Diversity analysis of phytase-producing bacteria from coastal seawater and sediment and characterization of their phytases

Abstract

Phytic acid, also known as inositol hexaphosphate (IP6), is one of the most abundant organophosphorus compounds in nature. Its degradation by phytase plays a key role in the natural phosphorus cycle. In addition, phytases are widely used in livestock and poultry feed to enhance phosphorus utilization. While most reported and commercial phytases are derived from terrestrial organisms, relatively few originate from marine microorganisms, and information on the diversity of phytase-producing marine bacteria remains limited. In this study, following enrichment with sodium phytate, we analyzed the bacterial diversity in seawater and sediment samples collected from the coast of Aoshan Bay in Qingdao, China, using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. A total of 138 OTUs representing 10 phyla, 15 classes, 37 orders, 55 families, and 70 genera were identified. Furthermore, 27 phytase-producing bacterial strains were isolated from the enrichment cultures, primarily belonging to the phyla Firmicutes (14/27) and Proteobacteria (12/27). Five extracellular phytase genes were identified through genome sequencing of three representative strains. These phytases were subsequently expressed and characterized. All were classified as histidine acid phosphatase-type phytases, exhibiting optimal activity at temperatures of 50-60 °C and pH values of 4.0-5.0. Notably, phytase 3919 showed a specific activity as high as 2485.25 U/mg, indicating strong potential for practical applications. This study provides insight into the diversity of coastal bacteria involved in phytic acid degradation, contributing to our understanding of bacterial-driven phosphorus cycling in coastal ecosystems and facilitating the discovery of phytases with industrial potential.

Keywords

Phytic acid / Phytase / Phytase-producing bacteria / Coast

Data Availability Statement

The genome data of strain P1A3, P4A3, and PZQ1 have been submitted to the NCBI Genbank database under the accession numbers JBMUJK000000000.1, JBMUJL000000000.1, and JBKIIK000000000.1. It can be found here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore//.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Xiao-Jie Yuan: Writing - original draft, Validation, Methodology, Investigation, Data curation, Conceptualization. Rui Liu: Validation, Investigation, Formal analysis, Conceptualization. Jian Li: Resources. Wen-Xiao Zhao: Methodology. Hui-Hui Fu: Supervision, Funding acquisition. Yan-Rong Zhou: Methodology, Funding acquisition. Mei-Ling Sun: Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation. Xiu-Lan Chen: Writing - review & editing, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization. Yu-Qiang Zhang: Supervision, Conceptualization.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Xiangmei Ren from Life Science General Research Technology Platform of SKLMT (State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University) for the assistance in Tecan Microplate spectrophotometer. This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (grant numbers 2024YFC2816000, 2024YFC2816005), the Major Scientific and Technological Innovation Project (MSTIP) of Shandong Province (grant number 2023CXGC010414), the Marine S&T Fund of Shandong Province for Qingdao Marine Science and Technology Center (grant number 2022QNLM030004-3), and the Frontiers and Challenges Project (grant number SKLMTFCP‐2023‐06), and the Open Projects Fund (grant number M2023-04) from State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University.

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