Bioprospecting the solar panel microbiome: High-throughput screening for antioxidant bacteria in a caenorhabditis elegansModel

Abstract

Microbial communities that are exposed to sunlight typically share a series of adaptations to deal with the radiation they are exposed to, including efficient DNA repair systems, pigment production and protection against oxidative stress, which makes these environments good candidates for the search of novel antioxidant microorganisms. In this research project, we isolated potential antioxidant pigmented bacteria from a dry and highly-irradiated extreme environment: solar panels. High-throughput in vivo assays using Caenorhabditis elegans as an experimental model demonstrated the high antioxidant and ultraviolet-protection properties of these bacterial isolates that proved to be rich in carotenoids. Our results suggest that solar panels harbor a microbial community that includes strains with potential applications as antioxidants. ; Financial support from the Spanish Government (grant Helios, reference: BIO2015-66960-C3-1-R co-financed by FEDER funds and Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades) and from the Regional Government of Valencia (grant MICROBIOSOL, reference: IFIDUA/2015/10 financed by IVACE) are acknowledged. Furthermore, KT is a recipient of a Doctorado Industrial fellowship from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Spain), with reference DI-16-08976. MR and LZ are members of the CaRed Excellence Network (BIO2017-90877-REDT) and EUROCAROTEN European COST Action (CA15113). ; Peer Reviewed