Research Projects

The earth’s surface is mostly covered by saline habitats and is inhabited by one of the important classes of extremophiles called halophiles. Halophiles are attuned to grow and carry out their metabolic activities under high salt conditions. Other than their physiological significance, they are biotechnologically useful and have been utilized for enzymes, compatible solutes (ectoine, betaine), bioplastics, carotenoids, biofuels, etc production, among halophiles archaea microbes grow at very high salt concentrations reaching saturation and are classified as haloarchaea. Haloarchaea can produce many high-value compounds and significant among them are bacteriorhodopsin and halocin. Bacteriorhodopsin is a photoactive protein and microbes use it to establish proton gradient for ATP synthesis. It is a very costly compound and in Sigma Aldrich's catalogue 1 mg of bacteriorhodopsin cost 1.11 lakh. Bacteriorhodopsin has versatile uses in solar cells, fuel cells, biosensors, artificial retinas, storage devices, optical devices, nanosensors, camouflage, biodefense, holographic memory, and security ink. The high-yield economic production is lacking. The other bioactive molecule halocin is an antimicrobial peptide/ protein secreted by haloarchaea to compete with other haloarchaea for nutrients in the environment. Halocin has shown antagonistic potential against human pathogens and can be developed as an antimicrobials, particularly against antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) microbes. The project proposes to screen haloarchaea isolated from Indian saline habitats and Indian Microbial culture collections for bacteriorhodopsin and halocin production. Potent microbes will be undertaken for production optimization. The elimination of sterilization procedures, simpler maintenance, straightforward bioreactor design, and smooth operation are the advantages of non-sterile fermentation versus sterile. A non-sterile production method will be developed for the economical production of these two bioactives. Starvation, antimicrobial agents, high pH, high temperature, and immobilization are some of the methods used for non-sterile fermentations. Because halophiles require a lot of salt to grow, they are a special and natural choice for non-sterile fermentation. The project envisages the economical production of proposed bioactives using non-sterile production. An effective downstream process for these two bioactive will also be designed. Finally, the application of bacteriorhodopsin in solar/fuel cells and halocins as antimicrobial agents will be developed. High-yield economical production of bacteriorhodopsin and the development of halocin as antimicrobials against AMR bacteria will be the significant outcome of this project.