Next Article in Journal
Bioactivity Screening of Antarctic Sponges Reveals Anticancer Activity and Potential Cell Death via Ferroptosis by Mycalols
Next Article in Special Issue
What Was Old Is New Again: The Pennate Diatom Haslea ostrearia (Gaillon) Simonsen in the Multi-Omic Age
Previous Article in Journal
Anthraquinones, Diphenyl Ethers, and Their Derivatives from the Culture of the Marine Sponge-Associated Fungus Neosartorya spinosa KUFA 1047
Previous Article in Special Issue
Screening of Neutrophil Activating Factors from a Metagenome Library of Sponge-Associated Bacteria
 
 
Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
Journals
Marine Drugs
Volume 19
Issue 8
10.3390/md19080458
marinedrugs-logo
Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Propose a Special Issue
► Article Menu

Article Menu

share Share announcement Help format_quote Cite question_answer Discuss in SciProfiles thumb_up
...
Endorse textsms
...
Comment
first_page
settings
Order Article Reprints
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Article

Isolation, Phylogenetic and Gephyromycin Metabolites Characterization of New Exopolysaccharides-Bearing Antarctic Actinobacterium from Feces of Emperor Penguin

by
Hui-Min Gao
1,
Peng-Fei Xie
1,2,
Xiao-Ling Zhang
1,2,* and
Qiao Yang
1,2,3,*
1
College of Marine Science and Technology, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316022, China
2
ABI Group, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316022, China
3
Department of Environment Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316022, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Mar. Drugs 2021, 19(8), 458; https://doi.org/10.3390/md19080458
Submission received: 16 June 2021 / Revised: 13 July 2021 / Accepted: 11 August 2021 / Published: 12 August 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Approach and Data Mining in Discovery of Marine Natural Products)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
A new versatile actinobacterium designated as strain NJES-13 was isolated from the feces of the Antarctic emperor penguin. This new isolate was found to produce two active gephyromycin analogues and bioflocculanting exopolysaccharides (EPS) metabolites. Phylogenetic analysis based on pairwise comparison of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain NJES-13 was closely related to Mobilicoccus pelagius Aji5-31T with a gene similarity of 95.9%, which was lower than the threshold value (98.65%) for novel species delineation. Additional phylogenomic calculations of the average nucleotide identity (ANI, 75.9–79.1%), average amino acid identity (AAI, 52.4–66.9%) and digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH, 18.6–21.9%), along with the constructed phylogenomic tree based on the up-to-date bacterial core gene (UBCG) set from the bacterial genomes, unequivocally separated strain NJES-13 from its close relatives within the family Dermatophilaceae. Hence, it clearly indicated that strain NJES-13 represented a putative new actinobacterial species isolated from the gut microbiota of mammals inhabiting the Antarctic. The obtained complete genome of strain NJES-13 consisted of a circular 3.45 Mb chromosome with a DNA G+C content of 67.0 mol%. Furthering genome mining of strain NJES-13 showed the presence of five biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) including one type III PKS responsible for the biosynthesis of the core of gephyromycins, and a series of genes encoding for bacterial EPS biosynthesis. Thus, based on the combined phylogenetic and active metabolites characterization presented in this study, we confidently conclude that strain NJES-13 is a novel, fresh actinobacterial candidate to produce active gephyromycins and microbial bioflocculanting EPS, with potential pharmaceutical, environmental and biotechnological implications.

Graphical Abstract

1. Introduction

Actinobacteria are a unique prokaryote group and a virtually unlimited source due to their extraordinary abilities to deliver a multitude of novel bioactive lead compounds with medical, pharmaceutical, industrial and ecological significance [1,2]. They are widespread in nature and have been recovered from a wide variety of terrestrial or aquatic habitats, as saprophytes, symbionts or pathogens [3]. Moreover, marine ecosystems are largely an untapped, promising source for deriving various kinds of rare actinobacteria which uniquely possess quite different biological properties, including antimicrobial, anticancer, antiviral, insecticidal and enzyme inhibitory activities [4]. Among them, the family Dermatophilaceae was first described by Van Saceghem in 1915 with Dermatophilus as the genus [5]. Recently, this family was reclassified into the newly proposed order Dermatophilales in the newly proposed class Actinobacteria [6]. So far, this family embraces seven genera which were isolated from the feces of mammalians [7], skins of infected mammalians [8], intestinal tracts of fishes [9], lake sediments [10] and also an activated sludge [11]. Interestingly, unusual novel bioactive Dermatophilaceae members with great potential for natural drug discovery were also isolated from marine sponges [12]. However, no bacterial strain belonging to this family has been reported from the Antarctic habitat yet.
Bacteria produce a wide range of varied exopolysaccharides (EPS) which comprise a substantial component of the extracellular polymers surrounding most microbial cells, and function as a strategy for bacterial growth, adherence and survival under adverse stress conditions [13,14]. Marine EPS-bearing microbes inhabiting extreme niches have been found in cold environments, typically of Arctic and Antarctic sea ices [15], and hypersaline habitats such as salt lakes and salterns [16,17]. Indeed, microbial EPS derived from the extremophiles have shown diverse biotechnological promise, ranging from pharmaceutical industries for their immuno-modulatory and antiviral effects, and bone regeneration and cicatrizing capacity, to food industries for their peculiar gelling and thickening properties [13,18,19]. Moreover, some EPS are employed as novel microbial biosurfactants which can outcompete the traditional chemical flocculants due to their non-toxicity and extraordinary biodegradability characteristics [20,21,22].
Gephyromycin, the first intramolecular ether-bridged angucyclinone, was originally isolated from an antarctic Streptomyces strain named NTK-14 in 2005 [23]. Gephyromycin and its analogues exhibit powerful glutaminergic activity towards neuronal cells with a comparable effective dosage against DCG-IV, which is the most potent glutamate agonist [24]. It also has an obvious anti-tumor effect towards PC3 cells as a novel inhibitor of HSP90 [25]. However, gephyromycin has not been reported in all Dermatophilaceae members yet. In this study, we present the isolation of a novel versatile actinobacterium designated strain NJES-13 from the feces of antarctic emperor penguin. The new isolate produces gephyromycin analogues along with active bioflocculanting EPS metabolites. Based on our phylogenetic characterizations, strain NJES-13 represents a putative new actinobacterial species within the family Dermatophilaceae. Additionally, it is the first report for the bacterial species within this family isolated from the Antarctic habitat. Additionally, whole-genome sequencing and genome mining of the biosynthesis gene clusters (BGCs) of strain NJES-13 give insight into the practical application of this novel versatile antarctic actinobacterium for the production of the promising and active gephyromycin metabolites and EPS with potential pharmaceutical, environmental and biotechnological implications.

