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MICROBIAL DIVERSITY
AND ECOLOGYIN
HOTSPOTS
Edited by
APARNA GUNJAL
Department of Microbiology, Dr. D.Y. Patil, Arts, Commerce & Science College,
Pimpri, Pune, India
SONALI SHINDE
Annasaheb Kulkarni Department of Biodiversity, MES Abasaheb Garware College,
Pune, India
Contents
List of Contributorsxi
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xvii
1. Exploration of microbial ecology and diversity in hotspots 1
SONALI SHINDE, PRATIK MUNOT, YOGESHWARI HIVARKAR, SHRUSHTI PATIL AND
ANKUR PATWARDHAN
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Meaning of biodiversity, threats associated and need for its protection 2
1.3 Biodiversity hotspots: a brief overview 4
1.4 Tools for systematically studying the biodiversity hotspots through various
aspects 4
1.5 Biodiversity hotspots and microbial ecology 6
1.6 Microbial hotspots: an overview 7
1.7 Microbial ecology: microbial habitats and the distribution of microbes 8
1.8 Microbial diversity indices: application in studying community ecology 10
1.9 Microbial composition and succession 10
1.10 Microbial interactions 15
1.11 Hotspots bioindicators/indicating unique environment of hotspots 17
1.12 Conclusion and way forward 18
References 18
2. Habitat-specific microbial community associated with the
biodiversity hotspot 25
SARITA TIWARI, SANDHYA MOGHE, W.B. GURNULE, DEVIDAS S. BHAGAT AND
APARNA GUNJAL
2.1 Introduction 25
2.2 Biodiversity hotspot in the Indian continent 26
2.3 Factors affecting biodiversity hotspots in India 26
2.4 The Himalayas 27
2.5 The Indo-Burma region 27
2.6 The Sundaland 28
2.7 The Western Ghats 28
2.8 Approach to safeguard biodiversity hotspots in India 29
2.9 Habitat-specific microbes of hotspot region 30
v
11.
2.10 Factors responsiblefor the diversity of habitat-specific microbial
community in the Western Ghats 32
2.11 Habitat-specific microbes 33
2.12 The utility of microbial diversity 35
2.13 Importance of habitat-specific microorganisms in agriculture 35
2.14 Techniques used for assessing microbial diversity 36
2.15 Conclusion 38
2.16 Future prospects 39
References 39
3. Microbial diversity and ecology of saline environments
from India 45
REBECCA S. THOMBRE AND AMITSINH V. MANGROLA
3.1 Introduction 45
3.2 Microbial diversity of saline lakes of India 47
3.3 Microbial diversity of Indian deserts 50
3.4 Microbial diversity of Indian solar salterns and halite deposits 53
3.5 Conclusion and future outlook 55
Acknowledgment 55
References 55
4. Marine microbial hotspots—especially related to corals 61
SHRUTI GUPTA, JULIUS EYIUCHE NWEZE AND SHARAD DNYANDEV SUBUGADE
4.1 Introduction 61
4.2 Symbiosis within the coral holobionts 63
4.3 Microhabitats of the coral microbiome 63
4.4 Profiling of coral-associated microbial diversity 65
4.5 Importance of coral microbiome for marine ecosystem 73
4.6 Conclusion and future perspectives 75
References 75
5. Phyllosphere microbiomes: implications and ecofunctional
diversity 81
MOHAMMAD YASEEN MIR, SAIMA HAMID AND JAVID A. PARRAY
5.1 Introduction 81
5.2 Leaf surface and microbial growth 82
5.3 Phyllosphere microbiome: nature and composition 84
5.4 Bacterial diversity in the phyllosphere 86
5.5 Fungal microbiota of phyllosphere 86
5.6 Actinomycetes diversity in phyllosphere 87
5.7 Microbial interaction and phyllosphere 87
vi Contents
12.
5.8 Omics approachesand future prospective 92
References 92
6. Fungal association in hotspot of rhizosphere 97
MANJU SHREE SHAKYA HADA, RESHMA TULADHAR, ANIMA SHRESTHA, SARITA
MANANDHAR AND ANJANA SINGH
6.1 Introduction 97
6.2 Fungal association in rhizosphere 98
6.3 Outcomes of fungal rhizosphere association 106
6.4 Application of fungal rhizosphere association 110
6.5 Conclusion 111
References 111
7. Diversity of actinomycetes in Western Ghats 117
APARNA GUNJAL AND DEVIDAS S. BHAGAT
7.1 Introduction 117
7.2 Actinomycetes 118
7.3 Habitat of actinomycetes 119
7.4 Growth of actinomycetes on different media 122
7.5 Diversity in enzyme production by actinomycetes isolated from the
Western Ghats 122
7.6 Antimicrobial diversity of actinomycetes isolated from the Western Ghats 123
7.7 Biotechnological applications of actinomycetes from the Western Ghats 125
7.8 Conclusion 128
7.9 Future prospects 129
References 129
8. Microbial diversity at the polluted sites 135
SUNEETA GIREESH PANICKER
8.1 Introduction 135
8.2 Uranium 141
8.3 Thorium IV 141
8.4 Neptunium-237 141
8.5 Plutonium 141
8.6 Mechanisms involved in bioremediation 143
8.7 Biosorption 144
8.8 Bioaccumulation 144
8.9 Biotransformation 146
8.10 Biosolubilization 146
8.11 Bioprecipitation 147
8.12 Chelation 147
8.13 Complexation 148
vii
Contents
13.
