Fungal disease suppression and growth promotion potential of endophytic bacteria from ethnomedicinal plants

103 bacterial isolates obtained from 8 ethnomedicinal plants in Manipur, India were studied for antifungal and plant growth promoting (PGP) activities. Forty-six (46), out of 62 antifungal isolates, showed potent activities against R. solani. Since R. solani (RS), a sheath blight pathogen, threatens rice yields worldwide, the present study was aimed at discovering promising bioinoculants with anti-RS and PGP potential on rice. Twenty-nine (29) endophytic isolates exhibiting promising anti-RS and PGP activities were subjected to seed vigor assays on rice (var. Jatra) and 16 were found to enhance rice seedling vigour by 70% or more over the control. Four (4) strains, Streptomyces sp. (AcRz21), Alkalihalobacillus sp. (PtL11), Bacillus sp. (TgIb5), and Priestia sp. (TgIb12) with the highest vigor indices were studied for growth promotion of rice in field conditions under pathogen-challenged and pathogen-free conditions. These bioactive strains were able to significantly enhance root and shoot biomass and reduce lesion heights caused by R. solani.

In vitro degradation of β-amyloid fibrils by microbial keratinase

INTRODUCTION

Amyloid fibrils are misfolded, protease-resistant forms of normal proteins. They are infectious such as prions or noninfectious such as β-amyloid (Aβ) fibrils causing Alzheimer's disease (AD). Prions and amyloids are structurally similar, possessing cross β-pleated sheet-like structures. As microbial keratinase could degrade prions, we tested keratinase activity on Aβ fibrils.

METHODS

Lysozyme treated with urea generates Aβ fibrils demonstrated by immunoblotting with anti-Aβ antibody, high-performance liquid chromatography, and Congo red absorption spectroscopy. Two keratinases, Ker1 and Ker2, were purified from an actinomycete Amycolatopsis sp. MBRL 40 and incubated with Aβ fibrils.

RESULTS

Soluble Ker1 and Ker1 reconstituted on neutral/cationic liposomes degraded Aβ fibrils efficiently. Ker 2 was less potent.

DISCUSSION

Drugs that target AD inhibit acetylcholinesterase or formation of Aβ fibrils and downstream effects. These drugs have side effects and do not benefit globally in cognition. Keratinases are novel molecules for drug development against AD.

Keratinolytic activities of alkaliphilic Bacillus sp. MBRL 575 from a novel habitat, limestone deposit site in Manipur, India

Microbial degradation of keratinous wastes is preferred over physicochemical methods as the latter is costlier and not eco-friendly. Novel habitats are promising for discovery of new microbial strains. Towards discovery of novel keratinolytic bacteria, screening of bacterial strains from a novel limestone habitat in Hundung, Manipur, India was done and a promising isolate, MBRL 575, was found to degrade native chicken feather efficiently. It could grow over a broad pH range (Langeveld et al. in J Infect Dis 188:1782-1789, 2003; Park and Son in Microbiol Res 164:478-485, 2009; Zaghloul et al. in Biodegradation 22:111-128, 2011; Takami et al. in Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 56:1667-1669, 1992; Riffel et al. in J Biotechnol 128:693-703, 2007; Wang et al. in Bioresour Technol 99:5679-5686, 2008) and in presence of 0-15 % NaCl. Based on phenotypic characterization and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the new keratinolytic limestone isolate was identified as Bacillus sp. MBRL 575. It produced 305 ± 12 U/ml keratinase and liberated 120 ± 5.5 mg of soluble peptides and 158 ± 4 mg of amino acids per gram of feather after 48 h of incubation at 30 °C in chicken feather medium. The strain could also degrade feathers of other species besides chicken. The cell-free enzyme was also able to degrade feather. Citrate and soybean meal were found to be the best carbon and nitrogen supplements for enhanced enzyme, soluble peptide and amino acid production. In addition to keratinolytic activity, MBRL 575 also exhibited antagonistic activity against two major rice fungal pathogens, Rhizoctonia oryzae-sativae (65 %) and Rhizoctonia solani (58 %).

Actinobacterial diversity in limestone deposit sites in Hundung, Manipur (India) and their antimicrobial activities

Studies on actinobacterial diversity in limestone habitats are scarce. This paper reports profiling of actinobacteria isolated from Hundung limestone samples in Manipur, India using ARDRA as the molecular tool for preliminary classification. A total of 137 actinobacteria were clustered into 31 phylotypic groups based on the ARDRA pattern generated and representative of each group was subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Generic diversity of the limestone isolates consisted of Streptomyces (15 phylotypic groups), Micromonospora (4), Amycolatopsis (3), Arthrobacter (3), Kitasatospora (2), Janibacter (1), Nocardia (1), Pseudonocardia (1) and Rhodococcus (1). Considering the antimicrobial potential of these actinobacteria, 19 showed antimicrobial activities against at least one of the bacterial and candidal test pathogens, while 45 exhibit biocontrol activities against at least one of the rice fungal pathogens. Out of the 137 actinobacterial isolates, 118 were found to have at least one of the three biosynthetic gene clusters (PKS-I, PKS-II, NRPS). The results indicate that 86% of the strains isolated from Hundung limestone deposit sites possessed biosynthetic gene clusters of which 40% exhibited antimicrobial activities. It can, therefore, be concluded that limestone habitat is a promising source for search of novel secondary metabolites.

