Marine Sponge and Octocoral-Associated Bacteria Show Versatile Secondary Metabolite Biosynthesis Potential and Antimicrobial Activities against Human Pathogens

• Published in: Marine drugs Vol. 21; no. 1; p. 34
• Main Authors: Almeida, João F, Marques, Matilde, Oliveira, Vanessa, Egas, Conceição, Mil-Homens, Dalila, Viana, Romeu, Cleary, Daniel F R, Huang, Yusheng M, Fialho, Arsénio M, Teixeira, Miguel C, Gomes, Newton C M, Costa, Rodrigo, Keller-Costa, Tina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 30.12.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Analysis; Animals; Antagonism; Anthozoa - genetics; Anti-Infective Agents - metabolism; Anti-Infective Agents - pharmacology; Antibiotics; Antifungal agents; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial activity; Antimicrobial agents; Antimicrobial peptides; Bacteria; Bacteria - metabolism; bioprospection; Biosynthesis; biosynthetic gene clusters; blue biotechnology; Candida; Collections; Culture; Culture collections; Disease resistance; Drug resistance; Fish; Fungi; Gene clusters; Genera; Genomes; genomics; Humans; marine bacteria; Marine invertebrates; Marine resources; Metabolism; Metabolites; Microbiological strains; Microbiomes; Microorganisms; Multigene Family; Natural products; Pathogenic bacteria; Pathogens; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Plant metabolites; Polyketide synthase; Porifera - genetics; Properties; Salmonella; Secondary Metabolism - genetics; Secondary metabolites; Sponges; Staphylococcus infections; Sustainable production; Taxonomy; Portugal; biosynthetic gene clusters; genomics; bioprospection; marine bacteria; blue biotechnology; culture collections
• ISSN: 1660-3397; 1660-3397
• DOI: 10.3390/md21010034

Marine microbiomes are prolific sources of bioactive natural products of potential pharmaceutical value. This study inspected two culture collections comprising 919 host-associated marine bacteria belonging to 55 genera and several thus-far unclassified lineages to identify isolates with potentially rich secondary metabolism and antimicrobial activities. Seventy representative isolates had their genomes mined for secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters (SM-BGCs) and were screened for antimicrobial activities against four pathogenic bacteria and five pathogenic strains. In total, 466 SM-BGCs were identified, with antimicrobial peptide- and polyketide synthase-related SM-BGCs being frequently detected. Only 38 SM-BGCs had similarities greater than 70% to SM-BGCs encoding known compounds, highlighting the potential biosynthetic novelty encoded by these genomes. Cross-streak assays showed that 33 of the 70 genome-sequenced isolates were active against at least one species, while 44 isolates showed activity against at least one bacterial pathogen. Taxon-specific differences in antimicrobial activity among isolates suggested distinct molecules involved in antagonism against bacterial versus pathogens. The here reported culture collections and genome-sequenced isolates constitute a valuable resource of understudied marine bacteria displaying antimicrobial activities and potential for the biosynthesis of novel secondary metabolites, holding promise for a future sustainable production of marine drug leads.