2. Results and Discussion

2.1. Phenotypic Characteristics of Strain NJES-13

Cells of strain NJES-13 were observed to form yellow colonies when grown on marine R2A plates at 28 °C for 2 days. Cells were Gram-negative, non-sporulating and motile with the peritrichous flagella (Figure 1A,B) with a faint layer of extracellular slime around the cells (Figure 1A), aerobic and weakly positive for anaerobic growth. This strain developed clusters of coccoid approximately 0.6–1.1 μm in diameter. It can divide by binary fission (Figure 1C and Figure S1) in the early phase of growth, and then the cell clusters were gradually disrupted during the stationary phase to form short rod-shape cells containing polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) granules inside (Figure 1B). The rod-shaped cells were approximately 0.5–0.8 μm wide and 0.7–1.2 μm long, and with clusters interconnected by the thicker (Figure 1C), or thin (Figure 1D) viscous EPS showing a three-dimensional net-like morphology. Bacterial growth of strain NJES-13 was observed to occur at 15–45 °C at pH 6.0–9.0 in the presence of 0.5–9% (w/v) NaCl.

2.2. Gephyromycin Metabolites Characterization

Two compounds were isolated from the culture of strain NJES-13. The extracts were separated by HPLC (Figure 2) and identified based on the data obtained by combined characterization based on high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (HR-ESI-MS) and 1H and 13C NMR analysis (Table S1). Compound 1 was identified as the known 2-hydroxytetrangomycin by HR-ESI-MS analysis to obtain a molecular formula, C19H15O6 (m/z 339.0881 [M+H]+, calculated value 339.0863). Additionally, compound 2 was identified as gephyromycin with the molecular formula, C19H19O8 (m/z 375.1096 [M+H]+, calculated value 375.1074). The obtained 1D 1H and 13C NMR data were consistent with those reported in the literature for the two known compounds [24,25]. Moreover, the extra peak (retention time at 7.95 min) that appeared in the HPLC chromatogram was a potential new gephyromycin analogue (data not shown), but its detailed chemical structure remains to be elucidated due to its low production level cultured in the unoptimized R2A media. According to the quantitative analysis, the production level of 2-hydroxytetrangomycin and gephyromycin in strain NJES-13 were calculated as 3.056 and 2.554 mg·L−1, respectively. The bioactivities of gephyromycin analogues have been demonstrated in previous reports [23,24,25]. This finding indicates the new isolate may provide a new antarctic actinobacterium candidate for the production of those promising active gephyromycins.

2.3. Whole-Genome Sequencing and Annotation

The genomic size of strain NJES-13 was 3,449,783 bp with a calculated G+C content of 67.0%, an N50 value of 3,449,783 bp and an over 420× genome coverage. A circular representation of its complete genome, including one chromosome, is shown in Figure 3. Based on the genome annotation, the total number of predicted genes was 3082, of which 3026 were protein-coding genes. It also had 56 RNA genes including 47 tRNA and 9 rRNA genes. A total of 79 CRISPR sequences were found in the chromosome. Then, 2197 genes (74.5%) were assigned to 26 functional categories of the COG database, and 850 genes participated in the pathway of metabolism which was the primary function of the chromosome. Additionally, total 143 genes were not assigned any known function, accounting for about 6.5% of the total. KEGG analysis revealed 1550 proteins involved in five pathways, in which about 42.8% were classified into the “metabolism” category. GO analysis assigned 2177 proteins into three functional terms in which the top five subgroups were plasma membrane, integral to membrane, ATP binding, cytoplasm and metal ion binding, respectively (Table S2).

2.4. Phylogenetic Analysis

Phylogenetic analysis based on the bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences between strain NJES-13 and its close relatives were performed. The gene similarity identification based on the 16S gene alignment indicated that strain NJES-13 showed the highest gene sequence similarity with Mobilicoccus pelagius Aji5-31T (95.9%), which was obviously far lower than the threshold (98.65%) generally recognized for novel species delineation [26,27]. Moreover, phylogenetic trees using the neighbor-joining (NJ) method demonstrated that strain NJES-13 was closely related to the Mobilicoccus group compared with all other type strains within the family Dermatophilaceae (Figure 4).

2.5. Phylogenomic Calculations

In order to identify the maximal matches and local collinear blocks (LCBs), a multiple whole-genome alignment of genome sequences of strains NJES-13 and its closest relative Mobilicoccus pelagius Aji5-31T was performed using PATRIC software [28]. As shown in Figure 5, the LCBs alignment identified 44 conserved gene regions larger than 1 kb, which demonstrated clear differences from each other. Moreover, for completely assuring the taxonomic position of the new isolate, the phylogenomic comparisons based on average nucleotide identity (ANI), average amino acid identity (AAI) and digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH) values between strain NJES-13 and other type strains within the family Dermatophilaceae with available genomes were performed. The obtained calculation results are shown in Figure 6. The ANI and AAI values between NJES-13 and other type members of Dermatophilaceae with available genome sequences ranged from 75.9 to 79.1%, and 52.4 to 66.9%, respectively (Figure 6A), which are both below the thresholds proposed for different genera [28]. The dDDH (18.6–21.9%) values (Figure 6B) calculated between members of separate genera of this family, were also far below the threshold value for genera delineation [28]. These low phylogenomic values, along with 16S rRNA gene identity, support novel species delineation of strain NJES-13 from the close relatives. Additionally, based on the constructed phylogenomic UBCG tree (Figure 7), strain NJES-13 formed a separate branch clustered with the type species of the genera of Austwickia and Dermatophilus, and apart from the two Mobilicoccus species, although they shared the same root on the phylogenomic tree. It further confirmed the phylogenetic position as a putative new member within the family Dermatophilaceae (the detailed polyphasic taxonomic identification will be published elsewhere). Additionally, it’s the first report of the new actinobacterial species within the family Dermatophilaceae isolated from the gut microbiota of mammalians living in the Antarctic habitat.

