In this study, we describe the antimycobacterial activity of two pigments, violacein, a purple violet pigment from Janthinobacterium sp. Ant5-2 (J-PVP), and flexirubin, a yellow-orange pigment from Flavobacterium sp. Ant342 (F-YOP). These pigments were isolated from bacterial strains found in the land-locked freshwater lakes of Schirmacher Oasis, East Antarctica. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of these pigments for avirulent and virulent mycobacteria were determined by the microplate Alamar Blue Assay (MABA) and Nitrate Reductase Assay (NRA). Results indicated that the MICs of J-PVP and F-YOP were 8.6 and 3.6 μg/ml for avirulent Mycobacterium smegmatis mc²155; 5 and 2.6 μg/ml for avirulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis mc²6230; and 34.4 and 10.8 μg/ml for virulent M. tuberculosis H₃₇Rv, respectively. J-PVP exhibited a ~15 times lower MIC for Mycobacterium sp. than previously reported for violacein pigment from Chromobacterium violaceum, while the antimycobacterial effect of F-YOP remains undocumented. Our results indicate these pigments isolated from Antarctic bacteria might be valuable lead compounds for new antimycobacterial drugs used for chemotherapy of tuberculosis.

In this study, we report the distribution of microbial taxa and their predicted metabolic functions observed in the top (U1), middle (U2), and inner (U3) decadal growth laminae of a unique large conical microbial mat from perennially ice-covered Lake Untersee of East Antarctica, using NextGen sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and bioinformatics tools. The results showed that the U1 lamina was dominated by cyanobacteria, specifically Phormidium sp., Leptolyngbya sp., and Pseudanabaena sp. The U2 and U3 laminae had high abundances of Actinobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. Closely related taxa within each abundant bacterial taxon found in each lamina were further differentiated at the highest taxonomic resolution using the oligotyping method. PICRUSt analysis, which determines predicted KEGG functional categories from the gene contents and abundances among microbial communities, revealed a high number of sequences belonging to carbon fixation, energy metabolism, cyanophycin, chlorophyll, and photosynthesis proteins in the U1 lamina. The functional predictions of the microbial communities in U2 and U3 represented signal transduction, membrane transport, zinc transport and amino acid-, carbohydrate-, and arsenic- metabolisms. The Nearest Sequenced Taxon Index (NSTI) values processed through PICRUSt were 0.10, 0.13, and 0.11 for U1, U2, and U3 laminae, respectively. These values indicated a close correspondence with the reference microbial genome database, implying high confidence in the predicted metabolic functions of the microbial communities in each lamina. The distribution of microbial taxa observed in each lamina and their predicted metabolic functions provides additional insight into the complex microbial ecosystem at Lake Untersee, and lays the foundation for studies that will enhance our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the formation of these unique mat structures and their evolutionary significance.

The tropical oligotrophic oceanic areas are characterized by high water transparency and annual solar radiation. Under these conditions, a large number of phylogenetically diverse mesozooplankton species living in the surface waters (neuston) are found to be blue pigmented. In the present study, we focused on understanding the metabolic and genetic basis of the observed blue phenotype functional equivalence between the bluepigmented organisms from the phylum Arthropoda, subclass Copepoda (Acartia fossae) and the phylum Chordata, class Appendicularia (Oikopleura dioica) in the Red Sea. Previous studies have shown that carotenoid-protein complexes are responsible for blue coloration in crustaceans. Therefore, we performed carotenoid metabolic profiling using both targeted and nontargeted (high-resolution mass spectrometry) approaches in four different blue-pigmented genera of copepods and one blue-pigmented species of appendicularia. Astaxanthin was found to be the principal carotenoid in all the species. The pathway analysis showed that all the species can synthesize astaxanthin from b-carotene, ingested from dietary sources, via 3-hydroxyechinenone, canthaxanthin, zeaxanthin, adonirubin or adonixanthin. Further, using de novo assembled transcriptome of blue A. fossae (subclass Copepoda), we identified highly expressed homologous b-carotene hydroxylase enzymes and putative carotenoid-binding proteins responsible for astaxanthin formation and the blue phenotype. In blue O. dioica (class Appendicularia), corresponding putative genes were identified from the reference genome. Collectively, our data provide molecular evidences for the bioconversion and accumulation of blue astaxanthin-protein complexes underpinning the observed ecological functional equivalence and adaptive convergence among neustonic mesozooplankton.

In this study, 28 hydrocarbon-degrading bacterial isolates from oil-contaminated Antarctic soils were screened for the presence of biodegradative genes such as alkane hydroxylase (alks), the ISPalpha subunit of naphthalene dioxygenase (ndoB), catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (C23DO) and toluene/biphenyl dioxygenase (todC1/bphA1) by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. All naphthalene degrading bacterial isolates exhibited the presence of a 648 bp amplicon that shared 97% identity to a known ndoB sequence from Pseudomonas putida. Twenty-two out of the twenty-eight isolates screened were positive for one, two or all three different regions of the C23DO gene. For alkane hydroxylase, all 6 Rhodococcus isolates were PCR-positive for a 194 bp and a 552 bp segment of the alkB gene, but exhibited variable results with primers located at different segments of this gene. Three Pseudomonas spp. 4/101, 19/1, 30/3 amplified 552 bp segment of alkB. Only two Pseudomonas sp. 7/156 and 4/101 amplified a segment of alkB exhibiting 89-94% nucleotide sequence identity with the existing sequence of alkB in the GenBank sequence database. Transcripts of three genes, alkB2, C23DO and ndoB, that were amplified by DNA-PCR in three different bacterial isolates also exhibited positive amplification by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) method confirming that these genes are functional. A competitive PCR (cPCR) method was developed for a quantitative estimation of ndoB from pure cultures of the naphthalene-degrading Pseudomonas sp. 30/2. A minimum of 1 x 10(7) copies of the ndoB gene was detected based on the comparison of the intensities of the competitor and target DNA bands. It is expected that the identification and characterization of the biodegradative genes will provide a better understanding of the catabolic pathways in Antarctic psychrotolerant bacteria, and thereby help support bioremediation strategies for oil-contaminated Antarctic soils.

