Diversity of protease-producing bacteria in the soils of the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica
- 17 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
- Vol. 114 (4), 457-464
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-021-01533-7
Abstract
Proteases secreted from bacteria into soil play a key role in the degradation of organic nitrogen, which is the first and, usually, the rate-limiting step of nitrogen cycling. However, the diversity of protease-producing bacteria and their excreted proteases in Antarctic soil have not yet been fully explored. Here we studied 20 soil samples from the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica and isolated 253 strains with protease activity. These protease-producing bacteria belonged to the phyla Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Deinococcus-Thermus. Thhe predominant genera were Arthrobacter (14.9%), Chryseobacterium (14.5%), Flavobacterium (14.5%), and Pseudomonas (14.5%). Most of these bacteria secreted serine proteases and metalloproteases. There was quite a large distribution in activity as quantified by protease and inhibition assays. Only a few strains secreted aspartic and/or cysteine proteases. Together these data provided novel insight into the diversity and mechanism of organic nitrogen degradation in Antarctic soils by various proteases, which may have potential in new biotechnological applications.Keywords
Funding Information
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (31400002, 31370104, 21801144)
- Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences) Joint Fund for Young Doctors (2017BSH2016, 2017BSH2017)
- Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2017BH053)
- Youth Innovative Talents Recruitment and Cultivation Program of Shandong Higher Education (-)
- Government Fund for Universities of Jinan City (2019GXRC021)
This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit:
- Diversity of Both the Cultivable Protease-Producing Bacteria and Bacterial Extracellular Proteases in the Coastal Sediments of King George Island, AntarcticaPLOS ONE, 2013
- Diversity and extracellular enzymatic activities of yeasts isolated from King George Island, the sub-Antarctic regionBMC Microbiology, 2012
- Extracellular enzymes produced by microorganisms isolated from maritime AntarcticaWorld Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2012
- A novel, extremely alkaliphilic and cold-active esterase from Antarctic desert soilExtremophiles, 2011
- Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity in a changing worldPolar Biology, 2011
- Diversity of protease‐producing marine bacteria from sub‐antarctic environmentsJournal of Basic Microbiology, 2011
- Highly specialized microbial diversity in hyper-arid polar desertProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009
- In a world of microbes, where should microbiology stand?Research in Microbiology, 2008
- Diversity and enzyme properties of protease-producing bacteria isolated from sub-Antarctic sediments of Isla de Los Estados, ArgentinaExtremophiles, 2007
- Antarctic microbial diversity: the basis of polar ecosystem processesBiodiversity and Conservation, 1996