Biotechnological impacts of Halomonas: a promising cell factory for industrially relevant biomolecules

ABSTRACT

Extremophiles are the most fascinating life forms for their special adaptations and ability to offer unique extremozymes or bioactive molecules. Halophiles, the natural inhabitants of hypersaline environments, are one among them. Halomonas are the common genus of halophilic bacteria. To support growth in unusual environments, Halomonas produces various hydrolytic enzymes, compatible solutes, biopolymers like extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) and polyhydroxy alkaloates (PHA), antibiotics, biosurfactants, pigments, etc. Many of such molecules are being produced in large-scale bioreactors for commercial use. However, the prospect of the remaining bioactive molecules with industrial relevance is far from their application. Furthermore, the genetic engineering of the respective gene clusters could open up a new path to bio-prospect these molecules by overproducing their products through heterologous expression. The present survey on Halomonas highlights their ecological diversity, application potential of the their various industrially relevant biomolecules and impact of these biomolecules on respective fields.

KEYWORDS:

• Extremophile
• halophiles
• Halomonas
• bioactive compounds
• biotechnological intervention

Acknowledgements

Authors acknowledge the generous help of Dr Prithidipa Sahoo of Visva-Bharati University towards the proofreading of the manuscript.

Authors’ contributions

J.B. conceptualize the article, performed the literature survey and wrote the first draft. S.K.J. performed literature search, helped to write the first draft and made substantial technical contributions. S.M. prepared the framework of the MS, supervised the work, contributed on the academic and technical content of the MS, and edited the first draft substantially. All authors approved the article for publication.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Jhuma Biswas

Jhuma Biswas completed her BSc. in Microbiology from Acharya Prafulla Chandra College, University of Calcutta, West Bengal, India, in the year 2006. She has completed her Masters in Microbiology from University of Calcutta, West Bengal, in the year 2008. She got her PhD degree from University of Calcutta, for her research on halophiles. Her work mainly focused on isolation, identification and exploration of biomolecules of halophiles. Bioprocess and bioactive properties of polysaccharides, antibiotics, enzymes, pigments and bioremediation of toxic metals, dyes, xenobiotics are also primary target of her research work. Currently, she is working as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Department of Microbiology, University of Calcutta.

Santosh Kumar Jana

Santosh Kumar Jana completed his Bachelors in Botany from Bidhannagar College (Govt.), West Bengal State University, West Bengal, India in 2015 and completed his Masters from the same university in 2018. Currently, he is pursuing his Ph.D. in Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, Department of Microbiology, University of Calcutta. His research mainly focused on endophytes and their applications on the diversity in host plant, PGP activity, Mineral solubilization, N2 fixation, abiotic stress, heavy metals and xenobiotics tolerance, Disease management as well as green synthesis properties of some nanoparticles.

Sukhendu Mandal

Sukhendu Mandal is currently working in the Department of Microbiology as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Mandal did his PhD from the Bose Institute, India, on bacterial gene regulation. He did his postdoctoral research in Waksman Institute, New Jersey, where he worked on the Mycobacterial RNA polymerase and anti-tuberculosis drug development. Dr. Mandal joined the University of Calcutta in 2012. His present primary research aim is to explore the extremophilic bacteria mainly the psychrophilic and halophilic one for identification of their active biomolecules. Another of his research interest is on bacteria-mediated environmental waste management with special emphasis on the rise of antimicrobial drug resistance.