Work

Ecological structuring of biosynthetic potential across terrestrial soil-associated Streptomyces genomes

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Streptomyces populations represent one of the richest reservoirs of microbial specialized metabolites, although the ecological organization of their biosynthetic diversity remains insufficiently resolved at large genomic scales. In the present study, 14,597 publicly available genome assemblies were initially screened. Environmental metadata associated with each genome were subsequently retrieved from the corresponding NCBI BioSample records and systematically curated to retain genomes originating from terrestrial soil-associated environments while excluding marine, freshwater, clinical, laboratory, industrial, and other non-terrestrial sources. Standardized climatic and edaphic variables were examined using principal component analysis (PCA), K-means clustering, and Kruskal–Wallis tests to evaluate ecological differentiation across terrestrial soil-associated Streptomyces populations, with false discovery rate (FDR) adjustment applied to inter-cluster comparisons. PCA revealed pronounced environmental structuring, with Principal Component 1 (PC1) explaining 44.3% of the total variance and Principal Component 2 (PC2) contributing 31.1%, together accounting for 75.4%. K-means clustering resolved three environmentally coherent groups with distinct soil and climatic profiles. Significant differentiation was detected for soil pH, rainfall, temperature, soil organic carbon, and clay content, with adjusted p -values below 0.001. Genome mining using GECCO (GEne Cluster prediction with COnditional Random Fields) revealed extensive biosynthetic diversity dominated by polyketide- and non-ribosomal peptide-associated gene clusters. Total biosynthetic richness also differed significantly among ecological groups (Kruskal–Wallis statistic = 7.28, p < 0.05). This study provides a large-scale ecological-genomic framework linking environmental differentiation with biosynthetic organization across terrestrial soil-associated Streptomyces populations, advancing understanding of soil microbial and metabolic diversity.

Source: Frontiers in Microbiology

DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2026.1884766

Authors: Hajar Mhammedi, Sajida Mhammedi, Said Bouda, Youssef El Hilali Alaoui, Adil Essarioui

Institution: Université Sultan Moulay Slimane

Language: English

Topic: Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis

Subfield: Pharmacology (medical)

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Life on land

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,801