Gloeocapsopsis AAB1, an Extremely Desiccation-tolerant Cyanobacterium Isolated from the Atacama Desert

Overview

Journal Extremophiles

Publisher Springer

Date 2013 Oct 22

PMID 24141552

Citations 13

Authors

Armando Azua-Bustos

Jorge Zuniga

Cristian Arenas-Fajardo

Marcelo Orellana

Loreto Salas

Vicuna Rafael

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The comprehensive study of microorganisms that evolved in the Atacama Desert, the driest and oldest on earth, may help to understand the key role of water for life. In this context, we previously characterized the microenvironment that allows colonization of the underside of quartzes in the Coastal Range of this desert by hypolithic microorganisms (Azua-Bustos et al. Microb Ecol 58:568-581, 2011). Now, we describe the biodiversity composition of these biofilms and the isolation from it of a new cyanobacterial strain. Based on morphologic and phylogenetic analyses, this isolate (AAB1) was classified as a new member of the Gloeocapsopsis genus. Physiological, morphological and molecular responses by isolate AAB1 show that this strain is extremely tolerant to desiccation. Our results also indicate that the isolate biosynthesizes sucrose and trehalose in response to this stressful condition. We identified two candidate genes involved in sucrose synthesis, namely sucrose 6-phosphate synthase and sucrose 6-phosphate phosphatase. Thus, the Gloeocapsopsis isolate AAB1 may represent a suitable model for understanding tolerance to low water availability.

Citing Articles

Microbial biogeography along a 2578 km transect on the East Antarctic Plateau.

Parro V, Lezcano M, Moreno-Paz M, Davila A, Azua-Bustos A, Garcia-Villadangos M Nat Commun. 2025; 16(1):775.

PMID: 39824814 PMC: 11742046. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-55997-6.

Unveiling metabolic pathways involved in the extreme desiccation tolerance of an Atacama cyanobacterium.

Moore R, Azua-Bustos A, Gonzalez-Silva C, Carr C Sci Rep. 2023; 13(1):15767.

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Jung P, Brust K, Schultz M, Budel B, Donner A, Lakatos M Front Microbiol. 2021; 12:728378.

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