Isolation, purification, characterization and application of proteinaceous protease inhibitor from marine bacterium Pseudomonas mendocina BTMW 301

The microorganisms are recognized as important sources of protease inhibitors which are valuable in the fields of medicine, agriculture and biotechnology. The protease inhibitors of microbial origin are found to be versatile in their structure and mode of inhibition that vary from those of other sources. Although surplus of low molecular weight non-protein protease inhibitors from microorganisms have been reported, there is a dearth of reports on proteinaceous protease inhibitors. The search for new metabolites from marine organisms has resulted in the isolation of more or less 10,000 metabolites (Fuesetani and Fuesetani, 2000) many of which are gifted with pharmacodynamic properties. The existence of marine microorganisms was reported earlier, and they were found to be metabolically and physiologically dissimilar from terrestrial microorganisms. Marine microorganisms have potential as important new sources of enzyme inhibitors and consequently a detailed study of new marine microbial inhibitors will provide the basis for future research (Imada, 2004).

A brackishwater isolate of Pseudomonas PS-102, a potential antagonistic bacterium against pathogenic vibrios in penaeid and non-penaeid rearing systems

A Pseudomonas sp PS-102 recovered from Muttukkadu brackish water lagoon, situated south of Chennai, showed significant activity against a number of shrimp pathogenic vibrios. Out of the 112 isolates of bacterial pathogens comprising Vibrio harveyi, V. vulnificus, V. parahaemolyticus, V. alginolyticus, V. fluvialis, and Aeromonas spp, 73% were inhibited in vitro by the cell-free culture supernatant of Pseudomonas sp PS-102 isolate. The organism produced yellowish fluorescent pigment on King's B medium, hydrolysed starch and protein, and produced 36.4% siderophore units by CAS assay and 32 μM of catechol siderophores as estimated by Arnow's assay. The PS-102 isolate showed wide ranging environmental tolerance with, temperatures from 25 to 40 °C, pH from 6 to 8, salinity from 0 to 36 ppt, while the antagonistic activity peaked in cultures grown at 30 °C, pH 8.0 and at 5 ppt saline conditions. The antagonistic activity of the culture supernatant was evident even at 30% v / v dilution against V. harveyi. The preliminary studies on the nature of the antibacterial action indicated that the antagonistic principle as heat stable and resistant to proteolytic, lipolytic and amylolytic enzymes. Pseudomonas sp PS 102 was found to be safe to shrimp when PL-9 stage were challenged at 107 CFU ml−1 and by intramuscular injection into of ∼5 g sub-adults shrimp at 105 to 108 CFU. Further, its safety in a mammalian system, tested by its pathogenicity to mice, was also determined and its LD50 to BALB/c mice was found to be 109 CFU. The results of this study indicated that the organism Pseudomonas sp PS 102 could be employed as a potential probiont in shrimp and prawn aquaculture systems for management and control of bacterial infections

A marine bacterium, Micrococcus MCCB 104, antagonistic to vibrios in prawn larval rearing systems

marine bacterium, Micrococcus MCCB 104, isolated from hatchery water, demonstrated extracellular antagonistic properties against Vibrio alginolyticus, V. parahaemolyticus, V. vulnificus, V. fluviallis, V. nereis, V. proteolyticus, V. mediterranei, V. cholerae and Aeromonas sp., bacteria associated with Macrobrachium rosenbergii larval rearing systems. The isolate inhibited the growth of V. alginolyticus during co-culture. The antagonistic component of the extracellular product was heat-stable and insensitive to proteases, lipase, catalase and α-amylase. Micrococcus MCCB 104 was demonstrated to be non-pathogenic to M. rosenbergii larvae

Sequential interactions of Silver-silica nanocomposite (Ag-SiO2NC) with cell wall, metabolism and genetic stability of Psedomonas aeruginosa, a multiple antibiotic resistant bacterium