2.6. Bioflocculanting Potential of Bacterial EPS

Initially, the transmission electron microscope observation of strain NJES-13 cells clearly demonstrated the presence of an EPS layer outside of the cells (Figure 1). Then, the extracted EPS produced by strain NJES-13 were subjected to the bioflocculanting activity screening assay to evaluate their production capacity of bacterial bioflocculants [29,30,31]. The comparison of bioflocculanting effects under a series of EPS concentrations was performed. Figure 8 shows the concentration-dependent manner of bioflocculanting bioactivity of the EPS produced by strain NJES-13. It can be clearly seen that the bioflocculanting activity reached the maximum of 96.7 ± 1.8% (means ± SD) at the EPS concentration of 0.60 g·L−1. It exhibited a higher bioflocculanting capacity compared with other marine bacterial strains isolated from marine phycosphere niches that we previously reported [29,30,31]. These findings obviously indicate that strain NJES-13 may serve as a novel actinobacterial candidate with natural potential for the production of promising microbial bioflocculants derived from the unique mammalian gut microbiota niche in the antarctic habitat. Additionally, the ongoing chemical elucidation of the bioflocculanting EPS complex is believed to eventually reveal the chemical nature for the extraordinary natural instincts of strain NJES-13.

2.7. Biosynthetic Genes Responsible for Active Metabolites

Based on the whole-genome sequence of strain NJES-13, the antiSMASH tool was used to predict the biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) responsible for secondary metabolite synthesis [32]. According to the obtained prediction result, total five BGCs were found in the genome of strain NJES-13, including a 44.5 kb long type III polyketide synthase (T3PKS) cluster with 100% similarity, as well as one 47.4 kb long type I polyketide synthase (T1PKS) cluster, two NRPS-like clusters of 43.4 and 42.0 kb, respectively, and one 27.8 kb long beta-lactone cluster. These findings indicate that strain NJES-13 possesses great potential to produce novel bioactive metabolites [33,34,35,36]. But unlike its closest relative, both T3PKS and T1PKS gene clusters were absent in the type strain of Mobilicoccus pelagius.
For bacterial EPS biosynthesis, several biosynthesis genes (wzx, exo and muc) were found in the genome of strain NJES-13. However, they were also not found in the type strain of Mobilicoccus pelagius. Based on the bioflocculanting activity assay of EPS of strain NJES-13, it is indicated that strain NJES-13 dwelling in the gut microenvironment of antarctic emperor penguin might act as a novel fresh candidate with great production potential for natural promising bioflocculants [21,22,23]. Additionally, ultrastructure observation of the cells of strain NJES-13 by transmission electron microscopy also clearly showed the presence of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) granules inside the cells (Figure 1). Furthermore, genomic mining of strain NJES-13 revealed one loci harboring genes assigned to PHA biosynthesis pathway. Bacterial PHAs are used to store carbon and energy, and highlight the huge talent for the production of biodegradable bioplastics [37,38]. These encoding genes included acetoacetyl-CoA reductase, poly(R)- hydroxyalcanoic acid synthase and an ORF-encoding phasin protein responsible for PHA granule formation.

3. Materials and Methods

3.1. Bacterial Isolation and Culture

The feces of an Antarctic adult Emperor penguin were obtained on the terrestrial spot (69°22’24.78”S, 76°22’14.24”E) on December 10 in 2012 during the 29th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE), and sampled using sterile wooden spatulas and placed in a sterile tube. The obtained samples were brought back to the Biological Lab built in the Xuelong Expedition Ship [39]. For bacterial isolation, the feces samples were washed with sterile phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) buffer (pH 7.2). Cells were collected by centrifugation at 5000× g for 10 min, and re-suspended in 1 mL of sterile PBS buffer (pH 7.20). Aliquots of the cell suspension were then subjected to ten-fold serial dilution and plated in triplicate on marine R2A agar (Difco), and cultivated for 5–14 days at 28 °C. The isolated NJES-13 was routinely cultivated on the same medium in slant tubes at 28 °C and maintained as a glycerol suspension (30%, v/v), stored at −80 °C for long-term preservation.

3.2. Phylogenetic Analysis of Bacterial 16S rRNA Genes

For 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, the genomic DNA of the strain was extracted using a genomic DNA extraction kit (Promega; Shanghai, China). The universal bacterial primer pair of 27F/1492R was used for amplification of the 16S rRNA gene. PCR amplification was carried out according to the method described previously [40]. The PCR product was purified and cloned into pMD18-T vector (TaKaRa, Beijing, China) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Plasmids were sequenced using universal primers (M13 forward and reverse) by MajorBio (Shanghai, China). The identification of phylogenetic neighbor and the calculation of 16S rRNA gene similarity were achieved using the EzTaxon server (http://www.ezbiocloud.net, accessed on 16 May 2021). Reference sequences of type strains were downloaded from the NCBI database. The 16S gene sequences of the type strains that were closely related to strain NJES-13 downloaded from the NCBI database were subjected to phylogenetic analysis using MEGA version 7.0 after multiple alignment of the data via ClustalW [41,42]. Phylogenetic distances were calculated according to neighbor-joining method. In each case, bootstrap values were calculated based on 1000 replications to evaluate the phylogenetic tree topology.

