Exploration of a haloarchaeon, Halostagnicola larsenii, isolated from rock pit sea water, West Coast of Maharashtra, India, for the production of bacteriorhodopsin.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the present investigation was to isolate haloarchaea from rock pit sea water, West Coast of India and to explore their potential in the production of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) which converts light energy into electrical energy.


RESULTS
Haloarchaeal strains were isolated from rock pit sea water samples collected from Rock garden, Malvan, West Coast of India. Based on morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, all the 11 strains were identified as Halostagnicola larsenii. All the strains require at least 1·5 mol l(-1) NaCl for growth; grow optimally in the range of 3·5-5·2 mol l(-1) NaCl. BR was detected in all the strains ranging from 0·035 to 0·258 g l(-1) . All 11 strains showed conversion of light energy into electrical energy in the range of 0·7-44·2 mV, when exposed to sunlight.


CONCLUSIONS
A haloarchaeon, Hst. larsenii is isolated from rock pit sea water and demonstrated to have BR that converted light energy into electrical energy.


CONCLUSIONS
The present investigation is presumably the first report of the isolation of Hst. larsenii from low salinity environment and its potential in production of BR. The haloarchaeon could be explored for the generation of electrical energy.
Department of Biotechnology, Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Pune, India.
P P
PP
Kanekar
Department of Biotechnology, Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Pune, India.
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SO
Kulkarni
Microbial Sciences Divison, MACS-Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, India.
S P
SP
Kanekar
Microbial Culture Collection (MCC), National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, India.
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Y
Shouche
Microbial Culture Collection (MCC), National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, India.
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K
Jani
Microbial Culture Collection (MCC), National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, India.
A
A
Sharma
D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology; D006216:Halobacteriaceae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D007194:India; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000378:metabolism
D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins
Halostagnicola larsenii; bacteriorhodopsin; haloarchaea; low saline environment; red rock; rock pit sea water