Phenotypic and genomic characterization provide new insights into adaptation to environmental stressors and biotechnological relevance of mangrove Alcaligenes faecalis D334.

Alcaligenes faecalis D334 was determined in this study as a salt-tolerant bacterium isolated from mangrove sediment. In response to 6% (w/v) NaCl, strain D334 produced the highest ectoines of 14.14 wt%. To understand adaptive features to mangrove environment, strain D334 was sequenced using Pacific BioScience platform, resulting in a circular chromosome of 4.23 Mb. Of note, D334 genome harbored 81 salt-responsive genes, among which two membrane-associated genes ompc and eric were absent in 3 selected A. faecalis genomes. Apart from that, a complete pathway for ectoine and 5-hydroxyectoine synthesis was predicted. To resist 40 mM H2O2, 46 genetic determinants contributing to oxidative stress response were employed. Moreover, two operons involved in polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production were identified in the D334 genome, resulting in maximum PHA content of 5.03 ± 0.04 wt% and PHA concentration of 0.13 ± 0.001 g/L. A large flagellar biosynthesis operon contributing to swimming motility was found to be conserved in D334 and 8 other A. faecalis genomes. These findings shed light for the first time on the high versatility of A. faecalis D334 genome to adapt to mangrove lifestyle and the possibility to develop D334 as an industrial platform for PHA and 5-hydroxyectoine production.

Genome-Guided Investigation Provides New Insights into Secondary Metabolites of Streptomyces parvulus SX6 from Aegiceras corniculatum.

Whole-genome sequencing and genome mining are recently considered an efficient approach to shine more light on the underlying secondary metabolites of Streptomyces. The present study unearths the biosynthetic potential of endophytic SX6 as a promising source of biologically active substances and plant-derived compounds for the first time. Out of 38 isolates associated with Aegiceras corniculatum (L.) Blanco, Streptomyces parvulus SX6 was highly active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC® 9027™ and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) ATCC® 35984™. Additionally, S. parvulus SX6 culture extract showed strong cytotoxicity against Hep3B, MCF-7, and A549 cell lines at a concentration of 30 µg/ml, but not in non-cancerous HEK-293 cells. The genome contained 7.69 Mb in size with an average G + C content of 72.8% and consisted of 6,779 protein-coding genes. AntiSMASH analysis resulted in the identification of 29 biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) for secondary metabolites. Among them, 4 BGCs showed low similarity (28-67% of genes show similarity) to actinomycin, streptovaricin, and polyoxypeptin gene clusters, possibly attributed to antibacterial and anticancer activities observed. In addition, the complete biosynthetic pathways of plant-derived compounds, including daidzein and genistein were identified using genome mining and HPLC-DAD-MS analysis. These findings portray an exciting avenue for future characterization of promising secondary metabolites from mangrove endophytic S. parvulus.