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Melanin production by a yeast strain XJ5-1 of Aureobasidium melanogenum isolated from the Taklimakan desert and its role in the yeast survival in stress environments

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Abstract

The yeast strain XJ5-1 isolated from the Taklimakan desert soil was identified to be a strain of Aureobasdium melanogenum and could produce a large amount of melanin when it was grown in the PDA medium, but its melanin biosynthesis and expression of the PKS gene responsible for the melanin biosynthesis was significantly repressed in the presence of (NH4)2SO4. However, A. melanogenum P5 strain isolated from a mangrove ecosystem grown in both the presence and the absence of (NH4)2SO4 did not produce any melanin. The cell size of A. melanogenum XJ5-1 strain was much higher than that of A. melanogenum P5 strain. The melanized cells of the yeast strain XJ5-1 had higher tolerance to UV radiation, oxidation (200.0 mM H2O2), heat treatment (40 °C), salt shock (200.0 g/L NaCl), desiccation and strong acid hydrolysis (6.0 M HCl) at high temperature (80 °C) than the non-melanized cells of the same yeast strain XJ5-1. At the same time, the melanized cells of the yeast strain XJ5-1 also had higher tolerance to UV radiation, oxidation (200.0 mM H2O2), desiccation and strong acid hydrolysis (6.0 M HCl) at high temperature (80 °C) than A. melanogenum P5 strain, but had similar resistance to heat treatment (40 °C) and salt shock (200.0 g/L NaCl) compared to those of A. melanogenum P5 strain. All the results revealed that many characteristics of A. melanogenum XJ5-1 isolated from the Taklimakan desert soil was different from those of A. melanogenum P5 strain isolated from the mangrove ecosystem.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by National Natural Foundation of China (Grant Number: 31561163001) and Key Laboratory of Protection and Utilization of Biological Resource in Tarim Basin (Grant Number BRZD1501).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Yushan Road, No. 5, Qingdao, China

    Hong Jiang, Nan-Nan Liu, Guang-Lei Liu, Zhe Chi & Zhen-Ming Chi

  2. Key Laboratory of Protection and Utilization of Biological Resource in Tarim Basin, Tarim University, Xinjiang, China

    Jian-Ming Wang & Ly-Ly Zhang

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  1. Hong Jiang
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  2. Nan-Nan Liu
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  3. Guang-Lei Liu
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  4. Zhe Chi
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  5. Jian-Ming Wang
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  7. Zhen-Ming Chi
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Correspondence to Zhen-Ming Chi.

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Communicated by M. da Costa.

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Jiang, H., Liu, NN., Liu, GL. et al. Melanin production by a yeast strain XJ5-1 of Aureobasidium melanogenum isolated from the Taklimakan desert and its role in the yeast survival in stress environments. Extremophiles 20, 567–577 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-016-0843-9

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