Insights into the diversity and survival strategies of soil bacterial isolates from the Atacama Desert.

The Atacama Desert, the driest, with the highest radiation, and one of the most ancient deserts in the world, is a hostile environment for life. We have a collection of 74 unique bacterial isolates after cultivation and confirmation by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Pigmentation, biofilm formation, antimicrobial production against MG1655 and HG003, and antibiotic resistance were assessed on these isolates.