Insights into the diversity and survival strategies of soil bacterial isolates from the Atacama Desert

Alicyn Reverdy; Daniel Hathaway; Jessica Jha; Gabriel Michaels; Jeffrey Sullivan; Daniela Diaz McAdoo; Carlos Riquelme; Yunrong Chai; Veronica Godoy-Carter

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1335989

Insights into the diversity and survival strategies of soil bacterial isolates from the Atacama Desert

Front Microbiol. 2024 Mar 7:15:1335989. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1335989. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Alicyn Reverdy¹, Daniel Hathaway¹, Jessica Jha¹, Gabriel Michaels¹, Jeffrey Sullivan¹, Daniela Diaz McAdoo², Carlos Riquelme², Yunrong Chai¹, Veronica Godoy-Carter¹

Affiliations

¹ Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States.
² Facultad de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile.

Abstract

The Atacama Desert, the driest, with the highest radiation, and one of the most ancient deserts in the world, is a hostile environment for life. We have a collection of 74 unique bacterial isolates after cultivation and confirmation by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Pigmentation, biofilm formation, antimicrobial production against Escherichia coli MG1655 and Staphylococcus aureus HG003, and antibiotic resistance were assessed on these isolates. We found that approximately a third of the colonies produced pigments, 80% of isolates formed biofilms, many isolates produce growth inhibiting activities against E. coli and/or S. aureus, and many were resistant to antibiotics. The functional characterization of these isolates gives us insight into the adaptive bacterial strategies in harsh environments and enables us to learn about their possible use in agriculture, healthcare, or biotechnology.

Keywords: Atacama Desert; antibiotic resistance; antimicrobial production; biofilm; extremophiles; microbial diversity; pigments.

Grants and funding

The authors declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was funded by Northeastern University (NU) Global Experience Office, and the NU Scholars Programs. VG-C was funded by a stipend from NuSci, an Inclusive Excellence grant from HHMI, YC was supported by a National Science Foundation grant (MCB1651732), and AR was supported by the NU Provost Dissertation Completion Fellowship.