Anas Abdulaziz

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi | CSIR · National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre Cochin

Corals are colonized by a plethora of microorganisms, and their diversity plays a significant role in the health and resilience of corals when they face oxidative stress leading to bleaching. In the current study, we examined 238 bacteria isolated from five different coral species (Acropora hyacinthus, Pocillopora damicornis, Podabacea crustacea, P...

Metals and their nanoparticles can induce toxicities that influence the survival of both microorganisms and macroorganisms. The current study reports on the impact of heavy metal pollution on the microbiome of estuarine and coastal sediments, where the settling and final remineralization of organic matter occur. Sediment samples collected from the...

The diversity of organisms inhabiting deep-sea ecosystems, such as seamounts, has hitherto remained under-studied. In this study, we report on the faunal diversity in the water column adjacent to the summit and periphery of two seamounts (SMS2 and SMS3) and an oxygen minimum zone site located away from the seamounts in the southeast Arabian Sea. En...

Plastic litter carrying pathogenic bacteria pose serious threats to the health of human and aquatic life. We enumerated the abundance of Escherichia coli and Vibrio species in different types of plastic litter (biomedical, food packages, sanitary, fishing material and miscellaneous) collected from the beaches of Agatti and Kavaratti in the Lakshadw...

Diverse group of microorganisms maintain a symbiotic relationship with corals, playing pivotal roles in their survival. The coral-Zooxanthellae interactions are extensively reported owing to the shedding of the latter in response to the oxidative stress from anthropogenic sources and climate change indicators, which leads to coral bleaching. On the...

The overgrowth of invasive hydrophytes presents significant socioeconomic and environmental challenges to aquatic ecosystems. Vembanad lake located along India’s southwest coast experience a surge in hydrophyte proliferation during the monsoon season, which adversely affects the water quality, fisheries, navigable waterways, agriculture and contrib...

Each organism has a unique microbiome which contribute significantly to their existence and understanding that is important for defining their ecological significances. This is especially important in deep ocean ecosystem characterized by the existence of several unique biogeochemical conditions. Amygdalum sp. is a bivalve mollusc which has the cap...

The presence of microplastics (MPs) in marine ecosystems is widespread and extensive. They have even reached the deepest parts of the ocean and polar regions. The number of articles on plastic pollution has increased in recent years, but few have investigated the MPs from oceanic islands which are biodiversity hotspots. We investigated the possible...

The 3D printing technology has attracted the attention of both biologists and engineers due to its flexibility in preparing materials of desired size and shape. Although the application of 3D printing has permeated all fields, ranging from the preparation of biomedical scaffoldings to large-scale construction, its application in microbiology remain...

Coral reefs are biologically diverse ecosystems that provide several ecological services. Corals show visible responses to indicators of climate change and undergo bleaching. Reactive molecules mediate many of the deleterious effects caused by climate change indicators, and organisms generate different antioxidant molecules to protect their cellula...

Among the diverse Vibrio spp. autochthonous to coastal ecosystems, V. cholerae, V. fluvialis, V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus are pathogenic to humans. Increasing sea-surface temperature, sea-level rise and water-related disasters associated with climate change have been shown to influence the proliferation of these bacteria and change their...

Water is an essential natural resource, but increasingly water also forms a threat to the human population, with floods being the most common natural disaster worldwide. Earth Observation has the potential for developing cost-effective methods to monitor risk, with free and open data available at the global scale. In this study, we present the appl...

Coral reef ecosystems have immense influence on coastal protection, fisheries, tourism, and biotechnology sectors. The negative impacts of climate change and anthropogenic inputs on the existence of coral reef ecosystems is a topic of concern for both scientists and policy makers. The oxidative stress induced by ultraviolet (UV) radiations, elevate...

This paper reports two species—Ophiozonella molesta (Koehler, 1904) and Ophiothamnus venustus Matsumoto, 1915, from a seamount in the Eastern Arabian Sea. This forms the first ever report of Ophiothamnus venustus from the Indian Ocean, and the first verified report of Ophiozonella molesta from Indian waters. This is the first ever work to document...

