Background: Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have found wide range of applications in electronics, biomedical engineering, and chemistry owing to their exceptional opto-electrical properties. Biological synthesis of gold nanoparticles by using plant extracts and microbes have received profound interest in recent times owing to their potential to produce nanoparticles with varied shape, size and morphology. Marine microorganisms are unique to tolerate high salt concentration and can evade toxicity of different metal ions. However, these marine microbes are not sufficiently explored for their capability of metal nanoparticle synthesis. Although, marine water is one of the richest sources of gold in the nature, however, there is no significant publication regarding utilization of marine micro-organisms to produce gold nanoparticles. Therefore, there might be a possibility of exploring marine bacteria as nanofactories for AuNP biosynthesis. Results: In the present study, marine bacteria are exploited towards their capability of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) production. Stable, monodisperse AuNP formation with around 10 nm dimension occur upon exposure of HAuCl₄ solution to whole cells of a novel strain of Marinobacter pelagius, as characterized by polyphasic taxonomy. Nanoparticles synthesized are characterized by Transmission electron microscopy, Dynamic light scattering and UV-visible spectroscopy. Conclusion: The potential of marine organisms in biosynthesis of AuNPs are still relatively unexplored. Although, there are few reports of gold nanoparticles production using marine sponges and sea weeds however, there is no report on the production of gold nanoparticles using marine bacteria. The present work highlighted the possibility of using the marine bacterial strain of Marinobacter pelagius to achieve a fast rate of nanoparticles synthesis which may be of high interest for future process development of AuNPs. This is the first report of AuNP synthesis by marine bacteria.

Background: Increasing multidrug-resistance in bacteria resulted in a greater need to find alternative antimicrobial substances that can be used for clinical applications or preservation of food and dairy products. Research on antimicrobial peptides including lipopeptides exhibiting both narrow and broad spectrum inhibition activities is increasing in the recent past. Therefore, the present study was aimed at isolation and characterization of antimicrobial lipopeptide producing bacterial strains from fecal contaminated soil sample.Results: The phenotypic and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of all isolates identified them as different species of Gram-negative generaCitrobacterandEnterobacter. They exhibited common phenotypic traits like citrate utilization, oxidase negative and facultative anaerobic growth. The HPLC analysis of solvent extracts obtained from cell free fermented broth revealed the presence of multiple antimicrobial lipopeptides. The comprehensive mass spectral analysis (MALDI-TOF MS and GC-MS) of HPLC purified fractions of different isolates revealed that the lipopeptides varied in their molecular weight between (m/z) 607.21 to 1536.16 Da. Isomers of mass ion m/z 984/985 Da was produced by all strains. The 1495 Da lipopeptides produced by strains S-3 and S-11 were fengycin analogues and most active against all strains. While amino acid analysis of lipopeptides suggested most of them had similar composition as in iturins, fengycins, kurstakins and surfactins, differences in their β-hydroxy fatty acid content proposed them to be isoforms of these lipopeptides.Conclusion: Although antimicrobial producing strains can be used as biocontrol agents in food preservation, strains with ability to produce multiple antimicrobial lipopeptides have potential applications in biotechnology sectors such as pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry. This is the first report on antibacterial lipopeptides production by strains ofCitrobacterandEnterobacter.

A bacterial strain producing two antimicrobial peptides was isolated from a rhizosphere soil sample and identified as Bacillus subtilis based on both phenotypic and 16S rRNA gene sequence phylogenetic analysis. It grew optimally up to 14% NaCl and produced antimicrobial peptide within 24 h of growth. The peptides were purified using a combination of chemical extraction and chromatographic techniques. The MALDI-TOF analysis of HPLC purified fractions revealed that the strain SK.DU.4 secreted a bacteriocin-like peptide with molecular mass of 5323.9 Da and a surface-active lipopeptide (m/z 1056 Da). The peptide mass fingerprinting of low-molecular-weight bacteriocin exhibited significant similarity with stretches of secreted lipoprotein of Methylomicrobium album BG8 and displayed 70% sequence coverage. MALDI MS/MS analysis elucidated the lipopeptide as a cyclic lipopeptide with a β-hydroxy fatty acid linked to Ser of a peptide with seven α-amino acids (Asp-Tyr-Asn-Gln-Pro-Asn-Ser) and assigned it to iturin-like group of antimicrobial biosurfactants. However, it differed in amino acid composition with other members of the iturin family. Both peptides were active against Gram-positive bacteria, suggesting that they had an additive effect.

Biosurfactants are potential biomolecules that have extensive utilization in cosmetics, medicines, bioremediation and processed foods. Yeast produced biosurfactants offer thermal resistance, antioxidant activity, and no risk of pathogenicity, illustrating their promising use in food formulations. The present study is aimed to assess potential of biosurfactant screened from a novel yeast and their inhibition against food spoilage fungi. A novel asexual ascomycetes yeast strain CIG-6A^T producing biosurfactant, was isolated from the gut of stingless bee from Churdhar, HP, India. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the strain CIG-6A^T was closely related to Metschnikowia koreensis, showing 94.38% sequence similarity in the D1D2 region for which the name Metschnikowia churdharensis f.a., sp. nov., is proposed. The strain CIG-6A^T was able to produce sophorolipid biosurfactant under optimum conditions. Sophorolipid biosurfactant from strain CIG-6A^T effectively reduced the surface tension from 72.8 to 35 mN/m. Sophorolipid biosurfactant was characterized using TLC, FTIR, GC-MS and LC-MS techniques and was a mixture of both acidic and lactonic forms. Sophorolipid assessed promising activity against pathogenic fungi viz. Fusarium oxysporum (MTCC 9913), Fusarium solani (MTCC 350), and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (MTCC 2190). The inhibitory effect of biosurfactant CIG-6A^T against F. solani was studied and MIC was 49 μgm/ml, further confirmed through confocal laser scanning microscopy. We illustrated the antifungal activity of sophorolipid biosurfactant from Metschnikowia genus for the first time and suggested a novel antifungal compound against food spoilage and human fungal pathogen.

Carotenoids have important functions in bacteria, ranging from harvesting light energy to neutralizing oxidants and acting as virulence factors. However, information pertaining to the carotenoids is scattered throughout the literature. Furthermore, information about the genes/proteins involved in the biosynthesis of carotenoids has tremendously increased in the post-genomic era. A web server providing the information about microbial carotenoids in a structured manner is required and will be a valuable resource for the scientific community working with microbial carotenoids. Here, we have created a manually curated, open access, comprehensive compilation of bacterial carotenoids named as ProCarDB- Prokaryotic Carotenoid Database. ProCarDB includes 304 unique carotenoids arising from 50 biosynthetic pathways distributed among 611 prokaryotes. ProCarDB provides important information on carotenoids, such as 2D and 3D structures, molecular weight, molecular formula, SMILES, InChI, InChIKey, IUPAC name, KEGG Id, PubChem Id, and ChEBI Id. The database also provides NMR data, UV-vis absorption data, IR data, MS data and HPLC data that play key roles in the identification of carotenoids. An important feature of this database is the extension of biosynthetic pathways from the literature and through the presence of the genes/enzymes in different organisms. The information contained in the database was mined from published literature and databases such as KEGG, PubChem, ChEBI, LipidBank, LPSN, and Uniprot. The database integrates user-friendly browsing and searching with carotenoid analysis tools to help the user. We believe that this database will serve as a major information centre for researchers working on bacterial carotenoids.