Search

The Tibetan Plateau, known as the "Roof of the World" and "The Third Pole", harbors numerous saline lakes primarily distributed in the Northern Tibetan Plateau. However, the challenging conditions of high altitude, low oxygen level, and harsh climate have limited investigations into the actinobacteria from these saline lakes. This study focuses on investigating the biodiversity and bioactive secondary metabolites of cultivable actinobacteria isolated from the sediments of four saline lakes on the Northern Tibetan Plateau. A total of 255 actinobacterial strains affiliated with 21 genera in 12 families of 7 orders were recovered by using the pure culture technique and 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic analysis. To facilitate a high-throughput bioactivity evaluation, 192 isolates underwent OSMAC cultivation in a miniaturized 24-well microbioreactor system (MATRIX cultivation). The antibacterial activity of crude extracts was then evaluated in a 96-well plate antibacterial assay. Forty-six strains demonstrated antagonistic effects against at least one tested pathogen, and their underlying antibacterial mechanisms were further investigated through a dual-fluorescent reporter assay (pDualrep2). Two Streptomyces strains (378 and 549) that produce compounds triggering DNA damage were prioritized for subsequent chemical investigations. Metabolomics profiling involving HPLC-UV/vis, UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS, and molecular networking identified three types of bioactive metabolites belonging to the aromatic polyketide family, i.e., cosmomycin, kidamycin, and hedamycin. In-depth analysis of the metabolomic data unveiled some potentially novel anthracycline compounds. A genome mining study based on the whole-genome sequences of strains 378 and 549 identified gene clusters potentially responsible for cosmomycin and kidamycin biosynthesis. This work highlights the effectiveness of combining metabolomic and genomic approaches to rapidly identify bioactive chemicals within microbial extracts. The saline lakes on the Northern Tibetan Plateau present prospective sources for discovering novel actinobacteria and biologically active compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The East Kunlun Orogenic Belt (EKOB) in northern Tibet provides an important record of the amalgamation of the Wanbaogou oceanic basalt plateau and the Qaidam Block. Here we report geochemical, geochronological, and Hf isotopic data for newly identified late Silurian–Early Devonian mafic–ultramafic igneous complexes from the EKOB at the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. These complexes are dominantly composed of gabbro and pyroxenite rocks. Three complexes yield zircon U–Pb ages of 398.8 ± 1.8, 420.2 ± 1.2, and 413.4 ± 0.78 Ma. The εHf(t) values of zircons range from +0.8 to +3.3 with TDM1 ages of 897 to 998 Ma. Modelling of the geochemical data indicates that these igneous complexes have a hybrid origin, involving depleted mantle fluids derived from a previous subduction event and crustal materials. The geochemical and geochronological data suggest that these complexes formed in a post-collisional setting linked to break-off of a subducted oceanic slab, which occurred after the Wanbaogou oceanic basalt plateau amalgamated with the Qaidam Block in the late Silurian–Early Devonian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to investigate the phylogeographic patterns of Spiraea alpina (Rosaceae) and clarify its response to past climatic changes in the climate-sensitive Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). We sequenced a chloroplast DNA fragment ( trnL- trnF) from 528 individuals representing 43 populations. We identified 10 haplotypes, which were tentatively divided into three groups. These haplotypes or groups were distributed in the different regions of the QTP. Only half the populations were fixed by a single haplotype, whereas the others contained two or more. In the central and eastern regions, adjacent populations at the local scale shared the same haplotype. Our phylogeographic analyses suggest that this alpine shrub survived in multiple refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum and that earlier glaciations may have trigged deep intraspecific divergences. Post-glacial expansions occurred only within populations or across multiple populations within a local range. The findings of the present study together with previous phylogeographic reports suggest that evolutionary histories of plants in the QTP are complex and variable depending on the species investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]