Insights into the biological and chemical diversity of cyanobacteria from the BCCM/ULC collection

Cyanobacteria represent an ancient group of morphologically diverse photosynthetic bacteria. Their long and complex evolutionary history is considered to have contributed to the successful colonization of a wide range of habitats from polar to temperate and tropical regions.
The BCCM/ULC public culture collection hosts more than 400 cyanobacterial strains, of which approximately 140 derive from polar, subpolar or alpine environments. The aim of the collection is to preserve the deposited biological material, distribute it to interested parties for fundamental and applied research, valorise it by performing research and provide services and training linked to the isolation, preservation, and identification of Cyanobacteria as well as training on new bioinformatic tools.
All deposited strains are studied by applying a polyphasic approach workflow, which includes a combination of morphological (microscopy), molecular (16S rRNA gene and ITS region) and ecological data. As part of an ongoing effort to discover new molecules with potential pharmaceutical applications, the strains will be evaluated for their antibacterial and/or antifungal activities. Furthermore, whole-genome sequencing as well as comparative genomics are applied to study taxonomically interesting morphotypes and bioactive metabolite-producing strains.
Several strains are the reference (or ‘type’) for newly described taxa. These include Plectolyngbya hodgsonii, Shackletoniella antarctica, Timaviella circinata and T. karstica, Parakomarekiella sesnandensis, and Petrachloros mirabilis isolated from Antarctica and other extreme environments and Johannesbaptistia floridana, Brasilonema fioreae, Leptochromothrix valpauliae, Vermifilum ionodolium, Neolyngbya biscaynensis, and Affixifilum floridanum described from subtropical and tropical habitats. Recently, 30 more strains of filamentous rock-inhabiting cyanobacteria from Finland have been deposited to the collection. These include the new species Pseudanabaena epilithica and P. suomiensis as well as many new taxonomically interesting morphotypes.