Metabolomic and taxonomic characterization of Haloleptolyngbya lusitanica sp. nov. (Cyanobacteria, Synechococcales)

ABSTRACT

The morphological plasticity of cyanobacteria and their widespread ecological dominance in a wide range of habitats highlights the need for in-depth taxonomic studies. This work focused on the taxonomical revision of Leptolyngbya (Cyanophyceae) strains deposited in the ESSACC culture collection and their metabolomic characterization. Although the studied ESSACC strains were morphologically identified as Leptolyngbya sp., the 16S rRNA gene and 16S–23S rRNA ITS analysis revealed that two strains (LMECYA 079 and LMECYA 173) belong to Haloleptolyngbya and represent a new taxonomical unit, genetically unique, ecologically plastic and adapted to both freshwater and thermal habitats, here described as Haloleptolyngbya lusitanica sp. nov. To perform a suspect screening of cyanometabolites in these strains, we used a non-targeted liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) metabolomic approach. Several metabolites were identified in Haloleptolyngbya lusitanica: micropeptin MM978, spumigin 640, oscillatoxin A and anabaenopeptin D. Strains were maintained and grown under the same conditions, revealing the common production of oscillatoxin A by both H. lusitanica strains. Other identified metabolites, however, were strain-specific, such as anabaenoptin D, which was only detected in LMECYA 173. The different cyanometabolite profiles reinforce the notion that cyanobacteria have the ability to adapt to different habitats, which is maintained under long-term culturing conditions.

KEYWORDS:

• 16S rRNA gene
• 16S-23S rRNA ITS
• Anabaenopeptin
• Cyanobacteria
• Cyanometabolites
• LC-HRMS
• Micropeptin
• Oscillatoxin
• Spumigin
• Synechococcales

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We acknowledge Konstantina Sarioglou, from Institute Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, for technical support with biomass production of ESSACC strains. Furthermore, the authors thank the Associate Editor Nicole Pietrasiak and the reviewers for their helpful comments and feedback.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflicts of interest are reported by the authors(s).

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00318884.2024.2317252

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by FEDER funds through the Interreg-MAC 2014-2020 Program under the projects REBECA – Red de excelencia en biotecnología azul (algas) de la región macaronesia (MAC1.1a/060) and REBECA-CCT – Red de Excelencia en Biotecnología Azul de la Región Macaronésica. Consolidación, Certificación y Transferencia (MAC2/1.1b/269), and by Portuguese National Funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology under the project UIDB/50027/2020. Rúben Luz was supported by a PhD grant (M3.1.a/F/002/2020) from the Fundo Regional da Ciência e Tecnologia (FRCT). Sandra Lage research was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Widening Fellowship No. 101003376, and by Portuguese national funds from FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology through projects UIDB/04326/2020, UIDP/04326/2020 and LA/P/0101/2020, and from the operational programmes CRESC Algarve 2020 and COMPETE 2020 through project EMBRC.PT ALG-01-0145-FEDER-022121. Cintia Flores acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the ‘Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019-2023’ Program (CEX2018-000794-S financed by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033, for IDAEA-CSIC).