8.14 Conclusion 148
References148
9. Microbial diversity in termite gut ecosystem and their role in
lignocellulosic degradation 155
GINCY MARINA MATHEW, RAVEENDRAN SINDHU, CHIEH CHEN HUANG,
ASHOK PANDEY AND PARAMESWARAN BINOD
9.1 Introduction 155
9.2 Termite gut 156
9.3 Lignocellulose and their degradation in termites 161
9.4 Metagenomic approaches in termites for detecting glycosyl hydrolase
genes for lignocellulosic degradation 163
9.5 Future perspectives of termites/their gut microbes in lignocellulosic
degradation 169
9.6 Conclusion 170
Acknowledgments 170
References 170
10. Bacterial diversity from Garampani warm spring, Assam 177
JOYASREE DAS, PRADIPTA SAHA AND SRINIVASAN KRISHNAMURTHI
10.1 Introduction 177
10.2 Methods 178
10.3 Results 183
10.4 Discussion 199
10.5 Conclusion 201
Acknowledgments 201
References 202
11. Diversity and biotechnological importance of cellulolytic
microorganisms from biodiversity hotspots 207
HIMANSHU AND JITENDRA KUMAR SAINI
11.1 Lignocellulose: composition and availability 207
11.2 Lignocellulolytic enzyme system 209
11.3 Applications of ligninolytic enzymes 212
11.4 Applications of cellulolytic and xylanase enzymes 212
11.5 Diversity of culturable cellulolytic microbes 213
11.6 Metagenomic diversity of cellulolytic microbes 219
11.7 Metaproteomic analysis of cellulolytic microbes 221
viii Contents
14.
11.8 Metatranscriptomic analysisof cellulolytic microbes 222
11.9 Conclusion 223
References 223
12. Biodiversity of cold-adapted extremophiles from Antarctica
and their biotechnological potential 231
LAXMI JADHAV, VRUSHALI PHALKE, STUTEE PANSE, SMITA PATIL AND ASHOK BANKAR
12.1 Introduction 231
12.2 Biodiversity of extremophiles from Antarctica 233
12.3 Potential hotspots in Antarctica 235
12.4 Cold adaption mechanisms in psychrophiles 239
12.5 Biotechnological applications of psychrophiles from Antarctica 239
12.6 Bioremediation 250
12.7 Pharmaceutical and medical applications 251
12.8 Conclusions 253
Acknowledgments 253
Conflict of interest 253
References 253
13. Isolation methods for evaluation of extremophilic microbial
diversity from Antarctica region 267
JANKI RUPARELIA, ANIRUDDH RABARI, NISHRA JOSHI AND CHAITANYA KUMAR JHA
13.1 Introduction 267
13.2 Diversity of extremophilic organisms in Antarctic hotspot 268
13.3 Isolation and identification methodology 271
13.4 Future prospects 282
13.5 Concluding remarks 283
Acknowledgment 283
Conflict of interest 283
References 283
14. Recent advances in microbial databases with special reference
to kinetoplastids 291
DIVYA NARAYANAN PRAKASH, CHINMAYEE BAR ROUTARAY, RENUKA BHOR AND
KALPANA PAI
14.1 Introduction 291
14.2 Classification of biological databases 294
14.3 Global resources/comprehensive databases 294
14.4 Community/specialized databases 305
ix
Contents
15.
14.5 Future perspectives314
14.6 Conclusions 314
References 314
15. Advances in sequencing technology, databases, and
analyses tools for the assessment of microbial diversity 317
SHAIMA RIFAIE, VIKAS PATIL AND KAMLESH JANGID
15.1 Introduction 317
15.2 Advances in sequencing technology 319
15.3 Development of databases 325
15.4 Advancements in analyses tools 328
15.5 How to study microbial diversity? 332
15.6 Conclusion 339
Acknowledgments 339
References 339
16. Legal protection of microbial biodiversity 349
RASHMI ARYA AND SONALI SHINDE
16.1 Introduction 349
16.2 Biodiversity Hotspots: Introduction 350
16.3 Protection of microbial diversity in hotspot regions 351
16.4 Existing framework for the research and exploration of microbiome 351
16.5 Patents and microorganisms 353
16.6 Microbial access and research: pipeline 357
References 362
Index 365
x Contents
16.
