Pervasiveness of UVC254-resistant Geobacillus strains in extreme environments

We have characterized a broad collection of extremophilic bacterial isolates from a deep subsurface mine, compost dumping sites, and several hot spring ecosystems. Spore-forming strains isolated from these environments comprised both obligate thermophiles/thermotolerant species (growing at > 55 °C; 240 strains) and mesophiles (growing at 15 to 40 °C; 12 strains). An overwhelming abundance of Geobacillus (81.3%) and Bacillus (18.3%) species was observed among the tested isolates. 16S rRNA sequence analysis documented the presence of 24 species among these isolates, but the 16S rRNA gene was shown to possess insufficient resolution to reliably discern Geobacillus phylogeny. gyrB-based phylogenetic analyses of nine strains revealed the presence of six known Geobacillus and one novel species. Multilocus sequence typing analyses based on seven different housekeeping genes deduced from whole genome sequencing of nine strains revealed the presence of three novel Geobacillus species. The vegetative cells of 41 Geobacillus strains were exposed to UVC254, and most (34 strains) survived 120 J/m2, while seven strains survived 300 J/m2, and cells of only one Geobacillus strain isolated from a compost facility survived 600 J/m2. Additionally, the UVC254 inactivation kinetics of spores from four Geobacillus strains isolated from three distinct geographical regions were evaluated and compared to that of a spacecraft assembly facility (SAF) clean room Geobacillus strain. The purified spores of the thermophilic SAF strain exhibited resistance to 2000 J/m2, whereas spores of two environmental Geobacillus strains showed resistance to 1000 J/m2. This study is the first to investigate UV resistance of environmental, obligately thermophilic Geobacillus strains, and also lays the foundation for advanced understanding of necessary sterilization protocols practiced in food, medical, pharmaceutical, and aerospace industries.