3.3. Bacterial Phenotypic Profile

Cell morphology of an exponentially growing culture of strain NJES-13 was observed by transmission and scanning electron microscopy (JEOL, Tokyo, Japan) [40]. The morphology and the colonies were observed on R2A after 24 h of incubation at 28 °C. Growth range and optimum at different temperatures (5–50 °C with 5 unit intervals) and pH values (4.0–11.0, at 0.5 unit intervals) was investigated in R2A media and cultured at 28°C for 2 days. Growth at various NaCl concentrations (0–11.0%, w/v, with interval of 0.5%) at pH 7.2 was investigated in R2A liquid medium at 28 °C for 2 days. Growth under anaerobic conditions was determined after incubation in an anaerobic chamber (Bactron EZ-2; Shellab) for 1 week on marine R2A plates cultivated at 28 °C. Oxidase and catalase activities were determined according to Yang et al. [42].

3.4. Characterization of Secondary Metabolites

Strain NJES-13 was cultured in 500 mL marine R2A liquid medium in 2 L glass flasks shaken at 150 rpm at 28 °C for 7 days. A total 2 L volume of culture broth was centrifuged at 6000 g. The harvested cells were frozen at −80 °C for 3 h, and then were extracted with 2 L cold pure acetone. The extraction procedure was repeated twice. The combined 4 L extracts were concentrated to about 200 mL volume under reduced pressure, and then subjected to the MCI column and eluted with gradient MeOH/H2O (10:90, 50:50, 80:20 and 100) to obtain three elution fractions. The 80% MeOH fraction was separated by Sephadex LH-20 gel column, and then eluted with ethanol to obtain two fractions, named fraction D (~26.5 mg) and E (~18.3 mg). The purification procedure was performed on an RP-HPLC system (C18, 5 μm, 10 mm × 250 mm, I.D.) applying a gradient elution ranging from 0 to 100% MeOH/H2O for fraction D to obtain compound 1 (~6.1 mg), and for fraction E to obtain compound 2 (~5.1 mg).

3.5. Whole-Genome Sequencing, Assembly and Annotation

Strain NJES-13 was cultured and maintained in marine R2A media (Difco) and cultured at 28 °C, and was harvested in the mid-logarithmic phase. The genome DNA was extracted and purified using the QIAamp DNA Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) according to the manufacturer’s instruction, and sequenced by PacBio RS II Single Molecule Real-Time (SMRT) sequencing platform (Pacific Biosciences, Menlo Park, CA, USA) as described previously [42]. For PacBio sequencing, genomic DNA was sheared to 10 kb using g-TUBE (Covaris, Woburn, MA, USA) and converted into the proprietary SMRTbellTM library format using PacBio RS DNA Template Preparation Kit. The library was sequenced on the SMRT platform. Total 1078 Mb filtered high-quality reads with average 424-fold genome coverage were assembled into one contig. The contig was connected into 1 chromosome by SOAPdenovo [43]. Based on the fine genome of strain NJES-13, the protein-coding regions were predicted by Glimmer (Version 3.02) [44], and all the gene functions were annotated by aligning to GO (http://www.geeontology.org, accessed on 28 April 2021), COG (https://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/COG/, accessed on 30 April 2021) [45] and KEGG (http://www.kegg.jp, accessed on 30 April 2021) databases [46], respectively. Circular representation of the single chromosome of strain NJES-13 genome was performed using Circos (version 0.64, BCC, Vancouver, BC, Canada) (http://circos.ca, accessed on 12 April 2021) [47].

3.6. Phylogenomic Analysis

The genome sequences of selected type strains within the family Dermatophilaceae were available until June 2021, and downloaded from GenBank genome database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome, accessed on 10 June 2021). The up-to-date bacterial core gene set (UBCG) was used to construct a phylogenetic tree using the genomes of strain NJES-13 and other reference type strains [21,48]. DNA G+C content of strain NJES-13 was calculated based on the genome sequence. Three measures of similarity based on the average nucleotide identity (ANI), average amino acid identity (AAI) and digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH) values were calculated using online OrthoANI tool and GGDC tool (http://ggdc.dsmz.de/distcalc2.php, accessed on 12 June 2021), respectively, using the default parameters. A multiple whole-genome alignment of genome sequences to identify the maximal matches and local collinear blocks (LCBs) were performed using PATRIC software (https://www.patricbrc.org, accessed on 15 June 2021) [27].

3.7. Biosynthetic Gene Clusters Prediction

The in silico prediction of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) for secondary metabolite synthesis was performed using Secondary Metabolite Analysis Shell (antiSMASH) version 6.0.0 [32] based on the whole-genome sequence of strain NJES-13.

3.8. Bacterial EPS Bioflocculanting Activity Assay

Extraction of bacterial EPS produced by strain NJES-13 and bioflocculanting activity evaluation were performed according to our procedures reported previously [20,49]. The prepared EPS were dissolved in distilled water for further bioflocculanting activity assay [23]. Briefly, the measurements using the kaolin clay suspension flocculation assay calculated as flocculation rate were used and performed in a 96-well microplate with a modified high-throughput manner in at least triplicate [20,21,22]. All the results are expressed as the means ± SD. The statistical significance was analyzed using t-test in SPSS Statistics (version 17.0, IBM, Shanghai, China) and plotted with Origin (verstion 8.0, Electronic Arts Inc., Redwood City, CA, USA). A value of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant for all analyses [50].

3.9. GenBank Accession Numbers

The DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank accession number for 16S rRNA gene sequences of the strain NJES-13 is MH197128. The complete genome sequence of strain NJES-13 was deposited at DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank with the accession number CP051155.

4. Conclusions

Based on the phylogenetic analysis using the bacterial 16S rRNA gene alignment, strain NJES-13, isolated from the feces of Antarctic emperor penguin, was shown to belong to the family Dermatophilaceae. Additional phylogenomic evidence obtained unequivocally separated strain NJES-13 from its close relatives, and further confirmed the phylogenetic position of this isolate to represent a putative new actinobacterial species within the family Dermatophilaceae. It produces two active gephyromycin analogues and bioflocculanting exopolysaccharide metabolites. Accordingly, furthering genome mining showed the presence of biosynthetic gene clusters for those active bacterial metabolites. Thus, the combined phylogenetic and active metabolites characterization convincedly reveals that strain NJES-13 represents a novel, fresh actinobacterial candidate to generate natural microbial products with great potential pharmaceutical, environmental and biotechnological utilizations.