List of Contributors
RashmiArya CSIR-Unit for Research & Development of Information Products,
Pune, India
Ashok Bankar Department of Microbiology, MES Abasaheb Garware College,
Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India
Devidas S. Bhagat Department of Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology,
Government Institute of Forensic Science, Aurangabad, India
Renuka Bhor Centre for Advanced Studies, Department of Zoology, Savitribai
Phule Pune University, Pune, India
Parameswaran Binod Microbial Processes and Technology Division, CSIR-
National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST),
Trivandrum, India
Joyasree Das Microbial Type Culture Collection & Gene Bank (MTCC), CSIR-
Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, India
Julius Eyiuche Nweze Soil and Water Research Infrastructure, Biology Centre
CAS, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; Department of Ecosystem Biology,
Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech
Republic
Aparna Gunjal Department of Microbiology, Dr. D. Y. Patil Arts, Commerce
& Science College, Pune, India
Shruti Gupta Soil and Water Research Infrastructure, Biology Centre CAS,
Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
W.B. Gurnule Department of Chemistry, Kamla Nehru Mahavidyalaya, India
Saima Hamid Centre of Research for Development, University of Kashmir,
Hazratbal, India; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Kashmir,
Hazratbal, India
Yogeshwari Hivarkar Annasaheb Kulkarni Department of Biodiversity, MES
Abasaheb Garware College, Pune, India
Chieh Chen Huang Department of Life Sciences, National Chung Hsing
University, Taichung, Taiwan
Laxmi Jadhav Department of Microbiology, MES Abasaheb Garware College,
Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India
Kamlesh Jangid National Centre for Microbial Resource, National Centre for
Cell Science, SP Pune University Campus, Pune, India
Chaitanya Kumar Jha Microbiology Department, Gujarat Arts and Science
College, Ahmedabad, India
xi
17.
Nishra Joshi MicrobiologyDepartment, Gujarat Arts and Science College,
Ahmedabad, India
Srinivasan Krishnamurthi Microbial Type Culture Collection & Gene Bank
(MTCC), CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, India
Sarita Manandhar Department of Microbiology, Tri-Chandra Multiple
College, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
Amitsinh V. Mangrola Department of Biochemistry, Shri Alpesh. N. Patel P.
G. Institute of Science & Research, Charotar Education Society, India
Gincy Marina Mathew Microbial Processes and Technology Division, CSIR-
National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST),
Trivandrum, India
Mohammad Yaseen Mir Centre of Research for Development, University of
Kashmir, Hazratbal, India
Sandhya Moghe Department of Biotechnology, Kamla Nehru Mahavidyalaya,
India
Pratik Munot MIT-School of Bioengineering Sciences and Research, MIT-ADT
University, India
Divya Narayanan Prakash Centre for Advanced Studies, Department of
Zoology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India
Kalpana Pai Centre for Advanced Studies, Department of Zoology, Savitribai
Phule Pune University, Pune, India
Ashok Pandey Center for Innovation and Translational Research, CSIR-Indian
Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow, India
Suneeta Gireesh Panicker Department of Microbiology, D.Y. Patil Arts
Commerce and Science College, Pune, India
Stutee Panse Department of Microbiology, PES Modern College of Arts,
Science and Commerce, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Ganeshkhind, Pune,
India
Javid A. Parray Department of Environmental Sciences, Government Degree
College Eidgah, India
Shrushti Patil Annasaheb Kulkarni Department of Biodiversity, MES
Abasaheb Garware College, Pune, India
Smita Patil Department of Microbiology, Camp Education Society’s Arvind B.
Telang Senior College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Savitribai Phule Pune
University, Pune, India
Vikas Patil National Centre for Microbial Resource, National Centre for Cell
Science, SP Pune University Campus, Pune, India
Ankur Patwardhan Annasaheb Kulkarni Department of Biodiversity, MES
Abasaheb Garware College, Pune, India
Vrushali Phalke Department of Microbiology, MES Abasaheb Garware
College, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India
xii LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
18.
Aniruddh Rabari MicrobiologyDepartment, Gujarat Arts and Science College,
Ahmedabad, India
Shaima Rifaie National Centre for Microbial Resource, National Centre for
Cell Science, SP Pune University Campus, Pune, India
Chinmayee Bar Routaray Centre for Advanced Studies, Department of
Zoology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India
Janki Ruparelia Microbiology Department, Gujarat Arts and Science College,
Ahmedabad, India
Pradipta Saha Department of Microbiology, The University of Burdwan,
Golapbag Campus, Burdwan, India
Jitendra Kumar Saini Department of Microbiology, Central University of
Haryana, Mahendergarh, Haryana, India
Himanshu Departmentof Microbiology, Central University of Haryana,
Mahendergarh, Haryana, India
Sonali Shinde Annasaheb Kulkarni Department of Biodiversity, MES
Abasaheb Garware College, Pune, India
Manju Shree Shakya Hada Department of Microbiology, Tri-Chandra
Multiple College, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
Anima Shrestha Department of Microbiology, Tri-Chandra Multiple College,
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
Raveendran Sindhu Microbial Processes and Technology Division, CSIR-
National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST),
Trivandrum, India
Anjana Singh Central Department of Microbiology, Tribhuvan University,
Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
Sharad Dnyandev Subugade Department of Biotechnology, Vidya
Pratishthan’s Art, Science & Commerce College, Pune, India
Rebecca S. Thombre Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA,
United States; Department of Biotechnology, Modern College of Arts, Science
and Commerce, India
Sarita Tiwari Department of Biotechnology, Kamla Nehru Mahavidyalaya,
India
Reshma Tuladhar Central Department of Microbiology, Tribhuvan University,
Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
xiii
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Preface
Being researchers andenthusiasts of Ecology, contemplating for pro-
tracted hours on subject matters of biodiversity, its associated flora and
fauna and such is allegorically labor of loves! Having assumed the role
of a past master with regards to Intellectual Property and its associated
rights at an Institute, this thought struck us—“How would Ecological
factors be blended in contemporary times?”
