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Analysis and characterization of cultivable extremophilic hydrolytic bacterial community in heavy‐metal‐contaminated soils from the A tacama D esert and their biotechnological potentials
Author(s) -
Moreno M.L.,
Piubeli F.,
Bonfá M.R.L.,
García M.T.,
Durrant L.R.,
Mellado E.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2012.05366.x
Subject(s) - biology , firmicutes , bacteria , extreme environment , extremophile , bacillus (shape) , microbiology and biotechnology , pseudomonas , paenibacillus , thermophile , microorganism , halophile , amylase , enzyme , 16s ribosomal rna , biochemistry , genetics
Aims To isolate and characterize the cultivable community of hydrolase producers (amylase, protease, lipase, DN ase, xylanase and pullulanase) inhabiting heavy‐metal‐contaminated soils in extreme conditions from the A tacama D esert. Methods and Results A total of 25 bacterial strains showing hydrolytic activities have been selected including halotolerants, extremely halotolerants and moderate halophiles. Most hydrolase producers were assigned to the family B acillaceae , belonging to the genera B acillus (nine strains), H alobacillus (seven strains) and T halassobacillus (five strains) and four isolates were related to members of the families P seudomonadaceae , H alomonadaceae and S taphylococcaceae . The selected strains were then characterized for their tolerance pattern to six heavy metals, measured as minimal inhibitory concentrations ( MIC s). Conclusions The diversity found in the cultivable bacterial community analysed is more limited than that detected in other ecological studies owing to the restrictive conditions used in the screening. The dominant bacteria were F irmicutes and particularly, species related to the genus B acillus . Significance and Impact of the Study This study is focused on the characterization of extremophilic hydrolytic bacteria, providing candidates as a source of novel enzymes with biotechnological applications.