Bioprospecting of desert actinobacteria with special emphases on griseoviridin, mitomycin C and a new bacterial metabolite producing Streptomyces sp. PU-KB10-4.

BACKGROUND: Bioprospecting of actinobacteria isolated from Kubuqi desert, China for antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxic metabolites production and their structure elucidation. RESULTS: A total of 100 actinobacteria strains were selectively isolated from Kubuqi desert, Inner Mongolia, China. The taxonomic characterization revealed Streptomyces as the predominant genus comprising 37 different species, along with the rare actinobacterial genus Lentzea. The methanolic extracts of 60.8% of strains exhibited potent antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and high to mild in vitro cytotoxicity against PC3 (prostate cancer) and A549 (lung carcinoma) cell lines. The metabolomics analysis by TLC, HPLC-UV/vis, HPLC-MS and NMR showed the presence of compounds with molecular weights ranging from 100 to 1000 Da. The scale-up fermentation of the prioritized anti-Gram-negative strain PU-KB10-4 (Streptomyces griseoviridis), yielded three pure compounds including; griseoviridin (1; 42.0 mgL- 1) with 20 fold increased production as compared to previous reports and its crystal structure as monohydrate form is herein reported for the first time, mitomycin C (2; 0.3 mgL- 1) and a new bacterial metabolite 4-hydroxycinnamide (3; 0.59 mgL- 1). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of the bioprospecting and exploration of actinobacteria from Kubuqi desert and the metabolite 4-hydroxycinnamide (3) is first time isolated from a bacterial source. This study demonstrated that actinobacteria from Kubuqi desert are a potential source of novel bioactive natural products. Underexplored harsh environments like the Kubuqi desert may harbor a wider diversity of actinobacteria, particularly Streptomyces, which produce unique metabolites and are an intriguing source to develop medicinally valuable natural products.

Bioactivity and Metabolomics Profiling of Endophytic Actinobacteria Isolated from Roots of the Medicinal Plants Dominant in South Asian Region.

Background: Plant-derived endophytic actinobacteria are the center of attention due to their capacity to produce diverse antimicrobial and anticancer compounds and their metabolites influence plant growth. Methods: In this study, 40 endophytic actinobacteria strains were isolated from the roots of eight medicinal plants used as folk medicine in South Asian region. The isolates were characterized morphologically, biochemically and physiologically and the genus level identification of the selected strains was done by 16SrRNA gene sequencing. In small scale cultivation (50ml broth), the isolates were grown in A-medium to prepare the crude extracts. These crude extracts were subsequently evaluated for their antimicrobial, anticancer and antioxidant activity and the metabolomics profile of each of the extract was determined by TLC and HPLC-UV/MS. Results: The taxonomic studies showed that the isolates belong to the group actinobacteria based on their morphological and physiological characteristics and the 16SrRNA gene sequencing of the selected strains identified the genera including Streptomyces, Micromonospora and Nocardia. Cumulatively,53% of extracts exhibited anti-Gram-(+) activity,47% exhibited anti-Gram-(-) activity,32% exhibited antifungal activity and 30% were cytotoxic to PC3 and A549 cancer cell lines and most of the extracts have shown antioxidant activity greater than 50%. The metabolomics analysis predicted the presence of an array of low molecular weight metabolites and indicated the promising isolates in collection for further studies for novel bioactive metabolite isolation and structure elucidation. Conclusion: Overall the study provides an overview of the endophytic actinobacteria residing in the roots of the selected medicinal plants prevalent in south Asian region and their potential to produce the medicinally and biotechnologically useful compounds.