Supplementary Materials

The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/md19080458/s1, Figure S1: Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation of the dividing cells of strain NJES-13 by binary fission with black arrows indicating the boundary of division. Bar, 1 μm. Table S1: The 1H (400 MHz, CDCl3) and 13C NMR (151 MHz, CDCl3) data for compounds 1 and 2. Table S2: Gene numbers of the functional categories of COGs based on the genomic sequence of strain NJES-13.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, H.-M.G., X.-L.Z. and Q.Y.; methodology, P.-F.X., X.-L.Z. and Q.Y.; software, P.-F.X.; resources, Q.Y.; data curation, H.-M.G., P.-F.X. and Q.Y.; writing—original draft preparation, H.-M.G., P.-F.X., X.-L.Z. and Q.Y; writing—review and editing, all authors; visualization, P.-F.X.; supervision, X.-L.Z. and Q.Y.; project administration, X.-L.Z. and Q.Y.; funding acquisition, H.-M.G., X.-L.Z. and Q.Y. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the Scientific Research Startup Foundation of Zhejiang Ocean University (grant no. 11105092221 to H.-M.G.), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 41876114 to X.-L.Z. and Q.Y.).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The article contains all the data produced in this study.

Conflicts of Interest

All the authors have declared no conflict of interest.

References

  1. Fiedler, H.P. Abyssomicins-A 20-Year Retrospective View. Mar. Drugs 2021, 19, 299. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  2. Khalifa, S.A.M.; Elias, N.; Farag, M.A.; Chen, L.; Saeed, A.; Hegazy, M.F.; Moustafa, M.S.; Abd El-Wahed, A.; Al-Mousawi, S.M.; Musharraf, S.G.; et al. Marine Natural Products: A Source of Novel Anticancer Drugs. Mar. Drugs 2019, 17, 491. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
  3. Subramani, R.; Sipkema, D. Marine Rare Actinomycetes: A Promising Source of Structurally Diverse and Unique Novel Natural Products. Mar. Drugs 2019, 7, 249. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
  4. Landry, Z.C.; Vergin, K.; Mannenbach, C.; Block, S.; Yang, Q.; Blainey, P.; Carlson, C.; Giovannoni, S. Optofluidic Single-Cell Genome Amplification of Sub-micron Bacteria in the Ocean Subsurface. Front. Microbiol. 2018, 9, 1152. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
  5. Salam, N.; Jiao, J.Y.; Zhang, X.T.; Li, W.J. Update on the classification of higher ranks in the phylum Actinobacteria. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2020, 70, 1331–1355. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  6. Nouioui, I.; Carro, L.; García-López, M.; Meier-Kolthoff, J.P.; Woyke, T.; Kyrpides, N.C.; Pukall, R.; Klenk, H.P.; Goodfellow, M.; Göker, M. Genome-Based Taxonomic Classification of the Phylum Actinobacteria. Front. Microbiol. 2018, 9, 2007. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  7. Hamada, M.; Iino, T.; Iwami, T.; Harayama, S.; Tamura, T.; Suzuki, K. Mobilicoccus pelagius gen. nov., sp. nov. and Piscicoccus intestinalis gen. nov., sp. nov., two new members of the family Dermatophilaceae, and reclassification of Dermatophilus chelonae (Masters et al. 1995) as Austwickia chelonae gen. nov., comb. nov. J. Gen. Appl. Microbiol. 2010, 56, 427–436. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  8. Azuma, R.; Ung-Bok, B.; Murakami, S.; Ishiwata, H.; Osaki, M.; Shimada, N.; Ito, Y.; Miyagawa, E.; Makino, T.; Kudo, T.; et al. Tonsilliphilus suis gen. nov., sp. nov., causing tonsil infections in pigs. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2013, 63, 2545–2552. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  9. Gordon, M.A. The genus Dermatophilus. J. Bacteriol. 1964, 88, 509–522. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  10. Collins, M.D.; Routh, J.; Saraswathy, A.; Lawson, P.A.; Schumann, P.; Welinder-Olsson, C.; Falsen, E. Arsenicicoccus bolidensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel actinomycete isolated from contaminated lake sediment. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2004, 54, 605–608. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  11. Liu, W.T.; Hanada, S.; Marsh, T.L.; Kamagata, Y.; Nakamura, K. Kineosphaera gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel Gram-positive polyhydroxyalkanoate-accumulating coccus isolated from activated sludge. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2002, 52, 1845–1849. [Google Scholar]
  12. Abdelmohsen, U.R.; Yang, C.; Horn, H.; Hajjar, D.; Ravasi, T.; Hentschel, U. Actinomycetes from Red Sea sponges: Sources for chemical and phylogenetic diversity. Mar. Drugs 2014, 12, 2771–2789. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  13. Poli, A.; Anzelmo, G.; Nicolaus, B. Bacterial exopolysaccharides from extreme marine habitats: Production, characterization and biological activities. Mar. Drugs 2010, 8, 1779–1802. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  14. Wingender, J.; Neu, T.R.; Flemming, H.C. What are bacterial extracellular polymer substances? In Microbial Extracellular Polymer Substance; Wingender, J., Neu, T.R., Flemming, H.-C., Eds.; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 1999; pp. 1–19. [Google Scholar]
