Abstract

Soil microorganisms that inhabit extreme environments have unique metabolic capacitiesand/or physical structures that allow them to survive in oligotrophic conditions. The bioprospectingof unknown bacteria in the context of current advances in genome mining is fundamental for thediscovery of natural products with novel properties or applications. In this study, the plant growth-promoting and biocontrol traits of a Pseudomonas isolated from soil associated with plants fromthe Atacama Desert were characterized by whole-genome sequencing and in vitro assays. A high-quality genome draft of Pseudomonas sp. isolate C3 was obtained. An automated biosynthetic genecluster analysis using antiSMASH 6.0 revealed the presence of a cluster of genes for the biosynthesis,regulation, and transport of the metabolite 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol, which showed a high proteinsequence identity (>89%) with a validated orthologous gene cluster from another Pseudomonas. Inaddition, via an in vitro assay, the biocontrol activity of Pseudomonas sp. isolate C3 against Botrytiscinerea, Monilinia fructicola, Phytium sp., Alternaria sp., Geotrichum candidum, and Fusarium oxysporumwas corroborated. Finally, through KofamKOALA, the presence of genes involved in differentmetabolic pathways of plant growth-promoting traits was identified, which was corroborated byin vitro assays. This study provides information obtained from genomic analyses and culture toolson a bacterial isolate from the Atacama Desert characterized by plant growth-promoting capacitiesand biocontrol activity.