Abstract
SummaryMicrobial communities from harsh environments hold great promise as sources of biotechnologically relevant strains and compounds. In the present work, we have characterized the microorganisms from the supralittoral and splash zone in three different rocky locations of the Western Mediterranean coast, a tough environment characterized by high levels of irradiation and large temperature and salinity fluctuations. We have retrieved a complete view of the ecology and functional aspects of these communities and assessed the biotechnological potential of the cultivable microorganisms. All three locations displayed very similar taxonomic profiles, with the genus Rubrobacter and the families Xenococcaceae, Flammeovirgaceae, Phyllobacteriaceae, Rhodobacteraceae and Trueperaceae being the most abundant taxa; and Ascomycota and halotolerant archaea as members of the eukaryotic and archaeal community respectively. In parallel, the culture‐dependent approach yielded a 100‐isolates collection, out of which 12 displayed high antioxidant activities, as evidenced by two in vitro (hydrogen peroxide and DPPH) and confirmed in vivo with Caenorhabditis elegans assays, in which two isolates, CR22 and CR24, resulted in extended survival rates of the nematodes. This work is the first complete characterization of the Mediterranean splash‐zone coastal microbiome, and our results indicate that this microbial niche is home of an extremophilic community that holds biotechnological potential.
Highlights
The interphase between marine and land environments is an ecologically complex habitat in which selection pressures from both environments can co-occur
This work is the first complete characterization of the Mediterranean splash-zone coastal microbiome, and our results indicate that this microbial niche is home of an extremophilic community that holds biotechnological potential
The composition of the bacterial communities varied depending on the location, as represented in the Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA; Fig. 2A)
Summary
The interphase between marine and land environments is an ecologically complex habitat in which selection pressures from both environments can co-occur. Some of those pressures are high salinity, dehydration, wind and sun exposition, extreme temperature oscillations and mechanical stress associated with seawater splash, often with sand or pebbles, with strong abrasive effects. Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for Applied Microbiology.
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