To our consternation, the postulations dealing with the Intellectual
Properties associated with microbes with respect to their Ecological
Niche was an underenvisaged subject matter for research. Eyeballing
further, we decided to get down into venturing the prospects of patent-
ing and legitimately procuring the microbial subjects from their inherent
habitats—that too particularly from the Biodiversity Hotspot regions
distributed across the world.
Brevity is the soul of wit, they say! For it was a collective effort from
all the authors involved in carrying out an intensely vigorous sense of
study and research. In a chucklesome sense, our research methodology
can be manifested into a computer code with “if, while and for”—loops
repeating ad nauseam. Collating and juxtaposing the resulting endea-
vors of ours was a quenching task—for we received wise counsels from
many eminent personalities of this field.
We present this book that covers wide range of topics, namely,
microbial diversity and ecology in hotspots; actinobacteria diversity in
Western Ghats; habitat-specific microbial community associated with
biodiversity hotspots; ecology of saline environments in India; marine
microbial hotspots related to corals; phyllosphere microbiome diversity;
microbial diversity at the polluted sites; bacterial diversity in termite
gut ecosystem. The book has also given importance and covered topics
such as bacterial diversity from warm springs; diversity of cellulase
degrading organisms from hotspots; diversity and isolation methods for
evaluation of extremophiles from Antarctica region. The aspects such as
advances in microbial databases, sequencing technology, and various
tools for studying microbial diversity are also taken into consideration
in this book. Last but not least, the legal protection of microbial diver-
sity is also beautifully highlighted in this book.
This book will serve the purpose of rightfully shepherding aspiring
researchers and erudite cerebrals to understand and formulate a
xv
21.
legitimate approach towardprocuring and wielding subject matters
involving the use of microbial life forms, especially from the
Biodiversity Hotspot regions. It contains deliberate use of flowcharts
and diagrams, quintessentially to simplify the whole understanding of
the subject matter. Special efforts have been made to acknowledge the
sources from where the information has been collated vis-à-vis through
the bibliographical content.
Suggestions for the improvement of the book will be thankfully
acknowledged and incorporated in further editions.
Aparna Gunjal and Sonali Shinde
xvi Preface
22.
Acknowledgments
• The editors—AparnaGunjal and Sonali Shinde—are thankful to all
the authors for the contribution of their chapters for the book
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots.
• The editors are also thankful to the publisher and their whole team
for their management of book publication process.
• The editors are thankful to Vighnesh Shinde, Content Developer and
Outreach Person at Arannya Environment Research Organisation,
pursuing MSc Biodiversity, Annasaheb Kulkarni Department of
Biodiversity, MES Abasaheb Garware College, Pune, Maharashtra,
India, for preparing the excellent Cover Page Design for our book
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots. The Cover Page is of
bracket fungi, which was taken at Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife
Sanctuary, Goa, India. The spectrum of colors can be seen by
illuminating artificial light. These spores are dispersed during
monsoon nights.
**Cover Page Copyright—Photograph was taken by Omkar
Dharwadkar, Naturalist, Partner at Mrugaya Xpeditions and President
of Goa, Bird Conservation Network.
• Last but not least, the editors are thankful to their family members
for their support and cooperation during this book publication
process.
Aparna Gunjal and Sonali Shinde
xvii
1.2 Meaning ofbiodiversity, threats associated and need for its
protection
First used by Thomas Lovejoy in the year 1980, the term Biological
Diversity or simply put, biodiversity, was meant to quantitatively include
the variety of species of living organisms on earth. However, the brief
definition of biodiversity can be obtained from the charter of the
Convention on Biodiversity (CBD). Article 2 of the CBD describes biologi-
cal diversity as “the variability among living organisms from all sources
including inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and
the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity
within species, between species and of ecosystems” (refer to Chapter 16:
Legal Protection of Microbial Biodiversity, for further reading on the legal
status of biodiversity conservation). With the advancements made in
molecular biology and genome sequencing technologies (refer to
Chapter 14: Recent Advances in Microbial Databases with Special
Reference to Kinetoplastids, and Chapter 15: Advances in Sequencing
Technology, Databases and Analyses Tools for the Assessment of
Microbial Diversity), the science of exploring, understanding, protecting,
and utilizing components of biodiversity in a sustainable manner, has
emerged to be an important aspect of Conservational Biology. Various
scientists from different domains such as ecology, botany, zoology, micro-
biology, biogeography, genetics, and other life sciences’ subjects, actively
engage themselves in conserving the biodiversity by chalking out strate-
gies and implementing sustainable policies, taking into account the inter-
ests of different stakeholders involved in the conservation work. Every
subject expert from the aforementioned domain explores the subject from
different perspectives and with different hypotheses (Klinkenberg, 2020).
They study various aspects involving population dynamics, the function-
ing of ecosystems, species distributions, and other factors of biodiversity,
in order to understand and ascertain the scope of protection.
In recent times, a plethora of threats has been incurred upon the bio-
logical diversity of almost all the regimes over the globe resulting from
unreasonable utilization and overexploitation of natural resources, with
increased urbanization and unaccountable industrial development (refer
to Chapter 8: Microbial Diversity at the Polluted Sites). These factors
have especially undermined the viability of wild populations of flora
and fauna, collectively (Wake & Vredenburg, 2008). For instance, this
trend of overexploitation of resources has predominately been wit-
nessed in the nations consisting of a rich heritage of biological diversity.
