Depletion of oxygen in certain marine areas creates oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), which can alter the species composition and abundance. We have carried out high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon profiling from the Bay of Bengal (BOB) OMZ and non-OMZ areas. Typically, a total of 35 families of micro-organisms were identified as biomarkers for OMZ and non-OMZ regions in the BOB. Our analysis has identified families Pseudoalteromonadaceae, OM60 and Synechococcaceae to be abundant in oxygenated water, whereas organisms belonging to families Pelagibacteraceae and Caulobacteraceae, which are involved in sulphur and nitrogen metabolism, were prominent in the OMZ areas. Predictive functional analysis for these identified bacteria clearly that suggested an abundance of microbes with assimilatory sulphurreducing genes (cysl and csH) in the non-OMZ, while bacteria involved in dissimilatory sulphate reduction (known to carry aprA and aprB genes) were enriched in the OMZ areas. Comparative analysis with OMZ areas from Peru and Chile revealed that OMZ areas in the BOB are characterized by specific and distinctive bacterial diversity. Overall, the current analysis provides valuable documentation about the bacterial populations and their characteristics, which can generate pointers for their functional significance in the BOB.

Significance Hematophagous Aedes aegypti mosquitoes spread devastating viral diseases. Upon blood feeding, a steroid hormone, 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), initiates a reproductive program during which thousands of genes are differentially expressed. While 20E-mediated gene activation is well known, repressive action by this hormone remains poorly understood. Using bioinformatics and molecular biological approaches, we have identified the mechanisms of 20E-dependent direct and indirect transcriptional repression by the ecdysone receptor (EcR). While indirect repression involves E74, EcR binds to an ecdysone response element different from those utilized in 20E-mediated gene activation to exert direct repressive action. Moreover, liganded EcR recruits a corepressor Mi2, initiating chromatin compaction. This study advances our understanding of the 20E-EcR repression mechanism and could lead to improved vector control approaches.

The oxygen minimum zone of the Arabian Sea (AS) and Bay of Bengal (BOB) is rich in organic matter and is an unusual niche. Bacteria present in the oceanic water play an important role in ecology since they are responsible for decomposing, mineralizing of organic matter and in elemental cycling like nitrogen, sulfur, phosphate. This study focuses on culturing bacteria from oxygen minimum zones (OMZ) and non-OMZ regions and their phylogenetic as well as the functional characterization. Genotypic characterization of the isolates using amplified rDNA based 16SrRNA sequencing grouped them into various phylogenetic groups such as alpha-proteobacteria, gamma-proteobacteria and unaffiliated bacteria. The cultivable bacterial assemblages encountered belonged to the genus Halomonas, Marinobacter, Idiomarina, Pshyctobacter and Pseudoalteromonas. Among the enzymatic activities, carbohydrate utilization activity was most predominant (100%) and microorganisms possessed amylase, cellulase, xylanase and chitinase. A large proportion of these bacteria (60%) were observed to be hydrocarbon consuming and many were resistant to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, kanamycin and streptomycin. The high diversity and high percentage of extracellular hydrolytic enzyme activities along with hydrocarbon degradation activity of the culturable bacteria reflects their important ecological role in oceanic biogeochemical cycling. Further assessment confirmed the presence of nitrogen reduction capability in these cultivable bacteria which highlights their importance in oceanic geochemical cycling.