In-depth genomic investigation of halophilic bacterium Priestia megaterium CL-1 isolated from Chilika Salt Lake

Bacteria have an intrinsic ability to tolerate and survive in various stress conditions, including salt stress. In the current study, we investigated the stress tolerance ability of the salt-tolerant bacterium Priestia megaterium CL-1 isolated from Chilika Salt Lake, Orissa, by unraveling its genomic features. The complete genome size of CL-1 was 5.3 Mb with 38.2% GC content, and a total gene number of 6,068 was predicted. The genome analysis of CL-1 unravelled the presence of coding frames encoding the various functional categories like stress tolerance, heavy metal resistance, multidrug efflux systems, adhesion processes, etc. Genome mining identified the various biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) associated with terpenes, phosphonate, siderophores, type 3 polyketide synthases (T3PKs), and RiPP-like regions. The genome mining also showed the presence of various CAZymes (GHs, GTs, CEs, CBMs, AAs, PLs) and plastic (PHA, PEG, PLA, PVA, PHB, PCL, PES) degradation genes, which allow the bacterial strain for its large-scale applications. The pan-genome was open and identified the core genome with 2,139 genes, cloud genome with 11,315 genes, and 4,876 genes related to the shell genome. The accessory genome is highly variable, which may facilitate the adaptation to different environmental conditions and species diversity. The recent findings provide an in-depth investigation of the P. megaterium bacteria which possess distinct genomic characteristics that allow the bacterium to persist in an array of environments. Overall, the isolated strain possesses a strong ability for probiotic and other industrial application purposes.