In order to understand the basis of this trend, it is essential to first
understand the factors forcing such countries to attain a “compulsive-
state-of-mind” in which they are at vulnerable economic position and
naturally, the exploitation of their natural resources is the only option
2 1. Exploration of microbial ecology and diversity in hotspots
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
26.
left with them.However, while the abundance of natural resources in
different regions of the globe quite necessarily implies a seemingly vast
potential for the economic development of the region as a whole by sus-
tainable usage of the natural components (OECD, 2011), the recent times
have accounted for a rather paradoxical situation. Termed as the
“Resource Curse” or the “paradox of plenty,” it is a surprisingly contra-
dictory situation, in which the countries with an abundance of nonre-
newable resources experience shunted economic growth (Chandra et al.,
2013). This theory is intricately applicable to the components of biodi-
versity as well.
The theory of Resource Curse is dependent on a couple of essential con-
cepts, namely the Resource-Ratio Theory and the Carrying Capacity (in
ecological terms). The “Resource-Ratio theory” or the “R* rule,” (Wilson
et al., 2007), is an essential framework in community ecology to under-
stand and hypothesize the influence of competition for growth-limiting
resources on the biological diversity of a region (Smith et al., 1998). The
theory predicts in a mathematical way the coexistence of two or more spe-
cies in a particular ecosystem in the presence of growth-limiting nutrients
with the condition that each species is limited by such a resource, which it
(the species) is least prone or able to deplete (Mazancourt & Schwartz,
2010). The second concept, called the “Carrying Capacity” (in ecological
terms), is described as the limiting factor of the population size which is
supported by a particular regional environment, is the availability of the
natural resources in that environment (Rachlow, 2008). However, the pop-
ulation size can also be altered by other limiting factors such as food, pre-
dation, and diseases, which do not account for inclusion as the limiting
factor in ecological carrying capacity. In simpler words, the ecological car-
rying capacity is the level of production (i.e., the population size of a spe-
cies) that does not affect the equilibrium of the surrounding ecosystem or
its environmental carrying capacity (TettPaul et al., 2015). Coming back to
the implication of Resource Curse theory with respect to Microbial Ecology
and Biological characteristics of a particular region, when the natural
resources are abundant at a particular place, microbes tend to increase in
their colony size and populations, thereby making way for strong competi-
tive behavior and instincts for survival, a phenomenon that can be
explained by the Resource-Ratio hypothesis. Regions bearing high
Carrying Capacity, tend to provide survival edge on species adopting R*
behavior in which there is aggression and competition among species to
survive, while the low Carrying Capacity regions tend to show mutualistic
behavior adopted by different species by not adopting the R* behavior, to
sustain in that particular environment (Marcel, 2002).
The essence of this mentality (unaccounted exploitation of natural
resources), adopted by such countries with abundant biodiversity, can lead
to an increase in the environmental misfortunes and maybe threatening in
3
1.2 Meaning of biodiversity, threats associated and need for its protection
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
27.
the form ofspecies elimination, that would result into unbalancing of the
earth’s natural diversity. Hence, a dire need can be felt for adopting a con-
servation strategy in order to minimize and counter the biodiversity loss.
Also, we must realize that the biodiversity is not consistently spread across
the globe and there are hardly any zones where we observe the exception-
ally rich diversity of endemic species, which are unfortunately threatened
by irresponsible human activities (Habel et al., 2019; Myers et al., 2000). So,
in order to protect such regions possessing high numbers of endemic spe-
cies, the concept of Biodiversity Hotspots has been upheld by the
Conservationists, with the aid of participation of all the major stakeholders
(governmental, nongovernmental) at various conservation levels and dif-
ferent strategies, culminating into a potentially fruitful and sustainable out-
come in the near future (Christian, 2015).
1.3 Biodiversity hotspots: a brief overview
Put forward as a sustainable conservation strategy for biodiversity by
Norman Myers and supported thereafter by Conservation International, bio-
diversity hotspots, simply, are miscellanies providing a unique niche with a
significant reservoir of diverse flora, fauna, and landscape. Every hotspot
region features unique characteristics and adaptability with significant eco-
logical balance for organisms to thrive in. The considerably high diversity,
especially with respect to endemic species present in these regions, is termed
as mega diversity. Such a region necessarily constitutes an area that contains
at least 0.5% of total plant species as endemic species and with the implication
that the area has lost a minimum of 75% of its original vegetation (Myers,
1988, 1990; the conditions for declaring a region as a Biodiversity Hotspot are
detailed in Chapter 16: Legal Protection of Microbial Biodiversity).
The idea of Biodiversity Hotspots is much more than a conservation tool
as it quantifies the effect of environmental pressure due to human activities.
Till now (with the last one being recently announced in February, 2016), a
total of 36 hotspots have been reported and defined as places of biodiversity
with vulnerability and irreplaceability (Mittermeier, 2004; Mittermeier et al.,
2011). The term Hotspots’ Ecosystem is a geographic niche where plants,
animals, and different microorganisms interact together constituting natural
energy cycles and processes, along with its weather and landscape.
