Bhakti Balkrishna Salgaonkar

Aquaculture plays a pivotal role in meeting the escalating demand for seafood. However, the susceptibility of fish to diseases poses a substantial threat to the productivity and profitability of aquaculture operations. Disease outbreaks necessitate the development of strategies to improve fish health without relying on antibiotics. This review focuses on harnessing the potential of natural sources of carotenoids, specifically those derived from microbial sources, as supplements in aquaculture feed. Microbial carotenoids effectively bolster fish health, rendering them resistant to pathogens and also improving the quality of fish being farmed. Additionally, carotenoids contribute to increased pigmentation in fish, enhancing visual appeal, especially in ornamental fishes. The authors have also touched upon elucidating the mechanisms through which carotenoids enhance fish health. This work consolidates existing knowledge and underscores the potential for further research to broaden our understanding of microbial carotenoids in aquaculture.

— Present study aimed to evaluate culturable halophilic archaeal diversity of iodised crystal salt, obtained from the solar salterns of Vedaranyam, Tamil Nadu, India. Bright yellow-orange-red...

Sugarcane bagasse (SCB), one of the major lignocellulosic agro-industrial waste products, was used as a substrate for biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) by halophilic archaea. Among the various wild-type halophilic archaeal strains screened, Halogeometricum borinquense strain E3 showed better growth and PHA accumulation as compared to Haloferaxvolcanii strain BBK2, Haloarcula japonica strain BS2, and Halococcus salifodinae strain BK6. Growth kinetics and bioprocess parameters revealed the maximum PHA accumulated by strain E3 to be 50.4 ± 0.1 and 45.7 ± 0.19 (%) with specific productivity (qp) of 3.0 and 2.7 (mg/g/h) using NaCl synthetic medium supplemented with 25% and 50% SCB hydrolysate, respectively. PHAs synthesized by strain E3 were recovered in chloroform using a Soxhlet apparatus. Characterization of the polymer using crotonic acid assay, X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR) spectroscopy analysis revealed the polymer obtained from SCB hydrolysate to be a co-polymer of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) [P(3HB-co-3HV)] comprising of 13.29 mol % 3HV units.