An insight into the prokaryotic diversity from a polymetallic nodule-rich region in the Central Indian Ocean Basin using next generation sequencing approach.

Deep sea is a vast, dark, and difficult-to-access terrain and is now looked upon as a unique niche harboring diverse microorganism. We used a metataxonomic approach to decipher the microbial diversity present in the water column (surface to near bottom), water overlaying the sediments, and the deep-sea sediments (up to 35 cm) from the Indian Contract Region (ICR) in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB). Samples were collected from #IRZ (Impact Reference Zone), #PRZ (Potential Reference Zone), and #BC20 (Control site, outside potential mining area) with an average water depth of 5,200 m.

Fate of copper complexes in hydrothermally altered deep-sea sediments from the Central Indian Ocean Basin.

The current study aims to understand the speciation and fate of Cu complexes in hydrothermally altered sediments from the Central Indian Ocean Basin and assess the probable impacts of deep-sea mining on speciation of Cu complexes and assess the Cu flux from this sediment to the water column in this area. This study suggests that most of the Cu was strongly associated with different binding sites in Fe-oxide phases of the hydrothermally altered sediments with stabilities higher than that of Cu-EDTA complexes. The speciation of Cu indicates that hydrothermally influenced deep-sea sediments from Central Indian Ocean Basin may not significantly contribute to the global Cu flux.

Heavy metal tolerance in the psychrotolerant Cryptococcus sp. isolated from deep-sea sediments of the Central Indian Basin.

A deep-sea isolate of the psychrotolerant yeast Cryptococcus sp. (NIOCC#PY13) obtained from polymetallic nodule-bearing sediments of the Central Indian Basin was examined for its capacity to grow in the presence of various concentrations of the heavy metal salts i.e.