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Extremozymes from halophiles that thrives in extreme hypersaline habitats have been the subject of extensive and expanding research owing to their value in a variety of industrial applications. Esterases and lipases are the most industrially applied enzymes due to their specific hydrolysis of ester bonds. In the present study, esterase and lipase producing extreme and moderate halophilic strains were isolated from brackish water lake Tso Kar of Ladakh in India. All the fifteen isolates were screened for esterase and lipase production. Among the fifteen isolates, two isolates, TKW1 and TKW12, having extracellular and intracellular esterase activity, and one isolate, TKW3, having intracellular lipase activity, were selected for identification using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and media optimization to determine the optimum production of esterase/lipase using a "one variable at a time" strategy. The cumulative effect of all the optimized conditions led to maximu m esterase production of about 82.59 U/ml, 136.9 U/ml after 48 hours and 36 hrs by TKW1 and TKW12, respectively, and maximum lipase of about 199.4 U/ml after 60 hrs by TKW3. These strains had marked hal-ophilic esterase and lipase properties, indicating wide potential applications in industrial biotechnology as salt-adapted haloalkaliphilic enzymes. This is the first report of the isolation and molecular identification of an esterase and lipase producing halo-philic bacterium from the Tso Kar brackish water lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology to investigate complex microbial communities with functional annotation in various environments has resulted in significant rise in the study area of metagenomics. The current study represents the first metagenomic exploration of the phylogenetic diversity and functional analysis of bacterial assemblage from the brackish water samples of Tso Moriri (TSMJK) and Pangong Tso (PGJK) of the Ladakh region, India using ion Torrent PGM sequencing. The metagenome sequencing data for TSMJK and PGJK are accessible at NCBI under the SRA database with accession numbers SRP178081 and SRP178082. The taxonomic analysis showed the dominance of phyla Proteobacteria within the TSMJK and PGJK datasets, with the vast majority, found to be uncultivable, suggesting the presence of novel species in these unique niches. The amino acid derivatives, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism genes identified by functional diversity were the most prevalent class of genes found in these brackish habitats. With the majority of the reads not assigned or unclassified, the KEGG pathway allocated abundant sequences to metabolism, Environmental Information Processing, and Genetic Information Processing. Our findings emphasize the hitherto underappreciated microbial diversity and metabolic potential of TSMJK and PGJK brackish water metagenomes, promising the discovery of novel microbial lineages and gene resources in these extreme habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cinnamomum verum bark (Cinnamon or dalchini in Hindi) and Cinnamomum tamala leaf (Indian bay leaf or tejpatta in Hindi) are commonly used spices in the Asian subcontinent. In the present study, we compared the bioactive potential of these spices. Method: The plants were collected and extracted with different solvents. The extracts were analysed for in vitro cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines by SRB assay. Antioxidant activity was measured in terms of DPPH radical scavenging and chelation power on ferrous ions. Relative phenolic content of extracts was also measured. Results: Comparative analysis demonstrated that C. verum (bark) has much greater cytotoxic as well as antioxidant potential than C. tamala (leaves). The bark methanol extract showed potential activity against prostrate (PC-3) and glioblastoma (T98G) cancer cell lines with 90% and 78% growth inhibition at 100 µg/ml concentration respectively. The bark methanol extract also showed good DPPH free radical scavenging activity with IC50 111.5 ± 0.62 µg/ml and moderate chelating power on ferrous ions IC50 108.7 ± 0.53 µg/ml. The total phenolic content of bark methanol extract was highest with 210 ± 0.81 mg/g GAE. Conclusion: This study highlights the relative greater bioactive potential of C. verum (bark) and it can be deduced that it is a highly effective cytotoxic, antioxidant spice than Indian bay leaf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]