The seepage of gaseous compounds from underground reservoirs towards the surface causes abnormalities in the population of microbial communities that consume light hydrocarbons on the surface of the reservoir. This microbial population can serve as indicators for determining the location of gas reservoirs prior to drilling operations. In this study, the simulation of methane gas leakage in the sediments of the Persian Gulf was conducted using a laboratory model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Hypersaline ecosystems display taxonomically similar assemblages with low diversities and highly dense accompanying viromes. The ecological implications of viral infection on natural microbial populations remain poorly understood, especially at finer scales of diversity. Here, we sought to investigate the influence of changes in environmental physicochemical conditions and viral predation pressure by autochthonous and allochthonous viruses on host dynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Uricase or urate oxidase, as a therapeutic enzyme, is extensively applied to oxidize accumulated uric acid in the body to soluble form to treat related illnesses.
Objectives: This study was conducted with the aim of searching for potential sources of uricase-producing from Eshtehard salt desert in Alborz province, Iran and heterologous expression, purification and functional assay of the enzyme.
Materials And Methods: Main screening was conducted by cultivation of the strains on a medium enriched with 0.
Executive Summary: Microbes are all pervasive in their distribution and influence on the functioning and well-being of humans, life in general and the planet. Microbially-based technologies contribute hugely to the supply of important goods and services we depend upon, such as the provision of food, medicines and clean water. They also offer mechanisms and strategies to mitigate and solve a wide range of problems and crises facing humanity at all levels, including those encapsulated in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA novel moderately halophilic, Gram-stain-negative and facultatively anaerobic bacterium, designated as strain TBZ242, was isolated from water of Urmia Lake in the Azerbaijan region of Iran. The cells were found to be rod-shaped and motile by a single polar flagellum, producing circular and yellowish colonies. The strain could grow in the presence of 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Syst Evol Microbiol
March 2024
Halophilic archaea of the class are the most salt-requiring prokaryotes within the domain . In 1997, minimal standards for the description of new taxa in the order were proposed. From then on, the taxonomy of the class provides an excellent example of how changing concepts on prokaryote taxonomy and the development of new methods were implemented.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Syst Evol Microbiol
October 2023
A novel halophilic bacterium, strain 71-i, was isolated from Inche-Broun hypersaline lake in Golestan province, in the north of Iran. It was a Gram-stain-negative, non-endospore forming, rod-shaped bacterium. It grew at 4-40 °C (optimum 30 °C), pH 6.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn recent years, the anticancer properties of metabolites from halophilic microorganisms have received a lot of attention. Twenty-nine halophilic bacterial strains were selected from a culture collection to test the effects of their supernatant metabolites on stem cell-like properties of six human cancer cell lines. Human fibroblasts were used as normal control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSelenium oxyanions are released into environments by natural and anthropogenic activities and are present in agricultural and glass manufacturing wastewater in several locations worldwide. Excessive amounts of this metalloid have adverse effects on the health of living organisms. Halophilic and halotolerant microorganisms were selected for selenium oxyanions remediation due to presence of significant amount of salt in selenium-containing wastewater.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetalloids are released into the environment due to the erosion of the rocks or anthropogenic activities, causing problems for human health in different world regions. Meanwhile, microorganisms with different mechanisms to tolerate and detoxify metalloid contaminants have an essential role in reducing risks. In this review, we first define metalloids and bioremediation methods and examine the ecology and biodiversity of microorganisms in areas contaminated with these metalloids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFToxic heavy metal/oxyanion contamination has increased severely through the last decades. In this study, 169 native haloarchaeal strains were isolated from different saline and hypersaline econiches of Iran. After providing pure culture and performing morphological, physiological, and biochemical tests, haloarchaea resistance toward arsenate, selenite, chromate, cadmium, zinc, lead, copper, and mercury were surveyed using an agar dilution method.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe halophilic microorganisms living in extreme environments contain high concentrations of carotenoids with notable medical abilities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the anticancer effect of carotenoids extracted from native Iranian halophilic microorganisms with the ability to inhibit breast cancer cell line. To begin the study, 40 halophilic strains were cultured, and 8 strains capable of producing pigmented colonies were chosen from those cultured strains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLake Urmia located in Iran is a hypersaline environment with a salinity of about 27% (w/v). Metagenomic analyses of water samples collected from six locations in the lake exhibited a microbial community dominated by representatives of the family Haloferacaceae (69.8%), mainly those affiliated to only two genera, Haloquadratum (59.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) is a multifunctional pro-inflammatory cytokine, responsible for autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. In COVID-19 patients, increased TNF-α concentration may provoke inflammatory cascade and induce the initiation of cytokine storm that may result in fatal pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ADRS). Hence, TNFα is assumed to be a promising drug target against cytokine storm in COVID-19 patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe field of microbial pigments is an emerging area in natural products science. Carotenoids form a major class of such pigments and are found to be diversely synthesized by microorganisms that reside in hypersaline ecosystems to provide resistance against oxidative stress. Human cells can benefit from compounds such as carotenoids as antioxidant agents through either their capability to quench free radicals or their effect on promoting the antioxidant defense pathway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and PCR-amplified fragments of the 16SrDNA gene were used to determine prokaryotes diversity in Urmia Salt Lake. Prokaryote cell population in Urmia lake range from 3.1 ± 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Persian Gulf, hosting ca. 48% of the world's oil reserves, has been chronically exposed to natural oil seepage. Oil spill studies show a shift in microbial community composition in response to oil pollution; however, the influence of chronic oil exposure on the microbial community remains unknown.
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