Abstract

Deschampsia antarctica Desv. is the only gramineae capable of colonizing the Antarctic due to the region's extreme climate and soil environment. In the present research, bacteria colonizing the rhizospheric soil of D. antarctica were isolated and characterized. The soil studies showed that D. antarctica possesses a wide spectrum of psychrotolerant bacteria with extensive and varied antibiotic resistance, as well as heavy metal tolerance. The bacterial strains isolated from the rhizosphere of D. antarctica also produced a diverse pattern of enzymes. Based on the strain identification with partial characterization of the 16S rRNA gene, the majority of the isolates correspond to different Pseudomonas species, and species of the genus Flavobacterium sp. and Arthrobacter sp. The isolated strains collected from this research constitute a unique collection for future, more detailed taxonomic analysis and physiological characterization, contributing to the search for potential biotechnological uses. These findings and others have great potential for developing new biotechnological products from Antarctic microorganisms. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.