  15. Bozal, N.; Tudela, E.; Rossello-Mora, R.; Lalucat, J.; Guinea, J. Pseudoalteromonas antartica sp. nov., isolated from an Antarctica coastal environment. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1997, 47, 345–351. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  16. Poli, A.; Schiano Moriello, V.; Esposito, E.; Lama, L.; Gambacorta, A.; Nicolaus, B. Exopolysaccharide production by a new Halomonas strain CRSS isolated from saline lake Cape Russell in Antarctica growing on complex and defined media. Biotechnol. Lett. 2004, 26, 1635–1638. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  17. Poli, A.; Esposito, E.; Orlando, P.; Lama, L.; Giordano, A.; de Appolonia, F.; Nicolaus, B.; Gambacorta, A. Halomonas alkaliantarctica sp. nov., isolated from saline lake Cape Russell in Antarctica, an alkalophilic moderately halophilic, exopolysaccharide-producing bacterium. Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 2007, 30, 31–38. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  18. Wang, Y.; Liu, G.; Liu, R.; Wei, M.; Zhang, J.; Sun, C. EPS364, a Novel Deep-Sea Bacterial Exopolysaccharide, Inhibits Liver Cancer Cell Growth and Adhesion. Mar. Drugs 2021, 19, 171. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  19. Zarandona, I.; Estupiñán, M.; Pérez, C.; Alonso-Sáez, L.; Guerrero, P.; de la Caba, K. Chitosan Films Incorporated with Exopolysaccharides from Deep Seawater Alteromonas Sp. Mar. Drugs 2020, 18, 447. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  20. Duan, Y.; Jiang, Z.; Wu, Z.; Sheng, Z.; Yang, X.; Sun, J.; Zhang, X.; Yang, Q.; Yu, X.; Yan, J. Limnobacter alexandrii sp. nov., a thiosulfate-oxidizing, heterotrophic and EPS-bearing Burkholderiaceae isolated from cultivable phycosphere microbiota of toxic Alexandrium catenella LZT09. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 2020, 113, 1689–1698. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  21. Zhang, X.L.; Li, G.X.; Ge, Y.M.; Iqbal, M.N.; Yang, X.; Cui, Z.D.; Yang, Q. Sphingopyxis microcytisis sp. nov., a novel bioactive exopolysaccharides-bearing Sphingomonadaceae isolated from the Microcytis phycosphere. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 2021, 114, 845–857. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  22. Yang, Q.; Ge, Y.M.; Iqbal, N.M.; Yang, X.; Zhang, X.L. Sulfitobacter alexandrii sp. nov., a new microalgae growth-promoting bacterium with exopolysaccharides bioflocculanting potential isolated from marine phycosphere. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 2021, 114, 1091–1106. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  23. Gerhard, B.; Gerhard, L.; Kadja, M.; Andreas, H.; Tobias, A.M.G.; Anke, D.; Alan, T.B.; James, E.M.S.; Niko, K.; Werner, E.G.M. Gephyromycin, the first bridged angucyclinone, from Streptomyces griseus strain NTK 14. Phytochemistry 2005, 66, 1366–1373. [Google Scholar]
  24. Kern, D.L.; Schaumberg, J.P.; Hokanson, G.C.; French, J.C. PD 116,779, a new antitumor antibiotic of the benz[a]anthraquinone class. J. Antibiot. 1986, 39, 469–470. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
  25. Ding, W.J.; Ji, Y.Y.; Jiang, Y.J.; Ying, W.J.; Fang, Z.Y.; Gao, T.T. Gephyromycin C, a novel small-molecule inhibitor of heat shock protein Hsp90, induces G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in PC3 cells in vitro. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2020, 531, 377–382. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  26. Yang, Q.; Jiang, Z.; Zhou, X.; Zhang, R.; Xie, Z.; Zhang, S.; Wu, Y.; Ge, Y.; Zhang, X. Haliea alexandrii sp. nov., isolated from phycosphere microbiota of the toxin-producing dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2020, 70, 1133–1138. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  27. Richter, M.; Rosselló-Móra, R. Shifting the genomic gold standard for the prokaryotic species definition. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2009, 106, 19126–19131. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
  28. Davis, J.J.; Wattam, A.R.; Aziz, R.K.; Brettin, T.; Butler, R.; Butler, R.M.; Chlenski, P.; Conrad, N.; Dickerman, A.; Dietrich, E.M.; et al. The PATRIC Bioinformatics Resource Center: Expanding data and analysis capabilities. Nucleic Acids Res. 2020, 48, D606–D612. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
  29. Yang, X.; Jiang, Z.W.; Zhang, J.; Zhou, X.; Zhang, X.L.; Wang, L.; Yu, T.; Wang, Z.; Bei, J.; Dong, B. Mesorhizobium alexandrii sp. nov., isolated from phycosphere microbiota of PSTs-producing marine dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum amtk4. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 2020, 113, 907–917. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  30. Zhang, X.L.; Qi, M.; Li, Q.H.; Cui, Z.D.; Yang, Q. Maricaulis alexandrii sp. nov., a novel active bioflocculants-bearing and dimorphic prosthecate bacterium isolated from marine phycosphere. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 2021, 114, 1195–1203. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  31. Zhou, X.; Zhang, X.A.; Jiang, Z.W.; Yang, X.; Zhang, X.L.; Yang, Q. Combined characterization of a new member of Marivita cryptomonadis, strain LZ-15-2 isolated from cultivable phycosphere microbiota of toxic HAB dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella LZT09. Braz. J. Microbiol. 2021, 52, 739–748. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  32. Blin, K.; Shaw, S.; Kloosterman, A.M.; Charlop-Powers, Z.; van Wezel, G.P.; Medema, M.H.; Weber, T. AntiSMASH 6.0: Improving cluster detection and comparison capabilities. Nucleic Acids Res. 2021, 12, gkab335. [Google Scholar]
  33. Martinelli, L.; Redou, V.; Cochereau, B.; Delage, L.; Hymery, N.; Poirier, E.; Le Meur, C.; Le Foch, G.; Cladiere, L.; Mehiri, M.; et al. Identification and Characterization of a New Type III Polyketide Synthase from a Marine Yeast, Naganishia uzbekistanensis. Mar. Drugs 2020, 18, 637. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  34. Atencio, L.A.; Boya, P.C.A.; Martin, H.C.; Mejía, L.C.; Dorrestein, P.C.; Gutiérrez, M. Genome Mining, Microbial Interactions, and Molecular Networking Reveals New Dibromoalterochromides from Strains of Pseudoalteromonas of Coiba National Park-Panama. Mar. Drugs 2020, 18, 456. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  35. Deng, Z.; Liu, J.; Li, T.; Li, H.; Liu, Z.; Dong, Y.; Li, W. An Unusual Type II Polyketide Synthase System Involved in Cinnamoyl Lipid Biosynthesis. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 2021, 60, 153–158. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  36. Prichula, J.; Primon-Barros, M.; Luz, R.C.Z.; Castro, Í.M.S.; Paim, T.G.S.; Tavares, M.; Ligabue-Braun, R.; d’Azevedo, P.A.; Frazzon, J.; Frazzon, A.P.G.; et al. Genome Mining for Antimicrobial Compounds in Wild Marine Animals-Associated Enterococci. Mar. Drugs 2021, 19, 328. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  37. Simó-Cabrera, L.; García-Chumillas, S.; Hagagy, N.; Saddiq, A.; Tag, H.; Selim, S.; AbdElgawad, H.; Arribas Agüero, A.; Monzó Sánchez, F.; Cánovas, V.; et al. Haloarchaea as Cell Factories to Produce Bioplastics. Mar. Drugs 2021, 19, 159. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  38. Giubilini, A.; Bondioli, F.; Messori, M.; Nyström, G.; Siqueira, G. Advantages of additive manufacturing for biomedical applications of polyhydroxyalkanoates. Bioengineering 2021, 8, 29. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  39. Yang, Q. Taxonomic Identification and Bioactivity Screening of the Symbiotic Bacteria Strains of Euphausia Superba from Antarctic Ocean. Appl. Mech. Mater. 2013, 295–298, 173–177. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  40. Yang, Q.; Feng, Q.; Zhang, B.P.; Gao, J.J.; Sheng, Z.; Xue, Q.P.; Zhang, X.L. Marinobacter alexandrii sp. nov., a novel yellow-pigmented and algae growth-promoting bacterium isolated from marine phycosphere microbiota. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 2021, 114, 709–718. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  41. Yang, Q.; Zhang, X.L.; Li, L.; Zhang, R.N.; Feng, L.J.; Mu, J. Ponticoccus alexandrii sp. nov., a novel bacterium isolated from the marine toxigenic dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 2018, 11, 995–1000. [Google Scholar]
  42. Yang, Q.; Jiang, Z.; Zhou, X.; Xie, Z.; Wang, Y.; Wang, D.; Feng, L.; Yang, G.; Ge, Y.; Zhang, X. Saccharospirillum alexandrii sp. nov., isolated from the toxigenic marine dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella LZT09. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2020, 70, 820–826. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  43. Madritsch, S.; Burg, A.; Sehr, E.M. Comparing de novo transcriptome assembly tools in di-and autotetraploid non-model plant species. BMC Bioinform. 2021, 22, 146. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  44. Delcher, A.L.; Bratke, K.A.; Powers, E.C.; Salzberg, S.L. Identifying bacterial genes and endosymbiont DNA with Glimmer. Bioinformatics 2007, 23, 673–679. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  45. Kanehisa, M.; Goto, S. KEGG: Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Nucleic Acids Res. 2000, 28, 27–30. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  46. Tatusov, R.L.; Galperin, M.Y.; Natale, D.A.; Koonin, E.V. The COG database: A tool for genome-scale analysis of protein functions and evolution. Nucleic Acids Res. 2000, 28, 33–36. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
  47. Krzywinski, M.; Schein, J.; Birol, I.; Connors, J.; Gascoyne, R.; Horsman, D.; Jones, S.J.; Marra, M.A. Circos: An information aesthetic for comparative genomics. Genome. Res. 2009, 19, 1639–1645. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
  48. Yang, X.; Xiang, R.; Iqbal, N.M.; Duan, Y.H.; Zhang, X.A.; Wang, L.; Yu, L.Z.; Li, J.Z.; Sun, M.F.; Yang, Q.; et al. Marinobacter shengliensis subsp. alexandrii Subsp. Nov., Isolated from Cultivable Phycosphere Microbiota of Highly Toxic Dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella LZT09 and Description of Marinobacter shengliensis Subsp. shengliensis Subsp. Nov. Curr. Microbiol. 2021, 78, 1648–1655. [Google Scholar] [PubMed]
  49. Yang, Q.; Jiang, Z.; Zhou, X.; Zhang, R.; Wu, Y.; Lou, L.; Ma, Z.; Wang, D.; Ge, Y.; Zhang, X.; et al. Nioella ostreopsis sp. nov., isolated from toxic dinoflagellate, Ostreopsis lenticularis. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2020, 70, 759–765. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  50. Liu, J.Z.; Yang, J.S.; Ge, Y.M.; Yang, Q.; Sun, J.Y.; Yu, X. Acute effects of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite on Scenedesmus obliquus and Daphnia magana in aquatic environment. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. 2021, 208, 111677. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g001 550
Figure 1. Morphological images of strain NJES-13 grown on marine R2A plates cultured at 28 °C for 2 days, bacterial morphology obtained transmission electron microscopy observation showing the coccoid-shaped cells with clusters with black arrows indicating the exopolysaccharides (EPS) layer (A), and (B) short rod-shaped cells showing the polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) granules (white arrows) inside the cells observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showing the coccoid-shaped cells with clusters interconnected by thicker (C) and thin (D) viscous EPS showing three-dimensional net-like morphology (red/yellow arrows). Bar, 1 μm for pane A and B, 3 μm for pane C and 5 μm for pane D.
Figure 1. Morphological images of strain NJES-13 grown on marine R2A plates cultured at 28 °C for 2 days, bacterial morphology obtained transmission electron microscopy observation showing the coccoid-shaped cells with clusters with black arrows indicating the exopolysaccharides (EPS) layer (A), and (B) short rod-shaped cells showing the polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) granules (white arrows) inside the cells observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showing the coccoid-shaped cells with clusters interconnected by thicker (C) and thin (D) viscous EPS showing three-dimensional net-like morphology (red/yellow arrows). Bar, 1 μm for pane A and B, 3 μm for pane C and 5 μm for pane D.
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g001
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g002 550
Figure 2. HPLC profile of the metabolites of strain NJES-13 after 10 days culture in R2A medium at 28 °C. About 250 mg of wet cultures at exponential phase was extracted and then analyzed by RP-HPLC (C18, 5 μm, 10 mm × 250 mm, I.D.) using a gradient elution ranging from 0 to 100% MeOH/H2O in 20 min, and recorded at 290 nm. The peak marked with a brown circle was a potential new gephyromycin analogue whose chemical structure remains to be elucidated.