Luminescent nanomaterials such as semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) and quantum dots (QDs) attract much attention to optical detectors, LEDs, photovoltaics, displays, biosensing, and bioimaging. These materials include metal chalcogenide QDs and metal halide perovskite NCs. Since the introduction of cadmium chalcogenide QDs to biolabeling and bioima...

The cover picture shows tagged nanomaterials in a cell, which display excellent fluorescence and MRI contrasts for multimodal biomolecular, cell and in vivo bioimaging. See the Review by Vasudevanpillai Biju and co‐workers (DOI:10.1002/tcr.202200253).

Corals are the visible indicators of the disasters induced by global climate change and anthropogenic activities and have become a highly vulnerable ecosystem on the verge of extinction. Multiple stressors could act individually or synergistically which results in small to large scale tissue degradation, reduced coral covers, and makes the corals v...

Bioconjugated nanomaterials replace molecular probes in bioanalysis and bioimaging in vitro and in vivo. Nanoparticles of silica, metals, semiconductors, polymers, and supramolecular systems, conjugated with contrast agents and drugs for image-guided (MRI, fluorescence, PET, Raman, SPECT, photodynamic, photothermal, and photoacoustic) therapy infil...

Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT), employing a combination of light and natural photosensitizer molecules such as curcumin, has been accepted as a safe modality for removing aquatic pathogens which cause diseases such as cholera in humans and vibriosis in aquatic animals. Curcumin and its photodegradation products are generally conside...

A growing coastal population is leading to increased anthropogenic pollution that greatly affects coastal and inland water bodies, especially in the tropics. The Sustainable Development Goal-14, ‘Life below water’ emphasises the importance of conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources. Pollution management practices often inclu...

The draft genome sequence of Shewanella indica strain MMRF542, which was isolated from a marine sponge ( Callyspongia diffusa ), is reported. The genome sequence provides insight into the ecological relevance and biotechnological potential of Shewanella species.

Melanin is a biopolymer with versatile structural and functional properties and diverse applications in recovering toxic chemicals from water and wastewater, biomedical imaging, and as theragnostic agent. We report the structural characterization and biosynthetic pathway of an extracellular pyomelanin secreted by a sponge-associated bacterium, Shew...

11 Photochemistry has become the base of many SDG goals for energy and environment 12 management. Removing aquatic pathogens is a global requirement to protect humans and aquatic 13 animals from infectious diseases and emerging antibiotic resistance. Photodynamic antimicrobial 14 chemotherapy combining photosensitizers and light sources is a greene...

Photochemistry becomes the basis of the sustainable development goals 6 and 7 for clean water and energy. Removing aquatic pathogens is a global requirement to protect humans and aquatic animals from infectious diseases and emerging antibiotic resistance. Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy combining photosensitizers and light sources is a gree...

In the absence of an effective vaccine or drug therapy, non-pharmaceutical interventions are the only option for control of the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019, a pandemic with global implications. Each of the over 200 countries affected has followed its own path in dealing with the crisis, making it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness...

Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) is comparable to antibiotics for killing bacterial pathogens of cutaneous, wound and periodontal infections. Exposure of a photosensitizer (PS) drug applied on such areas to appropriate light sources generates reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI), which kills the bacteria in the proximity. Photochemical...

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) combine light and photosensitizers to treat cancers and microbial infections, respectively. In PACT, the excitation of a photosensitizer drug with appropriate light generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) that kill pathogens in the proximity of the drug. PACT has consider...

Background: Disrupting the spread of water associated diseases caused by pathogenic Vibrio species has been proposed by World Health Organization, as a target to be achieved by 2030. A major requirement for this is the development of novel strategies to disinfect drinking water and other sources of pathogens such as seafood. Photodynamic Antimicrob...

Seasonality in carbon chemistry of Cochin backwaters, Southern India, was investigated between 2018 and 2019. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) showed strong seasonal variations. Lowest DIC was observed during the Southwest Monsoon (SWM), in conjunction with low salinity in surface waters, suggesting strong freshwater influence. The maximum concentr...

Citizen science aims to mobilise the general public, motivated by curiosity, to collect scientific data and contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge. In this article, we describe a citizen science network that has been developed to assess the water quality in a 100 km long tropical lake-estuarine system (Vembanad Lake), which directly...

