Diversity and Distribution of Biosynthetic Gene Clusters in the Halophilic Bacteria

Abstract Halophilic bacteria have emerged as a promising source of bioactive compounds with potential therapeutic and biotechnological applications. In the present study, we conducted an in-silico analysis to investigate biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) of halophilic bacteria for which genomes are available in the public database. In the Halodom database, 670 halophilic bacterial genomes were identified. The genomic data were available for 454 of them. We used the antiSMASH database to identify potential BGCs. The presence of BGCs in 447 bacterial species was revealed, ranging from 1 to 44 per genome. More than 400 species showed the presence of 2 or more BGCs in their genome. Common BGCs were ectoine, terpene, betalactone, Type III polyketide synthases, and ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs). We also observed a moderate positive correlation (R2 = 0.40) between genome size and the number of BGCs in the genome. A diverse range of BGCs were found across different bacterial clades. However, the phylogenetic analysis revealed that certain clades such as the phylum Actinomycetota and subclades formed by the members of Cyanobacteriota, Myxococcota and Pseudomonadota were particularly rich in the multiple BGCs. The study highlights the potential of halophilic bacteria for bioactivity production.