Figure 2. HPLC profile of the metabolites of strain NJES-13 after 10 days culture in R2A medium at 28 °C. About 250 mg of wet cultures at exponential phase was extracted and then analyzed by RP-HPLC (C18, 5 μm, 10 mm × 250 mm, I.D.) using a gradient elution ranging from 0 to 100% MeOH/H2O in 20 min, and recorded at 290 nm. The peak marked with a brown circle was a potential new gephyromycin analogue whose chemical structure remains to be elucidated.
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g002
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g003 550
Figure 3. Circular representation of the single chromosome of strain NJES-13 genome using Circos tool (version 0.64, BCC, Vancouver, BC, Canada). The scale of the genome size is shown in the outer line. From the outer to inner circle: the two outer circles show the predicted protein-coding sequences (CDs) on the plus and minus strand. Different colors in these two circles show genes with different COG categories; the third circle shows rRNA and tRNA (red); and the fourth and inner fifth circles show G + C content and G + C skew, respectively.
Figure 3. Circular representation of the single chromosome of strain NJES-13 genome using Circos tool (version 0.64, BCC, Vancouver, BC, Canada). The scale of the genome size is shown in the outer line. From the outer to inner circle: the two outer circles show the predicted protein-coding sequences (CDs) on the plus and minus strand. Different colors in these two circles show genes with different COG categories; the third circle shows rRNA and tRNA (red); and the fourth and inner fifth circles show G + C content and G + C skew, respectively.
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g003
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g004 550
Figure 4. Phylogenetic tree constructed using neighbor-joining (NJ) method based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences of strain NJES-13 and its close relative type strains within the family Dermacoccaceae. Bootstrap values are expressed as percentages of 1000 replicates. Actibacterium pelagium JN33T was used as the outgroup. Bar, 0.02 substitutions per nucleotide position.
Figure 4. Phylogenetic tree constructed using neighbor-joining (NJ) method based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences of strain NJES-13 and its close relative type strains within the family Dermacoccaceae. Bootstrap values are expressed as percentages of 1000 replicates. Actibacterium pelagium JN33T was used as the outgroup. Bar, 0.02 substitutions per nucleotide position.
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g004
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g005 550
Figure 5. Genome organizations of strain NJES-13 and the type strain of Mobilicoccus pelagius. Each genome is laid out horizontally with homologous segments (LCBs) outlined as colored rectangles. Lines with the same color collate aligned segments between the two genomes. Average sequence similarities within an LCB, measured in sliding windows, are proportional to the heights of interior colored bars. Large sections of white within blocks and gaps between blocks indicate lineage-specific sequence.
Figure 5. Genome organizations of strain NJES-13 and the type strain of Mobilicoccus pelagius. Each genome is laid out horizontally with homologous segments (LCBs) outlined as colored rectangles. Lines with the same color collate aligned segments between the two genomes. Average sequence similarities within an LCB, measured in sliding windows, are proportional to the heights of interior colored bars. Large sections of white within blocks and gaps between blocks indicate lineage-specific sequence.
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g005
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g006a 550Marinedrugs 19 00458 g006b 550
Figure 6. Phylogenomic calculations of the ANI/AAI (A) and dDDH (B) values among the type species with available genomes within the family Dermatophilaceae.
Figure 6. Phylogenomic calculations of the ANI/AAI (A) and dDDH (B) values among the type species with available genomes within the family Dermatophilaceae.
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g006aMarinedrugs 19 00458 g006b
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g007 550
Figure 7. Phylogenomic tree of strain NJES-13 and its close relatives based on the up-to-date bacterial core gene (UBCG) set. Bar, 0.10 nucleotide substitutions per site.
Figure 7. Phylogenomic tree of strain NJES-13 and its close relatives based on the up-to-date bacterial core gene (UBCG) set. Bar, 0.10 nucleotide substitutions per site.
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g007
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g008 550
Figure 8. Concentration-dependent manner of bioflocculanting rates of the EPS produced by strain NJES-13.
Figure 8. Concentration-dependent manner of bioflocculanting rates of the EPS produced by strain NJES-13.
Marinedrugs 19 00458 g008
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Gao, H.-M.; Xie, P.-F.; Zhang, X.-L.; Yang, Q. Isolation, Phylogenetic and Gephyromycin Metabolites Characterization of New Exopolysaccharides-Bearing Antarctic Actinobacterium from Feces of Emperor Penguin. Mar. Drugs 2021, 19, 458. https://doi.org/10.3390/md19080458

AMA Style

Gao H-M, Xie P-F, Zhang X-L, Yang Q. Isolation, Phylogenetic and Gephyromycin Metabolites Characterization of New Exopolysaccharides-Bearing Antarctic Actinobacterium from Feces of Emperor Penguin. Marine Drugs. 2021; 19(8):458. https://doi.org/10.3390/md19080458

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gao, Hui-Min, Peng-Fei Xie, Xiao-Ling Zhang, and Qiao Yang. 2021. "Isolation, Phylogenetic and Gephyromycin Metabolites Characterization of New Exopolysaccharides-Bearing Antarctic Actinobacterium from Feces of Emperor Penguin" Marine Drugs 19, no. 8: 458. https://doi.org/10.3390/md19080458

APA Style

Gao, H. -M., Xie, P. -F., Zhang, X. -L., & Yang, Q. (2021). Isolation, Phylogenetic and Gephyromycin Metabolites Characterization of New Exopolysaccharides-Bearing Antarctic Actinobacterium from Feces of Emperor Penguin. Marine Drugs, 19(8), 458. https://doi.org/10.3390/md19080458

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop