Isolation of antibacterial and culturable bacteria from Arctic tundra soils

Abstract:

[Objective] The Arctic region has unique environmental characteristics such as high latitude, low temperature and high radiation. There are few human traces in the Arctic Ocean and the surrounding land area, but the number of microorganisms hidden in Arctic region is underestimated. We explored the culturable bacterial diversity and antibacterial activity in Arctic tundra soil. [Methods] We isolated bacteria from 7 soil samples collected from different plant roots near the Yellow River Station in Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard) Arctic. [Results] A total of 721 strains were isolated from samples, 608 strains of which belong to 86 genera and 229 species after 16S rRNA gene sequencing. These 16S rRNA gene sequences mainly grouped into the following 5 phyla:Proteobacteria (54.3%), Actinobacteria (21.2%), Bacteroidetes (12.8%), Firmicutes (10.0%) and Deinococcus-Thermus (1.6%). It was suggested 22 strains could be potential novel species for their low sequence similarity. Furthermore, 16 antibacterial strains which could inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus or Acinetobacter baumannii were screened. [Conclusion] The research obtained special bacteria resource of arctic soil, and solidified the foundation of studying bioactive substances.