The study was carried out to understand the effect of silver-silica nanocomposite (Ag-SiO2NC) on the cell wall integrity, metabolism and genetic stability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a multiple drugresistant bacterium. Bacterial sensitivity towards antibiotics and Ag-SiO2NC was studied using standard disc diffusion and death rate assay, respectively. The effect of Ag-SiO2NC on cell wall integrity was monitored using SDS assay and fatty acid profile analysis while the effect on metabolism and genetic stability was assayed microscopically, using CTC viability staining and comet assay, respectively. P. aeruginosa was found to be resistant to β-lactamase, glycopeptidase, sulfonamide, quinolones, nitrofurantoin and macrolides classes of antibiotics. Complete mortality of the bacterium was achieved with 80 μgml-1 concentration of Ag-SiO2NC. The cell wall integrity reduced with increasing time and reached a plateau of 70 % in 110 min. Changes were also noticed in the proportion of fatty acids after the treatment. Inside the cytoplasm, a complete inhibition of electron transport system was achieved with 100 μgml-1 Ag-SiO2NC, followed by DNA breakage. The study thus demonstrates that Ag-SiO2NC invades the cytoplasm of the multiple drug-resistant P. aeruginosa by impinging upon the cell wall integrity and kills the cells by interfering with electron transport chain and the genetic stability

L-Glutaminase production by an immobilized marine Pseudomonas sp. BTMS -51

The present study is about the Pseudomonas sp. BTMS-51 isolated from the marine sediments of Cochin Coast. In the present study, it is concluded that marine bacteria are ideal candidates for immobilization using either Ca-alginate entrapment or physical adsorption on to synthetic inert supports and the process of immobilization does not negatively influence them. Thus, Ca-alginate entrapment of the bacteria was found to be well suited for reuse of the biomass and extended operational stability during continuous operation. Adherence of the bacterium to inertsupports was observed to be strong and it imparted minimal stress on the immobilized bacterium and allowed detachment and relocation on the supports which enabled the formation of a dynamic equilibrium maintaining a stable cell loading. This is particularly desirable in the industry for extended operational stability and maintenance of consistently higher outputs. Marine Pseudomonas sp. BTMS-51 is ideal for industrial production of extra cellular L-glutaminase and immobilization on to synthetic inert support such as polyurethane foam could be an efficient technique, employing packed bed reactor for continuous production of the enzyme. Temperature and glutamine concentration had significant effects on enzyme production by cells immobilized on polyurethane foam (PUF).

Studies on the pathobiology of penaeid larvae and postlarvae

The thesis presents the results of the studies carried out on certain diseases encountered in the larvae and postlarvae of penaeid prawns raised in the hatcheries at Cochin, Madras and Mandapam Camp during September 1985- April 1988. In the preliminary survey carried out to understand the common diseases occurring in the penaeid larvae and postlarvae, seven cases of diseases and abnormalities were encountered. These included ciliate infestation, Nit_zschia closteriurn infestation, parasitic protozoaninfection, parasitic dinoflagellate infection, appendage necrosis, heteromorphic eye and abnormal eggs and deformed nauplii .The clinical signs, seasonal occurrence and incidence of each of the above cases were provided along with the information on environmental factors such as salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature and pH of the rearing medium. The Thésis is presented in nine chapters. Chapter 1 surveys the literature on the diseases of penaeid larvae, postlarvae and adult prawns from India and abroad. This is followed by a chapter on the material and methods employed during the present investigation. In the third chapter, seven cases of diseases and abnormalities encountered in the larvae and postlarvae of Penaeus indicus and p. semisulcatus during the survey carried out in the hatcheries located at different centres of Central‘ Marine Fisheries Research Institute are presented and discussed .A bacterium responsible for appendage necrosis was isolated and its taxonomy was studied. It was Gram-negative, fermentative and motile rod. It was sensitive to vibriostatic compound, 0/129. This bacterium was found to be a new isolate of vibrio on the basis of its morphological, biological, physiological and biochemical characters and comparison of these characters with those described for other related vibrios. This new isolate of vibrio was deposited in vibro Referrence Laboratory, Centres for Disease Control, Georgia, U.S.A. and coded as vibrio sp. 2448-88.

