Microbiology of hyper-arid environments: recent insights from the Atacama Desert, Chile
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Bull, Alan T.
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Microbiology of hyper-arid environments: recent insights from the Atacama Desert, Chile
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Abstract
Interests in the Atacama Desert of northern
Chile until very recently were founded on its
mineral resources, notably nitrate, copper, lithium and
boron. Now this vast desert, the oldest and most arid
on Earth, is revealing a microbial diversity that was
unimagined even a decade or so ago; indeed the
extreme hyper-arid core of the Desert was considered
previously to be completely devoid of life. In this
Perspective article we highlight pioneering research
that, to the contrary, establishes the Atacama as a
combination of rich microbial habitats including
bacteria that influence biogeochemical transformations
in the desert and others that are propitious
sources of novel natural products. Many of the
Atacama’s habitats are especially rich in actinobacteria,
not necessarily as dense populations but extensive
in taxonomic diversity and capacities to synthesize
novel secondary metabolites. Among the latter, compounds
have been characterized that express a range of
antibiotic, anti-cancer and anti- inflammatory properties
to which a variety of bioinformatics and metabolic
engineering tools are being applied in order to enhance
potencies and productivities. Unquestionably the Atacama
Desert is a living desert with regard to which
future microbiology and biotechnology research
presents exciting opportunities.
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Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (2013) 103:1173–1179
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