Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2025
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster V31
Höfundar / Authors: Clay A. Abraham 1,2 , Eva Maria Ingvadottir 3 , Kevin M. Bradley 1 , Sean M. Scully 3 , Steven A. Benner 1 , and Johann Orlygsson 3
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1) Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution 2) Bio-Mine, LLC and 3) University of Akureyri, Department of Natural Resources
Kynnir / Presenter: Clay A. Abraham
The microbial diversity of Iceland is an ever present enigma that contains thousands of unclassified but detected microorganisms. Here we examine the phylogenetic classification and metabolic products of Clostridium strain AK14. Strain AK14 was originally isolated from the Graensdalur geothermal area in 2004. AK14 is a moderate thermophile which exhibits a growth optimum of 50°C at pH 7.8. Interestingly, strain AK14 displays a low genetic relationship based on 16S rRNA alignment and ANI analysis when compared against other members of the Clostridium genus. Specifically the 16S rRNA sequence aligned to Clostridium polyendosporuim with a 95.6% percent identity and the ANI analysis showed 87.2% to Clostridium caldaquaticum. Strain AK14 is able to grow using a variety of polysaccharides and biomass sources which generates acetate, butyrate, ethanol, and H2 as end products, with H2 being the dominant end-product. Based on these metrics strain AK14 may represent a unique lineage prompting an investigation to examine the characteristics and potentially reclassify this strain into a novel genus.