Bioplastic reservoir of diverse bacterial communities revealed along altitude gradient of Pangi-Chamba trans-Himalayan region

Himalaya hosts a unique environment for microbial ecology. The present study aimed to explore the bioplastic producing bacterial communities along altitude gradient of Pangi-Chamba trans-Himalayan region. A total of 411 bacteria were isolated and 70 characterized at the molecular level for potential...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:FEMS microbiology letters 2018-07, Vol.365 (14)
Main Authors: Kumar, Vijay, Thakur, Vikas, Ambika, Kumar, Sanjay, Singh, Dharam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Altitude
Bacteria
Bioplastics
Ecology
Gene transfer
Genes
Genetic diversity
High altitude
Horizontal transfer
Microbiology
Microorganisms
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Polyhydroxyalkanoates
rRNA 16S
Synthesis
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Himalaya hosts a unique environment for microbial ecology. The present study aimed to explore the bioplastic producing bacterial communities along altitude gradient of Pangi-Chamba trans-Himalayan region. A total of 411 bacteria were isolated and 70 characterized at the molecular level for potential polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) producers. The most abundant phylum for PHA synthesis was Proteobacteria (73%), followed by Actinobacteria (11%), Firmicutes (10%) and Bacteroidetes (6%). However, at the genus level, Pseudomonas and Janthinobacterium were dominantly reported. Also, the ability to synthesize PHA was reported for the first time for few genera such as Collimonas, Pseudarthrobacter and Paenarthrobacter. Phylogenetic analysis of partial 16S rDNA and phaC genes revealed conservation in phaC and possibility of horizontal gene transfer among distant taxa. Furthermore, GC-MS also confirmed the ability of potential bacterial isolates to synthesize PHA. In fact, we found that PHA-positive bacteria are dominant in the high altitude of Himalaya, suggesting the vital role of PHA in bacterial adaptation and survival. Together, these findings had revealed the rich bacterial diversity and genetic machinery for PHA synthesis which does have potential for further utilization in the commercial applications.
ISSN:1574-6968
0378-1097
1574-6968
DOI:10.1093/femsle/fny144