Discovering the recondite secondary metabolome spectrum of Salinispora species: a study of inter-species diversity

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 12;9(3):e91488. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091488. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Patterns of inter-species secondary metabolite production by bacteria can provide valuable information relating to species ecology and evolution. The complex nature of this chemical diversity has previously been probed via directed analyses of a small number of compounds, identified through targeted assays rather than more comprehensive biochemical profiling approaches such as metabolomics. Insights into ecological and evolutionary relationships within bacterial genera can be derived through comparative analysis of broader secondary metabolite patterns, and this can also eventually assist biodiscovery search strategies for new natural products. Here, we investigated the species-level chemical diversity of the two marine actinobacterial species Salinispora arenicola and Salinispora pacifica, isolated from sponges distributed across the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), via their secondary metabolite profiles using LC-MS-based metabolomics. The chemical profiles of these two species were obtained by UHPLC-QToF-MS based metabolic profiling. The resultant data were interrogated using multivariate data analysis methods to compare their (bio)chemical profiles. We found a high level of inter-species diversity in strains from these two bacterial species. We also found rifamycins and saliniketals were produced exclusively by S. arenicola species, as the main secondary metabolites differentiating the two species. Furthermore, the discovery of 57 candidate compounds greatly increases the small number of secondary metabolites previously known to be produced by these species. In addition, we report the production of rifamycin O and W, a key group of ansamycin compounds, in S. arenicola for the first time. Species of the marine actinobacteria harbour a much wider spectrum of secondary metabolites than suspected, and this knowledge may prove a rich field for biodiscovery as well as a database for understanding relationships between speciation, evolution and chemical ecology.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Metabolome*
  • Metabolomics
  • Micromonosporaceae / classification
  • Micromonosporaceae / metabolism*
  • Rifamycins / biosynthesis
  • Secondary Metabolism*
  • Species Specificity

Substances

  • Rifamycins
  • rifamycin O

Grants and funding

This paper is an output from the Great Barrier Reef Seabed Biodiversity Project, a collaboration between the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries (QDPIF), and the Queensland Museum (QM); funded by the CRC Reef Research Centre, the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, and the National Oceans Office; and led by R. Pitcher (Principal Investigator, CSIRO), P. Doherty (AIMS), J. Hooper (QM) and N. Gribble (QDPIF). Utpal Bose was supported by a University of Queensland International Scholarship. Yi Kai Ng was supported by the University of Queensland Research Scholarship. Miranda Vidgen was supported by an Australian Research Council Linkage Award. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.