Isolation and characterization of novel marine luminescent bacteria from Diu beach, India

Terrestrial and marine bioluminescent organisms from the Indian subcontinent: a review

The inception of bioluminescence by Harvey (1952) has led to a Nobel Prize to Osamu Shimomura (Chemistry, 2008) in biological research. Consequently, in recent years, bioluminescence-based assays to monitor toxic pollutants as a real-time marker, to study various diseases and their propagation in plants and animals, are developed in many countries. The emission ability of bioluminescence is improved by gene modification, and also, search for novel bioluminescent systems is underway. Over 100 species of organisms belonging to different taxa are known to be luminous in India. However, the diversity and distribution of luminous organisms and their applications are studied scarcely in the Indian scenario. In this context, the present review provides an overview of the current understanding of various bioluminescent organisms, functions, and applications. A detailed checklist of known bioluminescent organisms from India's marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems is detailed. This review infers that Indian scientists are needed to extend their research on various aspects of luminescent organisms such as biodiversity, genomics, and chemical mechanisms for conservation, ecological, and biomedical applications.

Promising Biological Indicator of Heavy Metal Pollution: Bioluminescent Bacterial Strains Isolated and Characterized from Marine Niches of Goa, India

In present study, several marine water samples collected from the North Goa Beaches, India for isolation of luminescent bacterial species. Isolates obtained labelled as DP1-5 and AB1-6. Molecular characterization including identification of a microbial culture using 16S rRNA gene based molecular technique and phylogenetic analysis confirmed that DP3 & AB1 isolates were Vibrio harveyi. All of the isolates demonstrated multiple metal resistances in terms of growth, with altered luminescence with variable metal concentration. Present investigations were an attempt towards exploring and reporting an updated diversity of bioluminescent bacterial species from various sites around the Goa, India which would be explored in future for constructing luminescence based biosensor for efficiently monitoring the level of hazardous metals in the environment.