Still Waters Runs Deep......

It is conceivable most people will think of a fish, crab or even a mysterious octopus when asked about life under the sea. 

Yet, our oceans are filled with innumerable microorganisms actively performing construction-like works. Instead of bricks or stones, these humble creatures are building, breaking or rearranging the molecules of life. It is not far fetch to say that these unseen but all-important sea microbes maintain the natural balance of the sea. 

Driven by the Center of Chemical Biology’s (CCB) core mission of understanding life through biomolecules, an exploratory research project was launched in 2015 to discover new microbes with novel accompanying functions unbiasedly. Funded by the Universiti Sains of Malaysia, this flagship multi-disciplinary research project was conceptualized by Prof. Alexander Chong, the director of CCB, and himself an aquaculture scientist. `It’s a natural theme for us. Working with microbes usually leads to the discovery of new strains. Furthermore, CCB has the expertise to probe deeper into the underlying mechanisms of important pathways through genomics or protein-based tools’.         

The 5 years project scored a fascinating number of discoveries. Among them, was a filamentous bacterium that hunt down other microbes. Isolated and identified by Dr Go Furusawa, an environmental microbiologist, the strain was placed within the genus Aureispira sp. A series of ensuing applied experiments showed this bacteria strain to have the capacity to control shrimp pathogens and even remove harmful algae, synthetic dye and heavy metals! Another bacterium, Persicobacter CCB-Q2, found attached on some local seaweeds, was shown to express agar degrading enzymes. Dr Teh Aik Hong, a structural protein scientist,  and his team described the structural basis of these enzymes, unravelling their catalytic strategies. Complementing these discoveries are efforts by Dr Lau Nyok Sean, a bioinformaticist who analysed the genomes and transcriptomes of several newly discovered strains. Mining these genetic resources unraveled a pathway that induces dormancy in a marine bacterium, Microbulbifer aggregans. This is like finding a switch responsible for switching into deep sleep mode.  These strains are currently part of CCB’s Microbial Biodiversity Library, managed by Nur Azura Azami.       

Perhaps Prof. Alexander Chong’s concluding statement recapitulates the gist of this research endeavour. “Undoubtedly,  the most memorable lesson from this project was how it took the tireless and collective efforts of bright minds, ideas and scientific tools to unravel the hidden truths behind these microscopic creatures. Indeed, there is a lifetime of discovery ahead of us”.    

More than 15 scientific publications were produced under this project. For further information, please contact Prof Alexander Chong, Dr Go Furusawa, Dr Teh Aik Hong, Dr Lau Nyok Sean, Pn Nur Azura Azami.




Publications related to the article.

1. Furusawa et al., 2022. Genomics. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0888754321000987?via%3Dihub
2. Tarmizi & Furusawa, 2021. Journal of Basic Microbiology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jobm.202100198
3. Yeoh et al., 2021, Aquaculture Reports. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352513421003264?via%3Dihub
4. Teh et al. 2019, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00253-019-10237-y
5. Nyok-Sean et al. 2019, Microbial Ecology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00248-018-1283-0
6. Hafizah, et al 2018, Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12010-018-2849-5

CCB Ref. :  2022_RH_alex_01
Date :  28/09/2022