Diversity analysis of endophytes with antimicrobial and antioxidant potential from Viola odorata: an endemic plant species of the Himalayas.

Viola odorata, also known as "Banafshah" in high altitudes of Himalayas, is well known for its pharmaceutical importance in Ayurvedic and Unani medicinal system. The plant is a source of various drugs for its anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic, diuretic, emollient, expectorant, antipyretic, and laxative properties. The endophytes of plants have been reported for their role in modulating various physiological and biological processes of the host plants. In the present study, a total of 244 endophytes were isolated in pure cultures from the roots of Viola odorata, and genetic diversity was evaluated using amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC). The molecular fingerprinting revealed variation among various rRNA types among morphologically different endophytes based on ARDRA and ERIC-PCR. The screening of endophytes showed antimicrobial activity of 11 bacterial isolates and one actinomycete SGA9 against various pathogens Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The antioxidant activity revealed the majority of the bacterial isolates able to scavenge the free radical in the range of 10-50% and 8 bacterial isolates in the range of 50-85%. Principal component analysis separated eight isolates away from the central eclipse and form a separate group based on antimicrobial and antioxidant potential. The identification of these eight isolates showed affiliation with different species of the genus Enterobacter, Microbacterium, Pseudomonas, Rhizobium, and Streptomyces. This is the first report on the characterization of endophytic bacteria and actinomycetes from endemic Viola odorata. Results suggested that these endophytes could be explored for the production of antimicrobial and antioxidant products.

Psychromicrobium lacuslunae sp. nov., isolated from a high altitude lake.

The novel strain IHBB 11108T was a psychrotolerant and alkaliphilic bacterium isolated from the subsurface water of Chandra Tal Lake in the Lahaul-Spiti valley located in the Indian trans-Himalayas. Cells were Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, non-motile, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. The strain grew at 5-37 °C (optimum 28 °C), pH 5.0-12.0 (optimum pH 7.0) and with up to 8 % NaCl (optimum 1 %). The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed the highest relatedness of strain IHBB 11108T with Psychromicrobium silvestre DSM 102047T (97.5 %), Arthrobacter russicus DSM 14555T (97.4 %) and Renibacterium salmoninarum ATCC 33209T (97.4 %). The strain contained a quinone system with 57.2 % MK-9(H2), 39.1 % MK-10(H2), 3.0 % MK-8(H2) and 0.7 % MK-7(H2). The polar lipids detected were diphosphatidylglycerol, dimannosylglyceride, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylglycerol, monogalactosyldiacylglycerol, one unidentified glycolipid and four unidentified lipids. The cell-wall peptidoglycan structure type was A3α l-Lys-l-Thr-l-Ala with substitution of the α-carboxyl group of d-Glu by alanine amide. Anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0 and anteiso-C17 : 0 were the predominant fatty acids. The genomic DNA G+C content was 59.0 mol%. The DNA-DNA relatedness of strain IHBB 11108T was 46.7±2.2, 43.1±2.5 and 19.1±2.4 % with P. silvestre DSM 102047T, A. russicus DSM 14555T and R. salmoninarum ATCC 33209T, respectively. On the basis of the results of the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses, IHBB 11108T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Psychromicrobium for which the name Psychromicrobium lacuslunae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is IHBB 11108T (=MTCC 12460T=MCC 2780T=JCM 31143T=KACC 19070T).

Complete genome sequence of a low-temperature active and alkaline-stable endoglucanase-producing Paenibacillus sp. strain IHB B 3084 from the Indian Trans-Himalayas.

A genome of 5.88Mb with 46.83% G+C content is reported for an endoglucanase-producing bacterium Paenibacillus sp. strain IHB B 3084 isolated from the cold environments of the Indian Trans-Himalayas. The psychrotrophic bacterium produces low-temperature active and alkaline-stable endoglucanases of industrial importance. The genomic data has provided insight into genomic basis of cellulase production and survival of the bacterium in the cold environments.