TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mogrovejo Arias, Diana Carolina
A1  - Brill, Florian H. H.
A1  - Wagner, Dirk
T1  - Potentially pathogenic bacteria isolated from diverse habitats in Spitsbergen, Svalbard
JF  - Environmental earth sciences
N2  - The Arctic ecosystem, a reservoir of genetic microbial diversity, represents a virtually unlimited source of microorganisms that could interact with human beings. Despite continuous exploration of Arctic habitats and description of their microbial communities, bacterial phenotypes commonly associated with pathogenicity, such as hemolytic activity, have rarely been reported. In this study, samples of snow, fresh and marine water, soil, and sediment from several habitats in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard were collected during Summer, 2017. Bacterial isolates were obtained after incubation on oligotrophic media at different temperatures and their hemolytic potential was assessed on sheep blood agar plates. Partial (alpha) or true (beta) hemolysis was observed in 32 out of 78 bacterial species. Genes expressing cytolytic compounds, such as hemolysins, likely increase the general fitness of the producing microorganisms and confer a competitive advantage over the availability of nutrients in natural habitats. In environmental species, the nutrient-acquisition function of these compounds presumably precedes their function as toxins for mammalian erythrocytes. However, in the light of global warming, the presence of hemolytic bacteria in Arctic environments highlights the possible risks associated with these microorganisms in the event of habitat melting/destruction, ecosystem transition, and re-colonization.
KW  - Arctic
KW  - Svalbard
KW  - hemolysins
KW  - climate change
KW  - pathogens
KW  - virulence
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-8853-4
SN  - 1866-6280
SN  - 1866-6299
VL  - 79
IS  - 5
PB  - Springer
CY  - Berlin ; Heidelberg
ER  -