Draft Genome Sequence of Staphylococcus sciuri Strain LCHXa, a Lithium-Tolerant Bacterium Isolated from Laguna Chaxa, Salar de Atacama, Chile

Abstract

A Gram-positive, coagulase-negative, novobiocin resistant, and lithium-tolerant bacterium was isolated from Salar de Atacama. Strain LCHXa is closely related to Staphylococcus sciuri.

Insights Into the Microbiology of the Chaotropic Brines of Salar de Atacama, Chile

“…A limited group of bacteria are known to be tolerant of high lithium concentrations (up to 1 M Li): Micrococcus varians ssp. Halophilus (1.5 M Li; Kamekura and Onishi, 1982), Rhodococcus sp., A5wh (1 M Li; Belfiore et al, 2018), Staphylococcus sciuri strain LCHXa (1 M Li; Vilo et al, 2019) and Bacillus- species (1.42 M; Martínez et al, 2018). According to current knowledge, lithium does not play a vital function in microbial cells (Aral and Vecchio-Sadus, 2008), however, it has been reported an inhibitor effect in lactic acid bacteria (Lapierre et al, 1992).…”

“…We showed that lithium has considerable effect on isolates, decreasing growth and increasing generation time at lower lithium concentrations (0.72 M Li). Bacteriostatic effects, such as inhibition of growth (Nemeth et al, 2015) in lithium-tolerant strains (free-living bacteria), has not been examined in depth, although it is apparent that direct contact in liquid media increases the sensitivity of tolerant microorganisms, even more than that seen with solid media (Majzlik et al, 2011; Martínez et al, 2018; Vilo et al, 2019). LiCl as well as MgCl 2 are classified as chaotropic solutes that reduce the electrostatic interaction between water molecules and biological macromolecules (by hydrogen bonding) (Cray et al, 2013), resulting in macromolecule destabilization (e.g., proteins) through the denaturation of tertiary and quaternary structure, triggering the inhibition of microbial growth (Hallsworth et al, 2003; Williams and Hallsworth, 2009; Cray et al, 2013).…”

Staphylococcus sciuri Strain LCHXa is a Free-Living Lithium-Tolerant Bacterium Isolated from Salar de Atacama, Chile

“…Genomic analysis. Draft genome of Staphylococcus sciuri strain LCHXa was retrieved from NCBI, accession number NADO00000000 [14]. An improvement of the draft genome was made by using the genome of S. sciuri FDAARGOS-285 and S. sciuri SNUDS-18 as a guide for ordering the contigs into a chromosome.…”

“…In addition to some well-known industrial applications of lithium [7], the impact and tolerance of microorganisms to high Li concentrations in natural biological systems is limited; however, the interest on these type microorganisms is increasing [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Considering that the natural molar concentration of LiCl represents an environmental chemical stress to microorganisms, several questions can be addressed, and this study was focused on the following two: which are the microorganisms living at natural waters with high Li concentration at Salar de Atacama?…”

“…We were able to isolate several microorganisms after enrichment in a growth medium supplemented with 1 M LiCl. Here, we report the characterization of LCHXa, a free-living Staphylococcus sciuri strain LCHXa [14] isolated from Laguna Chaxa, a natural saline water body with the highest soluble Li content (33 mM LiCl) within the Salar de Atacama basin, which was able to sustain growth at molar Li concentrations; also, we provide an insight on key intracellular compatible solutes involved in osmoregulation.…”