Genome mining of alkaliphilic cyanobacterial consortia: identification of biosynthetic gene clusters in Sodalinema and associated heterotrophs.

Biosynthetic gene clusters in heterotrophic bacteria dominate secondary metabolic potential in Sodalinema-dominated cyanobacterial consortia from Canadian soda lakes.

• Why it matters: Alkaline soda lakes host unique microbial communities with untapped potential for biotechnology and natural product discovery, but their biosynthetic capabilities remain largely unexplored.
• What they did: We characterized three Sodalinema-dominated consortia using hybrid metagenomic sequencing and metatranscriptomics, revealing that heterotrophic community members encode most secondary metabolite pathways.
• The result: Most biosynthetic gene clusters were found in heterotrophs such as Roseinatronobacter and Alkalimonas, indicating functional partitioning and highlighting heterotrophs' role in secondary metabolism within these extremophilic communities.