In this study, we examined the responses by the indigenous bacterial communities in salt-marsh sediment microcosms in vitro following treatment with Mississippi Canyon Block 252 oil (MC252). Microcosms were constructed of sediment and seawater collected from Bayou La Batre located in coastal Alabama on the Gulf of Mexico. We used an amplicon pyrosequencing approach on microcosm sediment metagenome targeting the V3–V5 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Overall, we identified a shift in the bacterial community in three distinct groups. The first group was the early responders (orders Pseudomonadales and Oceanospirillales within class Gammaproteobacteria), which increased their relative abundance within 2 weeks and were maintained 3 weeks after oil treatment. The second group was identified as early, but transient responders (order Rhodobacterales within class Alphaproteobacteria; class Epsilonproteobacteria), which increased their population by 2 weeks, but returned to the basal level 3 weeks after oil treatment. The third group was the late responders (order Clostridiales within phylum Firmicutes; order Methylococcales within class Gammaproteobacteria; and phylum Tenericutes), which only increased 3 weeks after oil treatment. Furthermore, we identified oil-sensitive bacterial taxa (order Chromatiales within class Gammaproteobacteria; order Syntrophobacterales within class Deltaproteobacteria), which decreased in their population after 2 weeks of oil treatment. Detection of alkane (alkB), catechol (C2,3DO) and biphenyl (bph) biodegradation genes by PCR, particularly in oil-treated sediment metacommunity DNA, delineates proliferation of  the hydrocarbon degrading bacterial community. Overall, the indigenous bacterial communities in our salt-marsh sediment in vitro microcosm study responded rapidly and shifted towards members of the taxonomic groups that are capable of surviving in an MC252 oil-contaminated environment.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13205-014-0233-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Two sulfated diterpene glycosides featuring a highly substituted and sterically encumbered cyclopropane ring have been isolated from the marine red alga Peyssonnelia sp. Combination of a wide array of 2D NMR spectroscopic experiments, in a systematic structure elucidation workflow, revealed that peyssonnosides A–B (1–2) represent a new class of diterpene glycosides with a tetracyclo [7.5.0.01,10.05,9] tetradecane architecture. A salient feature of this workflow is the unique application of quantitative interproton distances obtained from the rotating frame Overhauser effect spectroscopy (ROESY) NMR experiment, wherein the β-d-glucose moiety of 1 was used as an internal probe to unequivocally determine the absolute configuration, which was also supported by optical rotatory dispersion (ORD). Peyssonnoside A (1) exhibited promising activity against liver stage Plasmodium berghei and moderate antimethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) activity, with no cytotoxicity against human keratinocytes. Additionally, 1 showed strong growth inhibition of the marine fungus Dendryphiella salina indicating an antifungal ecological role in its natural environment. The high natural abundance and novel carbon skeleton of 1 suggests a rare terpene cyclase machinery, exemplifying the chemical diversity in this phylogenetically distinct marine red alga.

Covering: January 2013 to online publication December 2014This review summarizes recent research in the chemical ecology of marine pelagic ecosystems, and aims to provide a comprehensive overview of advances in the field in the time period covered. In order to highlight the role of chemical cues and toxins in plankton ecology this review has been organized by ecological interaction types starting with intraspecific interactions, then interspecific interactions (including facilitation and mutualism, host-parasite, allelopathy, and predator-prey), and finally community and ecosystem-wide interactions.

In this paper, we describe the UV and cold tolerance of a purple violet pigment (PVP)-producing Antarctic bacterium, Janthinobacterium sp. Ant5-2 (PVP(+)) and compared its physiological adaptations with a pigmentless mutant strain (PVP(-)). A spontaneous deletion of vioA that codes for tryptophan monooxygenase, the first gene involved in the biosynthesis of PVP was found in PVP(-) strain. The PVP(-) culture exhibited significantly reduced survival during exponential and stationary growth phase following exposure to UVB (320 nm) and UVC (254 nm) (dose range: 0-300 J/m²) when compared to wild-type (PVP(+)) cultures. In addition, upon biochemical inhibition of pigment synthesis by 2(5H)-furanone, wild-type PVP(+) cultures exhibited approximately 50-fold growth reduction at a higher dose (300 J/m²) of UV. Increased resistance to UV was observed upon inducing starvation state in both PVP(+) and PVP(-) cultures. There was 80% (SD = ±8) reduction in extrapolymeric substance (EPS) production in the PVP(-) cultures along with a compromised survival to freeze-thaw cycles when compared to the PVP(+) cultures. Perhaps synthesis of PVP and EPS are among the key adaptive features that define the survival of this bacterium in Antarctic extreme conditions, especially during austral summer months.