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UV and cold tolerance of a pigment-producing Antarctic Janthinobacterium sp. Ant5-2

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Abstract

In this paper, we describe the UV and cold tolerance of a purple violet pigment (PVP)-producing Antarctic bacterium, Janthinobacterium sp. Ant5-2 (PVP+) and compared its physiological adaptations with a pigmentless mutant strain (PVP−). A spontaneous deletion of vioA that codes for tryptophan monooxygenase, the first gene involved in the biosynthesis of PVP was found in PVP− strain. The PVP− culture exhibited significantly reduced survival during exponential and stationary growth phase following exposure to UVB (320 nm) and UVC (254 nm) (dose range: 0–300 J/m²) when compared to wild-type (PVP+) cultures. In addition, upon biochemical inhibition of pigment synthesis by 2(5H)-furanone, wild-type PVP+ cultures exhibited approximately 50-fold growth reduction at a higher dose (300 J/m²) of UV. Increased resistance to UV was observed upon inducing starvation state in both PVP+ and PVP− cultures. There was 80 % (SD = ±8) reduction in extrapolymeric substance (EPS) production in the PVP− cultures along with a compromised survival to freeze–thaw cycles when compared to the PVP+ cultures. Perhaps synthesis of PVP and EPS are among the key adaptive features that define the survival of this bacterium in Antarctic extreme conditions, especially during austral summer months.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Col. (IL) J.N. Pritzker ARNG (Retired), Tawani Foundation (Chicago) for supporting the Tawani 2008 International Antarctic Scientific Expedition; Marty Kress, VCSI, Inc./NASA); NASA’s Astrobiology program; Dr. Rasik Ravindra, Director, NCAOR; 2008–2009 Maitri and Novolazarevskaya Station staffs; Maitri Cdrs. A. Chaturvedi, and Dr. P. Malhotra and Ashit Swain, Indian Geological Survey (Antarctic Division); and Richard B. Hoover (NASA) for assisting identification of the bacterial strain.

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Author notes

  1. Nazia Mojib

    Present address: Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), 4700, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1300 University Blvd., CH464, Birmingham, 35294-1170, AL, USA

    Nazia Mojib, Amin Farhoomand & Asim K. Bej

  2. Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Ave., Suite 100, Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA

    Dale T. Andersen

Authors
  1. Nazia Mojib
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  2. Amin Farhoomand
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  3. Dale T. Andersen
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  4. Asim K. Bej
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Correspondence to Asim K. Bej.

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Communicated by A. Oren.

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Mojib, N., Farhoomand, A., Andersen, D.T. et al. UV and cold tolerance of a pigment-producing Antarctic Janthinobacterium sp. Ant5-2. Extremophiles 17, 367–378 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-013-0525-9

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