Fungal diversity associated with Goa's tarballs: Insights from ITS region amplicon sequencing.

This study explores the fungal diversity associated with tarballs, weathered crude oil deposits, on Goa's tourist beaches. Despite tarball pollution being a longstanding issue in Goa state in India, comprehensive studies on associated fungi are scarce. Our research based on amplicon sequence analysis of fungal ITS region fills this gap, revealing a dominance of Aspergillus, particularly Aspergillus penicillioides, associated with tarballs from Vagator and Morjim beaches.

Degradation of tarballs using associated bacterial consortia.

Tarballs are semi-solid blobs of crude-oil formed in marine environment. Microbial degradation of tarballs is poorly understood, though there are indications that tarball-associated microbes can degrade recalcitrant hydrocarbons present in tarballs. In this study, 38 tarball-associated bacteria from Betul beach, Goa, India were initially screened for crude oil degradation.

Diversity of Bacterial Community in the Oxygen Minimum Zones of Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal as Deduced by Illumina Sequencing.

The Indian Ocean harbors oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, with dissolved oxygen < 20 μM, located at the mid-depths of the water column. Till date, high-throughput sequence-data on depth-wise distribution of prokaryotic communities have rarely been reported from these OMZs. The present study aimed to characterize the prokaryotic diversity inhabiting Arabian Sea Time Series (ASTS) and India's Idea 2 (II2) in the Arabian Sea, and Bay of Bengal Time Series (BoBTS) in the Bay of Bengal OMZs based on amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA gene regions, along six sampled depths in the water column.

High abundance of Vibrio in tarball-contaminated seawater from Vagator beach, Goa, India.

Tarballs are semi-solid remnants of crude oil and they are formed in marine environment after oil-spill incidents. They are composed of diverse hydrocarbons; some of which are recalcitrant in nature. Recent studies based on amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA gene suggested that tarballs support hundreds of bacterial genera and provided insights into their role as hydrocarbon degraders and potential human pathogens.

Diversity and extracellular enzyme activities of heterotrophic bacteria from sediments of the Central Indian Ocean Basin.

Sedimentary bacteria play a role in polymetallic nodule formation and growth. There are, however, limited reports on bacterial diversity in nodule-rich areas of the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB). In this study, bacterial abundance in thirteen sediment cores collected from the CIOB was enumerated, followed by phylogenetic characterisation and, screening of select heterotrophic bacteria for extracellular enzyme activities.

Prokaryotic Diversity in Oxygen Depleted Waters of the Bay of Bengal Inferred Using Culture-Dependent and -Independent Methods.

There are regions in the world oceans where oxygen saturation is at its lowest, evident at depths between shelf to upper bathyal zone. These regions are known as Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs), which reportedly support phylogenetically diverse microbes. In this study, we aimed to characterize prokaryotic diversity in the water samples collected from 43, 200 and 1000 m depth of the Bay of Bengal Time Series location (BoBTS-18.

Metagenomic analysis of tarball-associated bacteria from Goa, India.

The beaches of Goa state in India are frequently polluted with tarballs, specifically during pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons. Tarballs contain hydrocarbons, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which pose significant environmental risks. Microbes associated with tarballs reportedly possess capabilities to degrade toxic hydrocarbons present in tarballs.

Phylogenetic characterization of culturable bacteria and fungi associated with tarballs from Betul beach, Goa, India.

Tarballs are semisolid blobs of crude oil, normally formed due to weathering of crude-oil in the sea after any kind of oil spills. Microorganisms are believed to thrive on hydrocarbon-rich tarballs and possibly assist in biodegradation. The taxonomy of ecologically and economically important tarball-associated microbes, however, needs improvement as DNA-based identification and phylogenetic characterization have been scarcely incorporated into it.

Molecular phylogeny of Neodevriesia, with two new species and several new combinations.

To identify Cladosporium-like isolates associated with marine algae, phylogenetic analyses were conducted using a combined data set of the nuc rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 = ITS), 28S gene, and partial RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2). These isolates were confirmed as belonging to Neodevriesia (Neodevriesiaceae), a genus recently segregated from Cladosporium.

Diversity of bacteria and fungi associated with tarballs: Recent developments and future prospects.

Tarballs are formed by weathering of crude oil in marine environment. They are transported from open ocean to the shores by sea currents and waves. Tarball pollution is a major concern to global marine ecosystem.

The ITS-based phylogeny of fungi associated with tarballs.

Tarballs, the remnants of crude oil which change into semi-solid phase due to various weathering processes in the sea, are rich in hydrocarbons, including toxic and almost non-degradable hydrocarbons. Certain microorganisms such as fungi are known to utilize hydrocarbons present in tarballs as sole source of carbon for nutrition. Previous studies have reported 53 fungal taxa associated with tarballs.

Genome sequence, comparative analysis, and evolutionary insights into chitinases of entomopathogenic fungus Hirsutella thompsonii.

Hirsutella thompsonii (Ht) is a fungal pathogen of acarines and the primary cause of epizootics among mites. The draft genomes of two isolates of Ht (MTCC 3556: Ht3, 34.6 Mb and MTCC 6686: Ht6, 34.

Metabolism of 4-chloro-2-nitrophenol in a gram-positive bacterium, Exiguobacterium sp. PMA.

Background: Chloronitrophenols (CNPs) are widely used in the synthesis of dyes, drugs and pesticides, and constitute a major group of environmental pollutants. 4-Chloro-2-nitrophenol (4C2NP) is an isomer of CNPs that has been detected in various industrial effluents. A number of physicochemical methods have been used for treatment of wastewater containing 4C2NP.

Stimulatory effects of arsenic-tolerant soil fungi on plant growth promotion and soil properties.

Fifteen fungi were obtained from arsenic-contaminated agricultural fields in West Bengal, India and examined for their arsenic tolerance and removal ability in our previous study. Of these, the four best arsenic-remediating isolates were tested for plant growth promotion effects on rice and pea in the present study. A greenhouse-based pot experiment was conducted using soil inocula of individual fungi.

Metaxa: a software tool for automated detection and discrimination among ribosomal small subunit (12S/16S/18S) sequences of archaea, bacteria, eukaryotes, mitochondria, and chloroplasts in metagenomes and environmental sequencing datasets.

The ribosomal small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene has emerged as an important genetic marker for taxonomic identification in environmental sequencing datasets. In addition to being present in the nucleus of eukaryotes and the core genome of prokaryotes, the gene is also found in the mitochondria of eukaryotes and in the chloroplasts of photosynthetic eukaryotes. These three sets of genes are conceptually paralogous and should in most situations not be aligned and analyzed jointly.

Ribosomal and RPB2 DNA sequence analyses suggest that Sporidesmium and morphologically similar genera are polyphyletic.

Sporidesmium and morphologically similar dematiaceous, hyphomycetous genera are characterised by holoblastic phragmoconidia produced on proliferating or non-proliferating conidiophores. They include a number of asexual (anamorphic) genera taxonomically segregated from Sporidesmium sensu lato and are similar in having schizolytic conidial secession. The taxonomy of these ubiquitous asexual fungi and their affinities with known Ascomycetes are, however, still obscure.