UV and cold tolerance of a pigment-producing Antarctic Janthinobacterium sp. Ant5-2

In this paper, we describe the UV and cold tolerance of a purple violet pigment (PVP)-producing Antarctic bacterium, Janthinobacterium sp. Ant5-2 (PVP⁺) and compared its physiological adaptations with a pigmentless mutant strain (PVP^?). A spontaneous deletion of vioA that codes for tryptophan monooxygenase, the first gene involved in the biosynthesis of PVP was found in PVP^? strain. The PVP^? culture exhibited significantly reduced survival during exponential and stationary growth phase following exposure to UVB (320 nm) and UVC (254 nm) (dose range: 0–300 J/m²) when compared to wild-type (PVP⁺) cultures. In addition, upon biochemical inhibition of pigment synthesis by 2(5H)-furanone, wild-type PVP⁺ cultures exhibited approximately 50-fold growth reduction at a higher dose (300 J/m²) of UV. Increased resistance to UV was observed upon inducing starvation state in both PVP⁺ and PVP^? cultures. There was 80 % (SD = ±8) reduction in extrapolymeric substance (EPS) production in the PVP^? cultures along with a compromised survival to freeze–thaw cycles when compared to the PVP⁺ cultures. Perhaps synthesis of PVP and EPS are among the key adaptive features that define the survival of this bacterium in Antarctic extreme conditions, especially during austral summer months.