Jena, Univ., Diss., 2005. / Computerdatei im Fernzugriff.

Zugl.: Freiburg (Breisgau), Univ., Diss., 2005

Stuttgart, Univ., Diss., 2005.

Tübingen, Univ., Diss., 2002.

Würzburg, Univ., Diss., 2009. / Zsfassung in dt. Sprache.

Marine sponges (Porifera) harbor diverse microbial communities within their mesohyl, among them representatives of the phylum Actinobacteria, commonly known as actinomycetes. Actinomycetes are prolific producers of pharmacologically important compounds and are responsible for producing the majority of antibiotics. The main aim of this Ph.D. study was to investigate the metabolic potential of the sponge-associated actinomycetes to produce novel anti-infective agents. The first aim was to cultivate actinomycetes derived from different marine sponges. 16S rDNA sequencing revealed that the strains belonged to diverse actinomycete genera such as Gordonia, Isoptericola, Micromonospora, Nocardiopsis, Saccharopolyspora and Streptomyces. Phylogenetic analyses and polyphasic characterization further revealed that two of these strains represent new species, namely Saccharopolyspora cebuensis strain SPE 10-1T (Pimentel-Elardo et al. 2008a) and Streptomyces axinellae strain Pol001T (Pimentel-Elardo et al. 2008b). Furthermore, secondary metabolite production of the actinomycete strains was investigated. The metabolites were isolated using a bioassay-guided purification scheme followed by structure elucidation using spectroscopic methods and subjected to an elaborate anti-infective screening panel. Several interesting compounds were isolated namely, the novel polyketides cebulactam A1 and A2 (Pimentel-Elardo et al. 2008c), a family of tetromycin compounds including novel derivatives, cyclodepsipeptide valinomycin, indolocarbazole staurosporine, diketopiperazine cycloisoleucylprolyl and butenolide. These compounds exhibited significant anti-parasitic as well as protease inhibitory activities. The third aim of this Ph.D. study was to identify biosynthetic gene clusters encoding for nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) and polyketide synthases (PKS) present in the actinomycete strains. Genomic library construction and sequencing revealed insights into the metabolic potential and biosynthetic pathways of selected strains. An interesting NRPS system detected in Streptomyces sp. strain Aer003 was found to be widely distributed in several sponge species, in an ascidian and in seawater and is postulated to encode for a large peptide molecule. Sequencing of the PKS gene cluster of Saccharopolyspora cebuensis strain SPE 10-1T allowed the prediction of the cebulactam biosynthetic pathway which utilizes 3-amino-5-hydroxybenzoic acid as the starter unit followed by successive condensation steps involving methylmalonyl extender units and auxiliary domains responsible for the polyketide assembly. In conclusion, this Ph.D. study has shown that diverse actinomycete genera are associated with marine sponges. The strains, two of them novel species, produced diverse chemical structures with interesting anti-infective properties. Lastly, the presence of biosynthetic gene clusters identified in this study substantiates the biosynthetic potential of actinomycetes to produce exploitable natural products and hopefully provides a sustainable supply of anti-infective compounds. / Zahlreiche marine Schwämme (Phylum: Porifera) beherbergen eine phylogenetisch diverse mikrobielle Gemeinschaft in der Mesohyl-Matrix, darunter auch viele Vertreter des bakteriellen Phylums Actinobacteria, die umgangssprachlich als Actinomyceten bekannt sind. Actinomyceten sind wichtige Produzenten vieler Antibiotika und von weiteren pharmazeutisch relevanten Substanzen. Das Hauptziel dieser Promotionsarbeit war die Untersuchung des Potentials Schwamm-assoziierter Actinomyceten zur Produktion neuer Infektions-hemmender Substanzen. Ein erstes Ziel dieser Doktorarbeit war die Kultivierung von Actinomyceten aus verschiedenen marinen Schwammarten. Die Sequenzierung der respektiven 16S rRNA Gene zeigte eine phylogenetische Zugehörigkeit der Isolate zu verschiedenen Actinomyceten-Familien, wie Gordonia, Isoptericola, Micromonospora, Nocardiopsis, Saccharopolyspora und Streptomyces. Durch phylogenetische Analysen und umfangreiche taxonomische Charakterisierungen konnten zwei neue Actinomyceten-Arten, Saccharopolyspora cebuensis strain SPE 10-1T (Pimentel-Elardo et al. 2008a) und Streptomyces axinellae strain Pol001T (Pimentel-Elardo et al. 2008b) beschrieben werden. Des Weiteren sollten die Actinomyceten-Isolate auf die Produktion von Sekundär-Metaboliten hin untersucht werden. Die Substanzen wurden „bioassay-guided“ aufgereinigt und isoliert sowie deren Struktur mittels spektroskopischer Methoden aufgeklärt. Anschließend wurden die Substanzen ausführlichen Screening-Methoden unterzogen, um sie auf anti-infektive Wirkungen hin zu untersuchen. Zahlreiche interessante Verbindungen konnten so isoliert werden, u. a. die neuen Polyketide Cebulactam A1 und A2 (Pimentel-Elardo et al. 2008c); eine Familie von Tetromycin-Substanzen inklusive neuartiger Derivative; das Cyclodepsipeptid Valinomycin, Indolocarbazole Staurosporine, Diketopiperazine Cycloisoleucylprolyl und Butenolide. Die Verbindungen zeigten signifikante anti-parasitische und Protease-hemmende Aktivitäten. Das dritte Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, die für nicht-ribosomale Peptidsynthetasen (NRPS) und Polyketidsynthasen (PKS) kodierenden, biosynthetischen Gen-Cluster in den Actinomyceten-Isolaten zu identifizieren. Die Konstruktion von Genbanken sowie die Sequenzierung ausgewählter Cosmidklone lieferte erste Einblicke in das Stoffwechsel- und Biosynthesepotential ausgewählter Isolate. Beispielsweise konnte ein interessantes NRPS-System in Streptomyces sp. Stamm Aer003 identifiziert werden, welches in verschiedenen Schwammarten, einer Ascidienart sowie im Meerwasser gefunden wurde. Die Sequenzierung eines PKS-Genclusters aus Saccharopolyspora cebuensis strain SPE 10-1T ermöglicht die Voraussage des Cebulactam-Biosynthesewegs in dem 3-Amino-5-Hydroxybenzoesäure als Ausgangsprodukt dient, welches durch sukzessive Kondensationsschritte sowie Verlängerungen durch Methylmalonyl- und Zusatzdomänen zum endgültigen Polyketid führen. Zusammenfassend konnte in dieser Promotionsarbeit gezeigt werden, dass marine Schwämme mit diversen Vertretern aus verschiedenen Familien der Actinomyceten assoziiert sind. Die Bakterienisolate, von denen zwei neue Arten repräsentieren, produzierten mehrere chemische Substanzen mit interessanten anti-infektiven Eigenschaften. Des Weiteren konnte mit dieser Arbeit durch die Identifizierung von Biosynthese-Genclustern das Potential von Actinomyceten zur Produktion verwertbarer bioaktiver Substanzen bekräftigt und somit ein Beitrag zur Entdeckung neuer anti-infektiver Substanzen erbracht werden.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2002--Kiel.

Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2002--Aachen.

University, Diss., 2005--Jena.

Arsenic (As) is a toxic metalloid and the remediation of soils and waters from this contaminant as well as the prevention of future contamination are still pending tasks in Chile. There are bacteria able to live in environments polluted with arsenic, as they have tolerance mechanisms for this metalloid, or even can use it for energy metabolism. The potential tolerance mechanisms include the production of siderophores, metabolites with chelating activity that can decrease the toxicity of metals and metalloids. Although a correlation between siderophore production and metalloid tolerance has been described, the structure of arsenic-binding siderophores and their implications in tolerance have not been elucidated yet. In this work, it is proposed that bacteria isolated from contaminated environments produce arsenic-binding siderophores. The main aims of this work are to study the production of the siderophores by arsenic-tolerant bacteria, to characterize these compounds and to determine their relation with tolerance to arsenic. Fourteen arsenic-tolerant bacteria were isolated from contaminated water, From these, four strains belonging to the species Rhodococcus erythropolis, Arthrobacter oxydans and Kocuria rosea were selected, in addition to the previously isolated Rhodococcus erythropolis S43, for a more detailed study. The isolates were used to produce siderophore extracts, which were then evaluated for their iron- and arsenic-binding activity. To detect the latter, a new method (As-mCAS) was set up, based on the Chrome Azurol S (CAS) test, an assay to detect iron-chelating activity of siderophores. After testing the extracts, R. erythropolis S43 was selected as the strain with the best arsenic-binding activity. For the subsequent chemical characterization, siderophores were produced under control conditions (iron-free M9 medium) and under stress conditions with arsenic (iron-free M9 medium with sodium arsenite). HPLC analysis of the extracts for both culture conditions showed the presence of a single compound with both an iron-chelating and an arsenic-binding activity. Analyses by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (MS) for both culture conditions suggested the main presence of the siderophore heterobactin B. In addition, the genome of strain S43 was sequenced. A cluster of ars-genes was predicted, probably responsible for the arsenic-tolerance of the strain. In addition, a complete gene cluster for heterobactin production was found. However, no significant difference was obtained in the expression of these determinants in the presence or absence of arsenic, suggesting that the production of this siderophore in strain S43 is not responsible for the tolerance to the metalloid.