Metabolites Discovery from Streptomyces xanthus: Exploring the Potential of Desert Microorganisms

TL;DR

A new desert microorganism, Streptomyces xanthus, produces bioactive compounds, including one with strong antifungal properties useful for agriculture.

Contribution

Discovery of a novel Streptomyces species and its production of bioactive compounds, including a new compound and thiolutin with antifungal activity.

Findings

Streptomyces xanthus is a new species isolated from the Taklamakan Desert with unique genomic features.

Thiolutin, a known compound, showed strong antifungal activity against plant pathogens with a high production yield.

Aconicarpyrazine C, a novel compound, and other metabolites were identified from the strain.

Abstract

The Taklamakan Desert is a harsh and extreme environment, yet its microorganisms hold untapped potential to benefit agriculture and medicine. In this study, we discovered a new microbial species, Streptomyces xanthus, isolated from desert soil. Genomic and metabolomic analyses revealed that this microorganism produces several unknown compounds. We isolated one novel and four known compounds from this strain, all reported for the first time in desert environments. Notably, one known compound, thiolutin, showed strong activity against five local plant pathogenic fungi, with a production yield of 270 mg/L. These findings highlight the desert as a reservoir of new microbial species, holding great potential for discovering important bioactive compounds.

The Taklamakan Desert is an extreme environment supporting a unique and diverse microbial community with significant potential for exploration. Strain TRM70308T, isolated from desert soil, shares 98.43% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Streptomyces alkaliterrae OF1T. Polyphasic taxonomy confirmed TRM70308T as a novel species, named Streptomyces xanthus. Genomic analysis revealed that only one of the strain’s 25 biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) formed a cluster of gene families (CGFs) within the MIBiG database, emphasizing its genomics uniqueness. LC-MS/MS and Feature-Based Molecular Networking (FBMN) identified 33 metabolites across various categories, including alkaloids, saponins, benzoic acids, and benzofurans, most of which remain uncharacterized. Further chemical investigation led to the isolation of one novel compound, aconicarpyrazine C, and four known compounds: thiolutin, dibutyl phthalate, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, and N-acetyltryptamine. Thiolutin exhibited strong activity against five local fungal pathogens that cause plant diseases, with a production yield of 270 mg/L. These results establish a foundation for pilot-scale thiolutin production and its potential development as an antifungal agent for agricultural applications. Our findings highlight deserts as a valuable source of novel actinomycetes and bioactive natural products with immense potential for future research and development.

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