| Summary: | The Arctic Ocean microbiome represents a rich source of metabolic functions that may include key biogeochemical transformations (e.g. nitrogen cycle) as well as pathways involved in the production of secondary metabolites associated with coping strategies. There is still an absence of studies investigating the metabolic and taxonomic link between microorganisms that are implicated in key ecological functions, such as nitrogen transformations, and microbial biosynthetic pathways. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap by studying the distribution of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) and nitrogen cycle genes in metagenomes collected from the Arctic Ocean. Through metagenomic analysis, a total of 99 genomes obtained from metagenomes (MAGs) were recovered and evaluated at the taxonomic and functional level. Several BGCs were identified, with Terpenes being the most abundant class. The recovered BGCs are distributed by ten phyla of the Bacteria and Archaea domains, but Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes stood out as the most prolific, with BGCs associated with the production of new compounds. Analysing the 7 most complete MAGs, some revealed the presence of genes associated with nitrogen transformation. These results suggest that microorganisms involved in the denitrification process also have potential in terms of the production of secondary metabolites with possible biotechnological applications. Although the possible link between these two metabolic pathways is still unknown, the microbiological diversity and functional richness of the Arctic Ocean is emphasized in this project.
|
|---|