| Summary: | Bacteria are ubiquitous in the marine environment. They play an important role in the
regulation of Earth’s biogeochemical cycles and exist in tight interkingdom
partnerships with many higher organisms, particularly with marine macroalgae that
feed marine coastal communities. Often, these surface-associated bacteria are
responsible for providing a wide range of beneficial functions to their macroalgal host,
such as promoting and maintaining healthy growth of the macroalga. Most
importantly, a wide range of bioactive secondary metabolites with diverse
pharmacological and industrial properties have been reported to be produced by
these epiphytic bacterial communities, highlighting the potential of phycospheric
habitats as a rich source of novel natural compounds. From bioprospecting, a unique
colour-changing bacteria B116 was isolated from Sargassum ilicifolium. Through a
series of cultivation and molecular-based experiments, it was revealed that the B116
isolate was a strain of Pseudoalteromonas, capable of producing both red and green
pigments. Preliminary data suggest that the red pigment is prodigiosin, a known
compound with antimicrobial, antifungal and algicidal activities. As the mechanism
behind the dual pigmentation of this novel Pseudoalteromonas sp. remains to be
elucidated, further experiments investigating the regulation and expression of both
pigments at the transcriptomic level are recommended.
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