Patagonian Andean Ecosystems: Conserving and Harnessing Their Microbiota

Sergio Leiva Poveda

doi:10.56093/aaz.v65i2.176920

Authors

Sergio Leiva Poveda Institute of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile 5110566

https://doi.org/10.56093/aaz.v65i2.176920

Keywords:

Andean Patagonia microbiomes, extremophiles, biotechnological potential, microbial conservation

Abstract

Andean Patagonia is a globally significant yet understudied mountain biodiversity hotspot where microorganisms remain largely overlooked despite their key ecological roles and biotechnological potentials. Here, microbial communities inhabit extreme niches shaped by strong climatic and altitudinal gradients, glacial dynamics, and environmental heterogeneity, harboring unique stress adapted microorganisms with valuable metabolic capabilities and ecosystem functions. Emerging studies from northern and central Andes in Chile, and southern Patagonian systems, reveal highly diverse, spatially structured microbiomes in diverse habitats, closely coupled to local abiotic and biotic conditions, and sensitive to warming induced glacier retreat. Andean Patagonia likely contains many endemic, functionally critical microbial lineages, underscoring the compelling need to integrate microbes into regional conservation strategies and long-term bioprospecting agendas

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Author Biography

Sergio Leiva Poveda, Institute of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile 5110566

Sergio Leiva Poveda is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh). He began his academic journey at UACh, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology (1995), followed by a Master’s degree in Science with a specialisation in Microbiology (1999). He later pursued doctoral studies at Imperial College London, obtaining his Ph.D in 2007. Upon returning to Chile that same year, he joined the Faculty of Sciences at UACh. His research is driven by the goal of uncovering the little-known culturable, cold-adapted bacterial diversity associated with terrestrial and marine environments in Chile, investigating these organisms as novel sources of biosynthetic potential for biotechnological applications. In recent years, he has focused on the phylogenetic diversity of bacterial communities associated with marine macroalgae and other marine biota in southern Chile and Antarctica, as well as the genome-level exploration of novel or rare bacteria, revealing this region as a hidden treasure of microbial diversity and cold-active biotechnological potential

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