ANT-Biofilm project: characterization of Antarctic microbial isolates for the production of bioactive metabolites and enzymes
Binda E.; Berini F.; Marcone G.L.; Marinelli F.; Azzaro M.; Dell'Acqua O.; Laganà P.; Caruso G.;
In the framework of the ANT-Biofilm project, funded by the National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA), microorganisms from microbial biofilms collected in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea Antartica) during XXXIII Italian Expedition have been isolated. Microbial biofilms are hot-spots of microbial diversity, as well as a substrate for larval settlement of many invertebrate species. Microbial communities are highly sensitive and respond rapidly to changing environmental conditions, acting as potential “sentinels” of environmental status. Microbial biofilms are also a source of secondary metabolites and hydrolytic/oxidative enzymes. We have isolated about 140 microbial strains on different media and culture conditions, that have been identified to belong to Actinomycetales, Nocardia and Ascomycota. Different assays have been set up to search for strains producers of antibiotics (detection of antimicrobial activity, resistance profile), and of hydrolytic/ oxidative enzymes such as chitinases, lipases, ligninases and proteases (identification of degradation halos on agar plates, colorimetric assays). Preliminary results suggest that most of the isolates possess multiple enzymatic activities and, among them, there are also promising producers of antimicrobial compounds that deserve further characterization.
2019 - Contributo in atti di convegno
Congresso Società Italiana di Microbiologia Generale e Biotecnologie Microbiche (SIMGBM), Firenze, 19-22/06/2019
Keywords: hydrolytic enzymes, screening, bacterial isolates, Antarctica, bioprospecting, bioactive molecules