New record of Sphenopid Zoanthid species Palythoa tuberculosa (Esper, 1805) from Gulf of Mannar, India

347-350Coral reefs provide a suitable habitat for many marine flora and fauna. Zoanthid is one of the most common inhabitants in coral reef habitats. A sub-massive colony of Sphenopid Zoanthid species Palythoa tuberculosa belonging to the order Zoantharia was documented for the first time from Gulf of Mannar (GoM) during an intensive coral reef monitoring survey conducted in Manoli, Manoliputti and Shingle Island. Photographic evidence of the colony along with its morphological characteristics are described in the present study

Natural Substrates and Culture Conditions to Produce Pigments from Potential Microbes in Submerged Fermentation

Pigments from bacteria, fungi, yeast, cyanobacteria, and microalgae have been gaining more demand in the food, leather, and textile industries due to their natural origin and effective bioactive functions. Mass production of microbial pigments using inexpensive and ecofriendly agro-industrial residues is gaining more demand in the current research due to their low cost, natural origin, waste utilization, and high pigment stimulating characteristics. A wide range of natural substrates has been employed in submerged fermentation as carbon and nitrogen sources to enhance the pigment production from these microorganisms to obtain the required quantity of pigments. Submerged fermentation is proven to yield more pigment when added with agro-waste residues. Hence, in this review, aspects of potential pigmented microbes such as diversity, natural substrates that stimulate more pigment production from bacteria, fungi, yeast, and a few microalgae under submerged culture conditions, pigment identification, and ecological functions are detailed for the benefit of industrial personnel, researchers, and other entrepreneurs to explore pigmented microbes for multifaceted applications. In addition, some important aspects of microbial pigments are covered herein to disseminate the knowledge

Phenotypic and Molecular characterization of Epiphytic Vibrios from the marine macro algae of Andaman Islands, India.

304-309Biotic and abiotic components in the marine environment supports the growth of several surface associated microbial communities. Present study focuses on one such microbial community, the Vibrios associated to marine macro algae of Andaman Islands. A total of 48 strains comprising 10 species of Vibrios were isolated from 10 macro algal species. All the isolates were confirmed to genus level by both phenotypic and molecular characteristics, up to species level by biochemical tests. This study showed that Vibrio alginolyticus strains were frequently isolated from almost all the macro algae revealing its role as a common epiphyte. The present study signifies the abundance of Vibrios on the surface of marine macro algae which may be attributed to their ecological role in the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients and/ or controlling the surface colonization of pathogens