Turbidity and water colour are two easily measurable properties used to monitor pollution. Here, we highlight the utility of a low-cost device—3D printed, hand-held Mini Secchi disk (3DMSD) with Forel-Ule (FU) colour scale sticker on its outer casing—in combination with a mobile phone application (‘TurbAqua’) that was provided to laymen for assessi...

The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal Life Below Water (SDG-14) aims to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development”. Within SDG-14, targets 14.1 and 14.2 deal with marine pollution and the adverse impacts of human activities on aquatic systems. Here, we present a remote-sensing-based...

Shrimp progressively gets more attention among marine invertebrates from researchers all over the world due to it being a healthy food as well as having economic importance. There were a lot of attempts to develop a continuous cell line from shrimp but none successful. In this context a novel hybrid cell line named ‘PmLyO-Sf9’ could be developed by...

Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium responsible for the disease cholera, is a naturally-occurring bacterium, commonly found in many natural tropical water bodies. In the context of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets on health (Goal 3), water quality (Goal 6), life under water (Goal 14), and clean water and sanitation (Goal 6), which ai...

Sponges accommodate a diverse group of microorganisms with varied metabolic capabilities. The bacterial associates of sponges are widely studied while our understanding of archaeal counterparts is scanty. In the present study, we report the archaeal associates of two sponges, Pseudoceratina purpurea (NCBI barcode: KX454492) and Cinachyra sp. (NCBI...

Probiotics inspired by host-microbe interactions in the natural ecosystem are propitious in controlling bacterial infections in aquaculture and veterinary systems. Here we report the isolation and characterization of pathogenic Vibrio spp. and lactic acid bacteria from an intensive culture system of Litopenaeus vannamei and natural ecosystem, respe...

Mudbanks along the southwest coast of India are exposed to upwelled hypoxic waters and higher concentrations of methane during summer–monsoon.We report the phylogenetic composition of obligate and facultative anaerobic bacteria isolated from Alappuzha mudbank and their abilities to adapt to hypoxia. The average anaerobic bacterial abundances in the...

Cholera outbreaks are prevalent in countries with a low Human Development Index (HDI) where people have limited access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Intriguingly, the state of Kerala which records the highest HDI in India is endemic to cholera. We discuss the epidemiology of a cholera outbreak reported among migrant workers...

Dynamics of Vibrio populations in aquatic environments are of concern, as they encompass members pathogenic to humans as well as marine flora and fauna. Spatiotemporal distribution of its culturable abundance for a range of physicochemical and biological parameters in the Cochin estuary (CE), one of the largest tropical monsoonal estuary along the...

Herein we report the isolation of a novel actinomycete, strain MCCB 268T, from the sediment sample collected from a high Arctic fjord Kongsfjorden. MCCB 268T showed greater than 97% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with those of Pseudonocardia konjuensis LM 157T (98.06%), Pseudonocardia soli NW8-21 (97.22%) Pseudonocardia endophytica YIM 56035 (97...

The water bodies along a continuum from estuaries to open ocean display significant changes in their physical, chemical and biological characteristics. In the current study, we report the influence of such changes on the abundance and community structure of bacteria and archaea in a continuum from Cochin Estuary, in the southwest coast of India, to...

Herein we report the isolation of a novel actinomycete, strain MCCB 268T , from the sediment sample collected from a high Arctic fjord Kongsfjorden. MCCB 268T showed greater than 97% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with those of Pseudonocardia konjuensis LM 157T (98.06%), Pseudonocardia soli NW8-21 (97.22%) Pseudonocardia endophytica YIM 56035 (9...

Cholera outbreaks are prevalent in countries with low Human Development Index (HDI) where people have limited access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Intriguingly, state of Kerala which records the highest HDI in India is endemic to cholera. We discuss the epidemiology of a cholera outbreak reported among migrant workers of Ke...

The effect of heavy metal pollution on the microbiome of cyanobacteria in Cochin estuary (CE) on the southwest coast of India is reported in the study. Statistically significant difference in heavy metal concentration was observed between water, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediment. The Zn, Cd, Cu, Ni and Cr were 2–6 times higher in the...

