Understanding the in silico aspects of bacterial catabolic cascade for styrene degradation.

Styrene is a nonpolar organic compound used in very high volume for the industrial scale production of commercially important polymers such as polystyrene resins as well as copolymers like acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, latex, and rubber. These resins are widely used in the manufacturing of various products including single-use plastics such as disposable cups and containers, protective packaging, heat insulation, and so forth. The large-scale utilization leads to the over-accumulation of styrene waste in the environment causing deleterious health risks including cancer, neurological impairment, dysbiosis of central nervous system, and respiratory problems.

sp. nov., a halophilic archaeon isolated from a hypersaline lake in India.

A haloarchaeal strain (ESP3B_9) was isolated from the salt pan of Sambhar salt lake, Rajasthan, India. Cells were coccoid, non-motile, Gram-stain-negative and formed reddish-pink pigmented colonies. The strain was aerobic, able to grow at 35-55 °C (optimum, 40 °C), in 20-35 % (25 %) NaCl and pH 8-10 (pH 9).