Streptomyces canchipurensis sp. nov., isolated from a limestone habitat

Hundung Limestone habitat, Manipur, India is an unexplored site for microbial diversity studies. Using polyphasic taxonomy, a Streptomyces strain, MBRL 172(T), has been characterized. The strain was found to show highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Streptomyces coeruleofuscus NBRC 12757(T) (99.2 %). The DNA relatedness between MBRL 172(T) and S. coeruleofuscus NBRC 12757(T), and between MBRL 172(T) and Streptomyces nogalater NBRC 13445(T), were 36.8 ± 4.4 and 52.5 ± 2.7 %, respectively. Strain MBRL 172(T) was found to contain LL-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid and glucose, mannose and xylose as the major sugars in whole cell hydrolysates. The polar lipids in the cell membrane were identified as diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositolmannoside. The predominant menaquinones detected were MK-9(H6) and MK-9(H8). The cellular fatty acids identified were mainly saturated fatty acids: anteiso-C15:0, iso-C16:0 and iso-C15:0. Based on differences in the biochemical and molecular characteristics from its closest relatives, the strain can be proposed to represent a novel taxon in the genus Streptomyces, for which the name Streptomyces canchipurensis is proposed, with the type strain MBRL 172(T) (=JCM 17575(T) = KCTC 29105(T)).

Micromonospora kangleipakensis sp. nov., isolated from a sample of limestone quarry

Strain MBRL 34(T), isolated from a sample of limestone quarry located at Hundung, Manipur, India, was characterized by polyphasic taxonomy. The strain showed the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Micromonospora echinaurantica DSM 43904(T) (98.4 %), but formed a monophyletic clade with Micromonospora coerulea DSM 43143(T) (98.3 %) in the neighbour-joining tree. DNA-DNA hybridization experiments gave a DNA-DNA relatedness value of 53.1 % between MBRL 34(T) and M. coerulea DSM 43143(T). Strain MBRL 34(T) contained meso-diaminopimelic acid, galactose and glucose in the whole-cell hydrolysates along with small amounts of mannose, xylose, rhamnose and ribose. The major polar lipids detected were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositolmannoside, along with an unknown lipid. MK-10(H6), MK-10(H2) MK-11(H4) and MK-10(H4) were the predominant menaquinones detected. The major fatty acids were iso-C16 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 73.5 %. Based on the taxonomic characteristics from a polyphasic study, strain MBRL 34(T) merits recognition as a representative of a novel species of the genus Micromonospora for which the name Micromonospora kangleipakensis sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is MBRL 34(T) ( = DSM 45612(T) = JCM 17696(T)).

Streptomyces manipurensis sp. nov., a novel actinomycete isolated from a limestone deposit site in Manipur, India

A novel actinobacterium, designated MBRL 201(T), was isolated from a sample collected from a limestone quarry at Hundung, Manipur, India. The strain was characterized using polyphasic taxonomy. Comparison of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain MBRL 201(T) and other Streptomyces species showed sequence similarities ranging from 93.0 to 99.6 % and strain MBRL 201(T) showed closest similarities to Streptomyces virginiae NBRC 12827(T) (99.6 %) and Streptomyces cinnamonensis NBRC 15873(T) (99.6 %). The DNA relatedness between MBRL 201(T) and the type strains of S. virginiae NBRC 12827(T) and S. cinnamonensis NBRC 15873(T) were 44.5 and 35.6 % respectively. Strain MBRL 201(T) contained LL: -diaminopimelic acid (A(2)pm) as the diagnostic diamino acid, with glucose as the main sugar, while small amounts of galactose, glucose, mannose, rhamnose, ribose and xylose were also present in cell-wall hydrolysates. The major fatty acids identified were anteiso-C(15:0) (38.9 %), iso-C(15:0) (19.9 %) and anteiso-C(17:1) (14.7 %). The predominant menaquinones detected were MK-9(H(6)) and MK-9(H(8)), while the polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositolmannosides, with other unknown phospholipids and lipids. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 72.9 %. The phenotypic and genotypic data showed that strain MBRL 201(T) merits recognition as a representative of a novel species of the genus Streptomyces. It is proposed that the isolate should be classified in the genus Streptomyces as a novel species, Streptomyces manipurensis sp. nov. The type strain is MBRL 201(T) (=DSM 42029(T) = JCM 17351(T)).

Rhodococcus canchipurensis sp. nov., an actinomycete isolated from a limestone deposit site

A novel actinobacterial strain, MBRL 353(T), was isolated from a sample collected from a limestone quarry at Hundung, Manipur, India. Comparison of 16S rRNA gene sequences of strain MBRL 353(T) and other members of the genus Rhodococcus showed sequence similarities ranging from 95.5 to 98.2 %, with strain MBRL 353(T) showing closest sequence similarity to Rhodococcus triatomae IMMIB RIV-085(T) (98.2 %) and Rhodococcus equi DSM 20307(T) (97.2 %). DNA-DNA hybridization results, however, revealed that DNA-DNA relatedness values between strain MBRL 353(T) and R. triatomae DSM 44892(T) (43.4 %) and R. equi DSM 20307(T) (33.4 %) were well below the 70 % limit for species identification. Strain MBRL 353(T) contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid and galactose and arabinose in the cell wall. Mycolic acids were present. The major fatty acids were C(16 : 0) (45.7 %), C(18 : 1)ω9c (18.2 %) and 10-methyl C(18 : 0) (11.3 %). The only menaquinone detected was MK-8(H(2)), while the major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside and one unknown phospholipid. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 69.2 mol%. The phenotypic and genotypic data showed that strain MBRL 353(T) merits recognition as a representative of a novel species of the genus Rhodococcus for which the name Rhodococcus canchipurensis sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is MBRL 353(T) (= KCTC 19851(T) = JCM 17578(T)).