Publication: Genomic approach to the biomedical potential and diversity of marine bacteria associated with marine samples from Singapore
Date
2018
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Abstract
Marine sponges are one of the oldest metazoan that have survived for more than 600 million years. As such, they have the capability to adapt through the major changes in the ocean. They are also sessile filter feeders that have high efficiency in filtering water through the aquiferous system, harboring diverse microbial communities, such as actinobacteria, fungi and cyanobacteria. Actinomycetes in particular, resides within the sponge tissue and they are well known for the ability to produce a variety of secondary metabolites that are of great potential for the pharmaceutical industry. The main objective of the present study is to assess the biomedical potential as well as the bacterial diversity of deep water marine samples using culture- dependent method and genomic approaches. The study involved the initial mechanical dredging along the Straits of Singapore to collect marine sponges and sediments. Marine bacteria were then isolated from the deep- water samples using a variety of marine culture media. The isolated marine bacterial colonies were then cultured in marine broth, followed by the extraction of their gDNA using molecular kits. The 16S rRNA profile of the bacterial gDNA was assessed via PCR and Sanger sequencing. Based on the bioassay and molecular networking data obtained from another study, selected marine bacterial strains were prioritized for whole genome sequencing. The bacterial genome data, achieved via whole genome sequencing were then analyzed and annotated using anti SMASH, for the presence of novel natural products biosynthetic gene clusters. Overall, this study presents data related to the diversity of marine bacteria associated with deep water marine samples as well as the detection of potential novel natural products using bioinformatics tools.