Bioremediation of Hydrocarbons by Lysinibacillus fusiformis BTTS10

There exists a need for potential microorganism that could facilitate effective bioremediation of crude oil pollutants in the environment. Hence it was desired to isolate a potential bacterium from marine sediment, which often experiences oil pollution and develop a bioprocess for crude oil biodegradation. In the present study the sediment deposits in the beach of Munakkal, Trichur dist, Kerala, collected immediately after the major event Tsunami in 2004 was collected and analyzed by enrichment culture technique towards isolation of potential strains that could degrade crude oil and its fractions. From the results obtained it was found that the sediment deposits harbor several bacteria with potential for degrading hydrocarbons. However, among the strains obtained, isolate no. BTTS 10 showed capabilities for utilizing both alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons and hence the same was selected for further studies.

SPATIOTEMPORAL VARIATION AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF ACTINOMYCETES ISOLATED FROM HIGH ALTITUDE GRASSLAND SOILS OF TROPICAL MONTANE FOREST – KERALA, INDIA

TThe invention of novel antibiotics and other bioactive microbial metabolites continues to be an important aim in new drug discovery programmes. Actinomycetes have the potential to synthesize lots of diverse biologically vigorous secondary metabolites and in the last decades actinomycetes became the most productive source for antibiotics. Therefore in the present study we analyze the antibacterial activity of the actinomycetes isolated from grassland soil samples of Tropical Montane forest. A total of 33 actinomycete strains isolated were characterized and screened for antibacterial activities using well diffusion method against six specific pathogenic organisms. Identification of the isolates revealed that the majority of them were belonging to Streptomycetes followed by Nocardia, Micromonospora, Pseudonocardia, Streptosporangium, Nocardiopsis and Saccharomonospora. Among the 33 isolates, Gr1 strain showed antagonistic activity against all checked pathogens. Nine strains showed antibacaterial activity against Listeria, Vibrio cholera, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhi and only 2 strains (Gr1and Gr25) showed antagonism to E. coli. The overall percentage of activity of actinomycetes isolates against each pathogenic bacterium was also calculated. While 63.63% of the actinomycetes were antagoinistic against Listeria, Vibrio cholerae, and Bacillus cereus, 60.6% of them were antagonistic to Staphylococcus aureus. Very few isolates (6.06%) showed antibacterial activity against E. coli. In general most of the actinomycetes isolates were antagonistic to grampositive bacteria such as Listeria, Bacillus and Staphylococcus than Gram-negative bacteria Vibrio cholerae, E. coli and Salmonella

Differential induction, isolation, physicochemical and molecular characterization of temperate phages of environmental Vibrio cholerae as evidence of phage mediated Horizontal Gene Transfer

The resurgence of the enteric pathogen Vibrio cholerae, the causative organism of epidemic cholera, remains a major health problem in many developing countries like India. The southern Indian state of Kerala is endemic to cholera. The outbreaks of cholera follow a seasonal pattern in regions of endemicity. Marine aquaculture settings and mangrove environments of Kerala serve as reservoirs for V. cholerae. The non-O1/non-O139 environmental isolates of V. cholerae with incomplete ‘virulence casette’ are to be dealt with caution as they constitute a major reservoir of diverse virulence genes in the marine environment and play a crucial role in pathogenicity and horizontal gene transfer. The genes coding cholera toxin are borne on, and can be infectiously transmitted by CTXΦ, a filamentous lysogenic vibriophages. Temperate phages can provide crucial virulence and fitness factors affecting cell metabolism, bacterial adhesion, colonization, immunity, antibiotic resistance and serum resistance. The present study was an attempt to screen the marine environments like aquafarms and mangroves of coastal areas of Alappuzha and Cochin, Kerala for the presence of lysogenic V. cholerae, to study their pathogenicity and also gene transfer potential. Phenotypic and molecular methods were used for identification of isolates as V. cholerae. The thirty one isolates which were Gram negative, oxidase positive, fermentative, with or without gas production on MOF media and which showed yellow coloured colonies on TCBS (Thiosulfate Citrate Bile salt Sucrose) agar were segregated as vibrios. Twenty two environmental V. cholerae strains of both O1 and non- O1/non-O139 serogroups on induction with mitomycin C showed the presence of lysogenic phages. They produced characteristic turbid plaques in double agar overlay assay using the indicator strain V. cholerae El Tor MAK 757. PCR based molecular typing with primers targeting specific conserved sequences in the bacterial genome, demonstrated genetic diversity among these lysogen containing non-O1 V. cholerae . Polymerase chain reaction was also employed as a rapid screening method to verify the presence of 9 virulence genes namely, ctxA, ctxB, ace, hlyA, toxR, zot,tcpA, ninT and nanH, using gene specific primers. The presence of tcpA gene in ALPVC3 was alarming, as it indicates the possibility of an epidemic by accepting the cholera. Differential induction studies used ΦALPVC3, ΦALPVC11, ΦALPVC12 and ΦEKM14, underlining the possibility of prophage induction in natural ecosystems, due to abiotic factors like antibiotics, pollutants, temperature and UV. The efficiency of induction of prophages varied considerably in response to the different induction agents. The growth curve of lysogenic V. cholerae used in the study drastically varied in the presence of strong prophage inducers like antibiotics and UV. Bacterial cell lysis was directly proportional to increase in phage number due to induction. Morphological characterization of vibriophages by Transmission Electron Microscopy revealed hexagonal heads for all the four phages. Vibriophage ΦALPVC3 exhibited isometric and contractile tails characteristic of family Myoviridae, while phages ΦALPVC11 and ΦALPVC12 demonstrated the typical hexagonal head and non-contractile tail of family Siphoviridae. ΦEKM14, the podophage was distinguished by short non-contractile tail and icosahedral head. This work demonstrated that environmental parameters can influence the viability and cell adsorption rates of V. cholerae phages. Adsorption studies showed 100% adsorption of ΦALPVC3 ΦALPVC11, ΦALPVC12 and ΦEKM14 after 25, 30, 40 and 35 minutes respectively. Exposure to high temperatures ranging from 50ºC to 100ºC drastically reduced phage viability. The optimum concentration of NaCl required for survival of vibriophages except ΦEKM14 was 0.5 M and that for ΦEKM14 was 1M NaCl. Survival of phage particles was maximum at pH 7-8. V. cholerae is assumed to have existed long before their human host and so the pathogenic clones may have evolved from aquatic forms which later colonized the human intestine by progressive acquisition of genes. This is supported by the fact that the vast majority of V. cholerae strains are still part of the natural aquatic environment. CTXΦ has played a critical role in the evolution of the pathogenicity of V. cholerae as it can transmit the ctxAB gene. The unusual transformation of V. cholerae strains associated with epidemics and the emergence of V. cholera O139 demonstrates the evolutionary success of the organism in attaining greater fitness. Genetic changes in pathogenic V. cholerae constitute a natural process for developing immunity within an endemically infected population. The alternative hosts and lysogenic environmental V. cholerae strains may potentially act as cofactors in promoting cholera phage ‘‘blooms’’ within aquatic environments, thereby influencing transmission of phage sensitive, pathogenic V. cholerae strains by aquatic vehicles. Differential induction of the phages is a clear indication of the impact of environmental pollution and global changes on phage induction. The development of molecular biology techniques offered an accessible gateway for investigating the molecular events leading to genetic diversity in the marine environment. Using nucleic acids as targets, the methods of fingerprinting like ERIC PCR and BOX PCR, revealed that the marine environment harbours potentially pathogenic group of bacteria with genetic diversity. The distribution of virulence associated genes in the environmental isolates of V. cholerae provides tangible material for further investigation. Nucleotide and protein sequence analysis alongwith protein structure prediction aids in better understanding of the variation inalleles of same gene in different ecological niche and its impact on the protein structure for attaining greater fitness of pathogens. The evidences of the co-evolution of virulence genes in toxigenic V. cholerae O1 from different lineages of environmental non-O1 strains is alarming. Transduction studies would indicate that the phenomenon of acquisition of these virulence genes by lateral gene transfer, although rare, is not quite uncommon amongst non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae and it has a key role in diversification. All these considerations justify the need for an integrated approach towards the development of an effective surveillance system to monitor evolution of V. cholerae strains with epidemic potential. Results presented in this study, if considered together with the mechanism proposed as above, would strongly suggest that the bacteriophage also intervenes as a variable in shaping the cholera bacterium, which cannot be ignored and hinting at imminent future epidemics.