Abstract
The culturable bacterial diversity from Iron Curtain Cave, Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada was examined. Sixty five bacterial isolates were successfully cultivated, purified, and identified based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Four distinguishable phyla, i.e., Actinobacteria (44.61%), Proteobacteria (27.69%), Firmicutes (20%) and Bacteroidetes (7.69%) were identified. Arthrobacter (21.53%) was identified as the major genus, followed by Sporosarcina (9.23%), Stenotrophomonas (9.23%), Streptomyces (6.15%), Brevundimonas (4.61%), and Crocebacterium (2.8%). Noteworthy, 12.3% of the population was recognized as unidentified bacteria. The isolates were evaluated for their potential antimicrobial activities against multidrug resistant microbial strains. Two species of the genus Streptomyces exhibited a wide range of antimicrobial activities against multidrug resistance (MDR) strains of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas spp. along with non-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli. However, all of the antimicrobial activities were only observed when the isolates were grown at 8 °C in different media. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study conducted on the Iron Curtain Cave’s bacterial diversity, and reveals some bacterial isolates that have never been reported from a cave. Bacterial isolates identified with antimicrobial properties demonstrated that the Iron Curtain Cave can be further considered as a potential habitat for antimicrobial agents.
Highlights
The study of cave microbiomes has been at the center of biologists’ attention for the last few decades, both because of the microbial diversity in cave habitats and the potential for the production of unique primary and secondary metabolites, which differ from those found in other extreme habitats [1].Numerous microbial diversity studies have been performed using the samples taken from the sediment deposits found on the walls and ceilings of caves, aquatic sediments, and on speleothem surfaces [2].These cave microorganisms were thought to be introduced from the surface by air currents, sediments, water, animal, or human vectors, which was unusual for subsurface habitats [3]
The study evaluated the antimicrobial properties of the bacterial isolates against the the study evaluated the antimicrobial properties of the bacterial isolates against microbial drug resistant strains and pathogens
The bacterial isolates were subcultured on their respective culture media, R2A, Actinomyces
Summary
Numerous microbial diversity studies have been performed using the samples taken from the sediment deposits found on the walls and ceilings of caves, aquatic sediments, and on speleothem surfaces [2]. These cave microorganisms were thought to be introduced from the surface by air currents, sediments, water, animal, or human vectors, which was unusual for subsurface habitats [3]. The cultivation of these microorganisms in the laboratory environment was proven to be challenging, as the typical incubation temperature often ranged between 25–37 ◦ C. A number of cultivation media at normal and diluted strengths such as R2A, Hickey-Tresner agar, humic acid-vitamin agar, actinomycete agar; and a low incubation temperature (8–12 ◦ C) were used [1,2]
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