Genetic and physiological diversity of phylogenetically and geographically distinct groups of Arthrobacter isolated from lead–zinc mine tailings

Abstract

The phylogenetic positions of 60 bacterial strains isolated from three tailing piles were determined by analyzing their partial 16S rRNA gene sequences. These strains were divided into three phylogenetically distinct groups of Arthrobacter and likely represented several non-described species. The physiological diversities of these phylogenetically and geographically distinct populations were evaluated based on their resistance to five heavy metals (Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu and Co) and four antibiotics (Kan, Rif, Str and Amp), and differences in utilization of 49 carbon sources. Genetic differentiations were demonstrated with randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. These biological parameters were significantly different among three phylogenetically distinct groups. Notably, detectable differences were also observed among three geographically distinct subdivisions with similar taxonomic position. These results indicate that mine tailings are an ideal site for investigating the differentiation of natural bacterial populations in response to extreme metal contamination. Additionally, these environments appear to harbor many previously not characterized bacterial species, which are potentially important candidates for application in bioremediation due to their remarkable resistance to multiple metals.

Sodium-resistant plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria isolated from a halophyte, Salsola grandis, in saline-alkaline soils of Turkey

“…Moreover, there are some reports that indicate Arthrobacter spp. has high levels of resistance to not only a variety of toxic metals (Hanbo et al, 2004;Megharaj et al, 2003;Henn et al, 2009) but also NaCl (Upadhyay et al, 2009(Upadhyay et al, , 2012. In this study, thus, we suggest that the high isolation of Arthrobacter spp.…”

Molecular Analysis of Arthrobacter Myovirus vB_ArtM-ArV1: We Blame It on the Tail

“…The prevalence of Arthrobacter strains is likely due to their nutritional versatility as well as their pronounced resistance to desiccation, long-term starvation, and environmental stress (2,3). While quite a number of strains of the genus Arthrobacter have been the subject of extensive studies (4)(5)(6)(7)(8), relatively little is known about their predators in nature, i.e., bacteriophages (phages).…”

“…The annotated genome sequence of the latter phage was deposited in the NCBI database in 2014. Since then, 42 Arthrobacter siphoviruses joined ArV2 and vB_ArtM-ArV1 in GenBank, followed by 8 . Nevertheless, at the time of this writing, siphovirus ArV2 remains the only Arthrobacter phage whose morphology and molecular characteristics have been published thus far.…”

Comparative genome analysis reveals the molecular basis of nicotine degradation and survival capacities of Arthrobacter

“…Arthrobacter species have been reported to be able to degrade environmental pollutants such as nitroglycerin, many benzene derivatives, polycyclic aromatic compounds, haloalcohols, haloalkanes, N -heterocyclic compounds, insecticides, and herbicides45678910111213141516171819. They have been found in extreme environments such as arctic ice, the deep subsurface, and radioactive environments; in addition, chemically contaminated and heavy metal-contaminated sites seem to be rich in these bacteria2021222324. The ubiquity of Arthrobacter species is probably due to their tolerance to various stresses such as long-term starvation, desiccation, oxidative stress, temperature shifts, osmotic pressure changes, ionizing radiation, excess heavy metal ions, and toxic chemicals2223242526272829.…”

“…They have been found in extreme environments such as arctic ice, the deep subsurface, and radioactive environments; in addition, chemically contaminated and heavy metal-contaminated sites seem to be rich in these bacteria2021222324. The ubiquity of Arthrobacter species is probably due to their tolerance to various stresses such as long-term starvation, desiccation, oxidative stress, temperature shifts, osmotic pressure changes, ionizing radiation, excess heavy metal ions, and toxic chemicals2223242526272829. Their remarkable survival abilities contribute to the importance of Arthrobacter species in pollutant degradation in complex and volatile environments27.…”