1.4 Tools for systematically studying the biodiversity hotspots
through various aspects
Advancements in scientific and technological progress have ushered
the way biological elements and components of biodiversity were
4 1. Exploration of microbial ecology and diversity in hotspots
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
28.
previously understood. Researchersuse these tools for understanding
the micronature and relations among biodiversity, species, populations,
and ecosystems. Fig. 1.1 explains excerpts of tools used in studying
Biological diversity.
1.4.1 Mathematical and statistical tools for data analysis
Downstream analysis of ecological data can be performed by the simplest
and most efficient approach by estimating the biodiversity. Large varieties
of bioinformatics tools have been developed to analyze and compare the
microbial diversity from the array of a microbial sample. Though ecological
data have been substantially less explored in contrast to molecular research
and bioinformatics, still many computational tools can be used to explore
the patterns involved in studying biodiversity, as well. A classic example,
that of Bayesian Networks, can be cited in this context which can be used
for interpreting and studying interdependence and relationships among dif-
ferent organisms, especially in studying the biodiversity distribution in a
particular region (Tucker & Duplisea, 2012; for more information refer to
Chapter 14: Recent Advances in Microbial Databases with Special Reference
to Kinetoplastids, and Chapter 15: Advances in Sequencing Technology,
Databases and Analyses Tools for the Assessment of Microbial Diversity).
1.4.2 Molecular tools
In particular, molecular biology tools, especially the use of ribosomal
RNA (rRNA), in particular, the 16S or small subunit (SSU) RNA and
Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) sequences have proved to be important
in the history of biodiversity exploration and its conservation (Rappé &
Giovannoni, 2003; for more information refer to Chapter 13: Isolation
Methods for Evaluation of Extremophilic Microbial Diversity From
Antarctica Region). Apart from them, DNA markers such as mini- and
FIGURE 1.1 Tools for studying biodiversity.
5
1.4 Tools for systematically studying the biodiversity hotspots through various aspects
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
29.
microsatellite DNA sequences,Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism
(RFLPs) and genomic sequence data can also be effectively used as a reli-
able tool for ecological data analysis, especially in the cases of microbes,
where culturing techniques are also well suited for the same purpose
(Allan & Max, 2010).
1.4.3 Technological tool and specialized equipment
Other equipment such as remote sensing modules, biometric devices, etc.
are proactively used in monitoring and tracking the movement of biodiver-
sity elements, especially those like tigers, snakes, etc. Among them, the use
of actively monitoring animal locations is through global positioning system
(GPS) and digital images for visualization (Alexander et al., 2020).
1.5 Biodiversity hotspots and microbial ecology
Biodiversity hotspots are not only diverse in flora and fauna but may
also show immense variation in microbial diversity with respect to their
unique ecosystems. Microbial diversity hotspots could be deemed to
necessarily include temperature, pressure, nutrients, and energy-
exchange acting on the system, that is, niche, containing the microbes.
For instance, Biodiversity hotspot of the Hawaiian Archipelago has sub-
stantial endemism (Donachie et al., 2004; for more information refer to
Chapter 2: Habitat-Specific Microbial Community Associated With the
Biodiversity Hotspot). It is well known that the relationship between
species and the existing environmental conditions is embodied by the
concept of ecological niche (Begon et al., 2006). The term Ecological
Niche encapsulates the position of a species within an ecosystem,
describing both the range of conditions its ecological role in the ecosys-
tem (Polechová & Storch, 2008). Extending this concept for aiding the
inclusion of microbes, it is imperative to note that microbial community
of a particular niche has an important feature, characterized by the
number of species and their composition diversity. Hence, the develop-
ments and advancements made in genome sequencing technologies
with respect to their efficacy, accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and reliability
(Roderic & Michiel, 2018; for more information refer to Chapter 15:
Advances in Sequencing Technology, Databases and Analyses Tools for
the Assessment of Microbial Diversity) and the use of environmental
amplicon sequencing survey has built to a large number of biodiversity
estimates for analysis of microbial studies. With the knowledge of
microbial taxa and the resources available, we can march toward under-
standing the complexity and diversity of an organism in that particular
6 1. Exploration of microbial ecology and diversity in hotspots
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
30.
habitat. It isimportant to consider the interactions between these ele-
ments (biotic and abiotic) when studying the biogeographical or spatio-
temporal patterns and not just the isolated being. On a practical note
instead of knowing who all are there, it will be easy to find what are
they doing and later find out who they were.
1.6 Microbial hotspots: an overview
When defining microbial hotspots, the obvious difficulty will be to
understand what should be the exact definition of microbial hotspots.
Irrespectively the importance of measuring biodiversity lies more in adjust-
ing the downward scale and unmapped terrain (Wilson, 1994).
The study of microbes in biodiversity hotspots for their uniqueness is
somewhat discouraging as microbes survive and grow almost every-
where on earth, dramatically extending our perception of the limits of
the biosphere and unclear definition of species. In line with the Baas-
Becking hypothesis which states, “Everything is everywhere, but the
environment selects” (Baas-Becking, 1934). Our understanding to find a
specific microbe in a specific geographic location is limited. In compli-
ance with this, whatever one has to study on Mars can be studied in the
regions on earth where the spatial conditions are similar (Martiny et al.,
2006; for more information refer to Chapter 2: Habitat-Specific Microbial
Community Associated With the Biodiversity Hotspot). Microscale dis-
tribution is definitely a tedious job and may often get a heterogeneous
result. Some studies have demonstrated a no-point connection with spe-
cies richness, a threat to the habitat and endemism do not show the
same geographical distribution (Orme et al., 2005). Within the currently
recognized 36 biodiversity hotspot regions, few of them highlighted for
the microorganisms are studied. For example, Atlantic forest is a dense
ombrophilous forest that has high variations creating vegetation gradi-
ent ranging from shrubs to well-developed Montane forest (CEPF,
2001). Thermophilic Proteobacteria are unique to obsidian hot spring
pool with 75
C95
C in Southern Brazilian Atlantic forest (Faoro et al.,
2010). California floristic province is a Mediterranean-type climate
divided into hot-dry summers and cold-dry winters (Burge et al., 2016).
