Photoprotective Bioactivity Present in a Unique Marine Bacteria Collection from Portuguese Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vents

Abstract

Interesting biological activities have been found for numerous marine compounds. In fact, screening of phylogenetically diverse marine microorganisms from extreme environments revealed to be a rational approach for the discovery of novel molecules with relevant bioactivities for industries such as pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical. Nevertheless, marine sources deliverables are still far from the expectations and new extreme sources of microbes should be explored. In this work, a marine prokaryotic collection from four Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) deep sea hydrothermal vents near the Azores Islands, Portugal, was created, characterized and tested for its photoprotective capacity. Within 246 isolates, a polyphasic approach, using chemotaxonomic and molecular typing methods, identified 23-related clusters of phenetically similar isolates with high indexes of diversity. Interestingly, 16S rRNA gene sequencing suggested the presence of 43% new prokaryotic species. A sub-set of 139 isolates of the prokaryotic collection was selected for biotechnological exploitation with 484 bacterial extracts prepared in a sustainable upscalling manner. 22% of the extracts showed an industrially relevant photoprotective activity, with two extracts, belonging to new strains of the species Shewanella algae and Vibrio fluvialis, uniquely showing UV-A, UV-B and UV-C protective capacity. This clearly demonstrates the high potential of the bacteria MAR vents collection in natural product synthesis with market applications.

Ecosystem function and services provided by the deep sea

“…These chemicals show potential for having pharmaceutical properties and applications, including antibiotics (Liu et al, 2013) and anticancer compounds . Albeit surprising coming from a habitat with no light, even photoprotectives for potential use in sunscreens and cosmetics have been found in deep-sea hydrothermal vent habitats (Martins et al, 2013). While less than 2 % of the marine natural products being explored come from the deep sea (Skropeta, 2013), the potential of novel molecules and genetic pathways within this habitat is vast.…”

“…The deep ocean is the source of a number of novel natural products isolated from the highly diverse and species-rich deep-sea faunal communities (Skropeta, 2008), in particular from those found at hydrothermal vents (Thornburg et al, 2010;Martins et al 2013). As of 2008, 78 natural products have been isolated from as many as 19 classes and from all Domains of life (Skropeta, 2008).…”

Characteristics of the cultivable bacteria from sediments associated with two deep-sea hydrothermal vents in Okinawa Trough

“…Alteromonas, Halomona, Vibrio, Acinetobacter, Shewanella, Pseudomonas, and Rheinheimera, of the Gammaproteobacteria phylum were also isolated from both HV1 and HV2. Of these 7 genera, the first 6 have been detected in hydrothermal fields around the world (Kaye et al 2011;Martins et al 2013;Pena et al 2012;Raguenes et al 2003;Rajasabapathy et al 2014), while the last one was identified in vent environments for the first time. The roles of these bacteria in hydrothermal vent ecosystems remain to be elucidated.…”

Ecosystem function and services provided by the deep sea

“…Resources in the deep sea are increasingly being exploited by bioprospecting, or the search for natural products within biological resources. The deep ocean is the source of a number of novel natural products isolated from the highly diverse and species-rich deep-sea faunal communities (Skropeta, 2008), in particular from those found at hydrothermal vents (Thornburg et al, 2010;Martins et al 2013). As of 2008, 78 natural products have been isolated from as many as 19 classes and from all Domains of life (Skropeta, 2008).…”