Microbiological study of the Añana Salt Valley. Diversity analysis, isolation and screening of bioactivecompounds producers

• Autores: Maia Azpiazu Muniozguren
• Directores de la Tesis: Ilargi Martínez Ballesteros (dir. tes.), Javier Garaizar Candina (codir. tes.)
• Lectura: En la Universidad del País Vasco - Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea ( España ) en 2025
• Idioma: inglés
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Añanako Gatz Haranaren azterketa mikrobiologikoa. Dibertsitatearen analisia
• Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Inmunología, Microbiología y Parasitología / Immunology, Microbiology and Parasitology por la Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
• Calificación: Sobresaliente Cum Laude
• Enlaces
  • Tesis en acceso abierto en: ADDI
• Resumen

  • The Añana Salt Valley, in northern Spain, is a continental saltern located on a diapiric structure and fed by natural hypersaline springs that have been producing salt for more than 7,000 years. Despite its recognised historical and geological importance, the microbial inhabitants of this habitat have remained largely understudied. In this Doctoral thesis, 16S rRNA gene and ITS amplicon sequencing was conducted to study the prokaryotic and fungal communities present in different water sources in the valley. The genomic approach revealed the existence of two distinct microbial communities, one from salty waters (~200 g/L) and one from brackish waters (¿20 g/L). the microbial population of salty waters consists mainly of halophilic archaea, whereas brackish waters are primarily composed of halotolerant bacteria. In parallel, 150 halophilic and halotolerant bacteria were isolated and identified to establish a strain collection. Among these, two potential new bacterial isolates were finally found to have different genomic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics compared to previously described taxa. Finally, bioassays identified 20 antimicrobial-producing isolates, 26 effective biosurfactant-producing isolates and 19 bioemulsifier-producing isolates. Of particular interest was the isolate ASV78 due to its ability to produce brominated compounds with antimicrobial activity, as well as surface-active glycolipids and glycoproteins.