Rhodobacter capsulatus, a purple nonsulfur bacterium is studied in the
region that grows in anaerobic conditions also responsible for denitrifi-
cation (Costa et al., 2017). Cape Floristic region is evergreen fire-
dependent scrubland, divided in the tropical, subtropical dry broadleaf
forest. Amphora diatoms are highly studied in this region. The presence
of this species indicates high pH (Rea De Stefano, 2019). The
Caribbean Island consists of diverse ecosystem ranging from Montane
cloud forest to cactus scrubland. Rhodococcus rhodochrous actinobacteria
7
1.6 Microbial hotspots: an overview
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
31.
were studied inthis region (CEPF, 2011). Presence of Salinispora and
nonacid fast bacteria indicates organic contamination (Bauermeister
et al., 2018). Himalaya which is rich in psychrophiles, that is, Pseudomonas
palleroniana N26 was studied at low temperature and nitrogen-deficient
ecosystem (Joshi et al., 2017). Indo-Burma hotspot is wet and dry ever-
green, deciduous forest, swamps, and mangrove ecosystem. Tepidimonas
taiwanensis and Tepidimonas fonticoldi thermophilic bacteria are found in the
hot spring of Southern Thailand (CEPF, 2020). Coastal forest of Eastern
Africa are characterized with small and fragmented forest has different
diatoms species indicators like Nitzschia asterionelloides, Nitzschia forticola,
and Fragillaria (Descy) (Jean-Pierre Hugo, 2008).
1.7 Microbial ecology: microbial habitats and the distribution
of microbes
As extreme and far-reaching and diverse environmental conditions
can only be manifested supporting life, in reality, the microbial habitats
consist of some of the wildest places on the globe including hot springs
(Panosyan et al., 2018), steam-heated soils, different soil horizons (sur-
face, subsurface, vertical, and depth), cryoconite holes (Sanyal et al.,
2018), mud holes, surface waters (Bhattacharyya Jha, 2015; Lan et al.,
2019; Yoshitake et al., 2018), geothermal power plants (Hou et al., 2020),
drylands (Wang et al., 2018), and coral reefs (Tout et al., 2014).
An interesting case, that of cryoconite holes in the chilling biodiversity
hotspots of the Himalayan region and Antarctica provides a
suitable habitat for the growth of microbial communities dominated by
Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria. Apart from these, there
are many other microbial communities present in assemblages, which are
specific to these regions characterized by the presence of cryoconites,
which assist in shaping the microbial interactions, in part, the unique eco-
system of this region (Sanyal et al., 2018; for more information refer to
Chapter 10: Bacterial Diversity From Garampani Warm Spring, Assam;
Chapter 12: Biodiversity of Cold Adapted Extremophiles From Antarctica
and Their Biotechnological Potential; and Chapter 13: Isolation Methods
for Evaluation of Extremophilic Microbial Diversity From Antarctica
Region).
Apart from these, the other commonly found ecosystems include the
diverse soil types characterized with respective nutrient contents, gut and
rumen of animals, aquatic environments, rhizosphere, phyllosphere, and
others. A change in the habitat by natural fragmentation of the area leads
to a change in the microbial interactions and networks and increases their
geographical isolation (Speer et al., 2020; for more information refer to
Chapter 2: Habitat-Specific Microbial Community Associated With the
8 1. Exploration of microbial ecology and diversity in hotspots
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
32.
Biodiversity Hotspot). Asdiscussed in the introductory paragraph of this
part, some of the microbiota, termed as extremophiles, are located in harsh
and extreme environmental conditions Fig. 1.2.
These extremophilic microbial life forms, tend to sustain in these
harsh and extreme conditions, where no other life forms would ostensi-
bly sustain and thrive for longer periods, are conditioned by virtue of
their great and unique ability to survive in array of habitats like hyper
extremophile environment.
At the center-stage, the microbial distribution is governed by nutrients,
water, and other resources present in the habitat, habitat complexity, flora and
fauna of that habitat as well as the anthropogenic activities (Young et al., 2008).