In the absence of an effective vaccine or drug therapy, non-Pharmaceutical Interventions are the only option for control of the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019, a pandemic with global implications. Each of the over 200 countries affected ¹ has followed its own path in dealing with the crisis, making it difficult to evaluate the effectivene...

We report the synthesis and antimicrobial properties of a partially reduced dihydronathphthoquinone analogue of 2-methoxy, 5-acetoxy calamenene, extracted from Subergorgia reticulata. The growth of a pathogenic Vibrio harveyi strain was effectively controlled by the calamenene derivative 1 (Cala1) and its synthetic analog 2 (Cala2). Complete mortal...

It is now generally accepted that climate variability and change, occurrences of extreme weather events, urbanisation and human pressures on the environment, and high mobility of human populations, all contribute to the spread of pathogens and to outbreaks of water-borne and vector-borne diseases such as cholera and malaria. The threats are heighte...

Estuaries being the connecting link between terrestrial and marine environment, experience spatial variations in the hydrographic variables as well as concentrations of pollutants. The present study reports a contrasting difference in the metal tolerance and enzyme activity of particle-associated bacteria (PAB) isolated from the upstream and downst...

emergence of multi drug resistant bacteria has become more frequent, the search is on for novel antibiotics. Under explored and unique habitats are being prospected for novel strains of Actinomycetes which has the potential to produce new antibiotics. Accordingly, the present study has been taken up with an objective to explore the diversity of act...

The World Health Organization has estimated the burden of the on-going pandemic of cholera at 1.3 to 4 million cases per year worldwide in 2016, and a doubling of case-fatality-rate to 1.8% in 2016 from 0.8% in 2015. The disease cholera is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae that can be found in environmental reservoirs, living either in free p...

Control measures against antimicrobial resistant bacterial pathogens are important challenges in our daily life. In this study we discuss the sensitivity and resistance of four bacterial pathogens, Vibrio alginolyticus, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis, to silica nanoparticles embedded with silver nanoparticles. Success...

Polyaromatic hydrocarbons are a group of chemical pollutants which cause a significant threat to the living organisms in estuaries and marine ecosystems. We report the effect of chrysene, a major PAH pollutant found in Cochin Estuary along the southwest coast of India, on the neuroendocrine and immune gene expression of the post larvae (PL-25) of P...

Coastal pollution is a major problem which affects both human and aquatic animal health. There are different types of pollutants, whose impact also varies on different ecosystems. Animals living in benthic ecosystems are more susceptible to many pollutants which can accumulate in sediments. In the present study, we discuss the immune gene modulatio...

Two expanding areas of science and technology are citizen science and three-dimensional (3D) printing. Citizen science has a proven capability to generate reliable data and contribute to unexpected scientific discovery. It can put science into the hands of the citizens, increasing understanding, promoting environmental stewardship, and leading to t...

Diversity and distribution pattern of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) were studied across a salinity gradient in the water column of Cochin Estuary (CE), a tropical monsoonal estuary along the southeast Arabian Sea. The water column of CE was found to be nutrient rich with high bacterial (3.7–6.7 × 10⁸ cells L⁻¹) and archaeal abundance (1.9–4.5 × 1...

Sponges are second dominant to corals in terms of biomass in many coral reef ecosystems. They play a significant role in maintaining the health of reef ecosystems through processing of waste generated in the system by continuous circulation of water and also providing a breeding and nursery ground for many other inhabitants. Sponges are reported to...

The present study reports the influence of upwelling on the abundance and community structure of archaea and bacteria in a mud bank formed along the coastal waters of Alappuzha, the southwest coast of India. The signatures of upwelling were observed with the onset of southwest monsoon, characterized by a decrease in sea surface temperature and diss...

We have been practicing several alternative approaches to minimize the use of antibiotics and thereby reducing the chances of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) is a propitious strategy, which may replace antibiotics in several areas. The principle of PACT is that a photosensitizer can ki...

Vembanad Lake is the largest water body in Kerala, draining 40% of its surface area and holding 30% of its surface water resource. Some 1.6 million people live around its shores. Its fishing and farming communities follow traditional ways of life; it is a cultural icon of India. Tourism there contributes strongly to state and central revenues. But...