Biochemical and Genomics-based studies on Oxynema Aestuarii, a potent producer of bioactive compounds

Abstract

Cyanobacteria are a group of prokaryotic gram-negative bacteria which play an important role as primary producers as well as in biogeochemical cycles. The non-toxic secondary metabolites produced by cyanobacteria have promising advantages for their UV absorption activity and therapeutic values. Mycosporine-like amino acid, a secondary metabolite possesses significant antiUV properties and other biological functions. One of the eight obligately halophilic, filamentous mangrove cyanobacteria previously isolated by our workgroup from Indian Sundarbans, was recently established as a novel species of the newly described genus Oxynema. The whole genome sequence of this novel cyanobacterium revealed numerous genes corresponding to valuable secondary metabolites of pharmacological importance. Mycosporine-like amino acids are rapidly emerging as important natural photoprotective compounds with a wide range of applications. This study is an attempt to characterize the genes responsible for the production of these compounds, as well as their partial purification and identification by means of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.