quarry (Walter, Kaliningrad region, Russia)

Summary

Introduction

Antibiotic therapy is the most significant scientific achievement of the twentieth century in terms of its impact on human morbidity and mortality, but today, there are some problems that limit the use of antibiotics. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens is the main problem, while the high costs and risks associated with the development of new products lead to a shortage of new families of antibiotics that could compensate for resistance to existing ones [1,2]. Alternatives to antibiotics studied to date include plant compounds, bacteriophages, phage lysines, RNA therapies, probiotics, antimicrobial peptides, and enzymes. Bacteriocins, which are small ribosomally synthesized peptides produced by bacteria, have high activity against many clinical targets and have mechanisms of action different from antibiotics [6,7,8,9,10,11]. Several bacteriocins with a broad or a narrow spectrum activity are known, which can be applied to combat infections of unknown etiology and control target pathogens without adversely affecting commensal populations [12,13,14]. There is information about the successful use of protein cocktails that include bacterial cellulases

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