Abstract
Secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms are the main source of antimicrobials and other pharmaceutical drugs. Soil microbes have been the primary discovery source for these secondary metabolites, often producing complex organic compounds with specific biological activities. Research suggests that secondary metabolism broadly shapes microbial ecological interactions, but little is known about the factors that shape the abundance, distribution, and diversity of biosynthetic gene clusters in the context of microbial communities. In this study, we investigate the role of nutrient availability on the abundance of biosynthetic gene clusters in soil-derived microbial consortia. Soil microbial consortia enriched in high sugar medium (150mg/L of glucose and 200mg/L of trehalose) had more biosynthetic gene clusters and higher inhibitory activity than those enriched in low sugar medium (15mg/L of glucose + 20mg/L of trehalose). Our results demonstrate that experimental microbial communities are a promising tool to study the ecology of specialized metabolites.
Highlights
The chemical products of microbial secondary metabolism modulate interactions within and between species and are a major means through which the microbial world communicates [1]
Secondary metabolites have had an enormous impact on modern medicine: they are the main source of antimicrobials used to treat infections, they are used as therapeutics for cancer and other important human diseases, and they are used as immunosuppressants that enable life-saving transplantation surgeries [2]
Comparisons between United States soil communities from New Hampshire and Arizona suggest that the arid desert soils of Arizona may harbor more antagonistic, inhibitory compounds than the forest soils of New Hampshire [6]. They observed a diversity of Nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) and polyketide synthases (PKSs) domains in arid soils when compared with forest soils
Summary
The chemical products of microbial secondary metabolism ( called natural products) modulate interactions within and between species and are a major means through which the microbial world communicates [1]. While it is widely hypothesized that secondary metabolism broadly shapes microbial ecological interactions, little is known about the factors that influence the abundance, distribution, and diversity of biosynthetic gene clusters in the context of microbial communities [5]. Studies that compare the biosynthetic potential of microbial communities sourced from different soils have unclear extrapolative value and little is known of how environmental factors can contribute to enrichment for secondary metabolism on finer scales [4]. Comparisons between United States soil communities from New Hampshire and Arizona suggest that the arid desert soils of Arizona may harbor more antagonistic, inhibitory compounds than the forest soils of New Hampshire [6] They observed a diversity of Nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) and polyketide synthases (PKSs) domains in arid soils when compared with forest soils. These studies are often limited to correlative descriptions subject to sampling biases and systematic assessments with sufficient experimental control remain lacking [4]
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