Caracterización molecular de Actinomicetes provientes de Ecosistemas antárticos.

Abstract

The molecular characterization of sixteen actinomycete strains isolated from glacier ecosystems of soil and sand from the South Antarctic Shetland Islands and soil from Mount Chimborazo, capable of producing bioactive compounds, formed five species-groups by comparing the percentage of similarity and the number of different nucleotides with several type species of the genus Streptomyces. Phylogenetic analyses showed that ten strains belong to Streptomyces fildesensis GW25-5T (DQ408297), three to Streptomyces griseus ISP 5236T (AY094371)/Streptomyces flavogriseus DSM 40323T (AJ494864), one to Streptomyces olivochromogenes DSM 40451T (AY094370) and the last two strains were closed to Streptomyces sannanensis NBRC 14239T (AB184579). It is remarkable that the three-multimembered groups showed individuals that were recovered from both Antarctic and Equatorial glacier ecosystems. This could represent evidence of adaptative evolution of individuals that belong to the same species, the same environmental conditions, thousands of kilometers apart from each other. In any case, it remains to be solved how these microorganisms reached to opposite geographical locations and thrived under the similar environmental conditions.