One study shows microbial density is higher in the soil in the summer and
spring due to increased soil moisture and nutrients which plays an important
role in their distribution (Bhattacharyya Jha, 2015). Distributions of microbes
such as algae found in the red snow of Svalbard and Arctic Sweden are uncul-
tured Chlamydomonaceae species, of Green snow are Microglena sp. and
Raphidonema sempervirens in Svalbard and Chloromonaspolyptera in Sweden is
diverse (Lutz et al., 2017). The distribution pattern in the environment can be
beneficial for understanding the ecological theories, recognizing and predict-
ing the changes in community structures with environmental alterations
(Bhattacharyya Jha, 2015; Valdespino-Castillo et al., 2018). Microbial distri-
bution in psychrophilic biota and limnetic microbial mats favors a huge por-
tion of the biomass in extreme environmental conditions with respect to
inland Antarctica. While the conditions affecting microbial composition over
successional and prolonged time periods with the environmental changes and
imbalances may be disclosed by the distribution patterns or microbial assem-
blages, the microbial distribution is also altered as a result of unaccounted and
overly done anthropogenic activities like agricultural processes, especially the
unwarranted use of artificial pesticides which accounts for drastic pH changes
in the soil of that region, thus causing a significant reduction of biodiversity
and the instability of that region’s ecosystem (2018).
FIGURE 1.2 Types of extremophiles.
9
1.7 Microbial ecology: microbial habitats and the distribution of microbes
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
33.
1.8 Microbial diversityindices: application in studying
community ecology
In spite of being the most commonly manifested form of explaining
the Ecological Diversity in a particular region, the concept of Species
Diversity subtly differs in its meaning and application, as compared to
Biodiversity. For describing this sophisticated concept, ecologists tend
to explain species diversity as a function of two factors—species rich-
ness and relative species abundance (Hamilton, 2005). Species richness
means the number of species present in a particular region and species
abundance means the number of individuals per species. Relative spe-
cies abundance means the evenness of distribution among individuals
among species in a community (Baillie Upham, 2012). An important
approach in measuring the species diversity is to construct the mathe-
matical diversity indices. These indices are used for quantification of
heterogeneous microbial distribution. Different microbial diversity indi-
ces are shown in Tables 1.1 and 1.2.
1.9 Microbial composition and succession
Depending upon the biogeography, the microbial composition is often
determined at the community level, as microbial structures and functions/
processes are determined by their characteristic community, that is, popula-
tion dependent (Martiny et al., 2006; Martiny et al., 2006; Nemergut et al.,
2014). The assemblage of microbes helps in signaling between the microbial
networks and also helps in the degradation of complex organic compounds
to simpler ones. For instance, the degradation of xenobiotics or recalcitrant
compounds by certain species of Pseudomonas and Rhodococcus is an efficient
bioremediation technique being highly potentialized in contemporary times
(Phale et al., 2019). Some bacterial and fungal species are however unable to
convert and utilize complex molecules such as cellulose and lignin and do
initiate the enzymatic process of converting these complex molecules to sim-
pler forms by producing extracellular enzymes (Selim Zayed, 2017;
Tribedi, 2016). Apart from that, the microbial assemblages are responsible to
alter microbial structures and compositions, which obstruct the stabilization
of microbial communities (Martiny et al., 2006; Martiny et al., 2006;
Nemergut et al., 2014).
As microbial communities play an important role in maintaining a
healthy soil ecosystem, microbial succession is responsible for bringing
in changes in the microbial composition. Microbial succession changes
with change in the habitats, such as changes taking place when the ice
melts with that the nutritional concentration changes leading to change
10 1. Exploration of microbial ecology and diversity in hotspots
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
34.
TABLE 1.1 Calculatingmicrobial diversity indices using alpha diversity.
Diversity indices Equation Variables Description Reference
Alpha diversity
Fisher’s Index (S) S 5 αln 1 1 N
α
S 5 Total number of species; α 5 Index of diversity of
population; N 5 Total number of individuals
Estimates logarithmic
distribution of number of
individuals of different species
Fisher
et al.
(1943)
Simpson’s Index
(D)
D 5 1
P
s
i51
Pi2
D 5 Simpson’s dominance index; S 5 Total number of
species in the community; pi 5 Proportion of
community represented by Operational taxonomic
unit (OTU)
Quantify number of species
present as well as their
abundance
Simpson
(1949)
Odum’s Index
(Rodum)
Rodum 5 S
ln N
ð Þ
Rodum 5 Odum’s Index; S 5 Total number of species;
N 5 Total number of individuals in the sample
Estimates species diversity Odum
et al.
(1960)
McIntosh Index Mc 5 [NO(Σni 2)]/[NON] Mc 5 McIntosh Diversity Index; ni 5 Number of
individuals belonging to i species; N 5 Total number
of individuals
Estimates species richness McIntosh
(1967)
McIntosh
Evenness Index
E 5 N 2 U
N 2 N=
ffiffi
S
p E 5 McIntosh Evenness Index; N 5 Total number of
individuals; S 5 Total number of species; U 5 Sample
size
Estimates species evenness McIntosh
(1967)
BergerParker
Index
D IBP 5 Nmax
Ntot
DIBP 5 BergerParker Index; Nmax 5 Number of
individuals of most abundant species; Ntot 5 Total
number of individuals of all the species in the sample
Estimates species abundance Berger
and
Parker
(1970)
Species Richness
Index
EðSÞ 5 fðk; NÞ E(S) 5 Expected value for number of species;
N 5 Number of individuals; k 5 Richness index
Estimates species diversity Peet
(2003)
Pielou Evenness J
0
5 H
0
H0
max
J0
5 Pielou evenness; H0
5 Number derived from
Shannon Diversity Index; H0
max 5 maximum possible
value of H0
Estimates species evenness Pielou
(1975)
(Continued)
35.
TABLE 1.1 (Continued)
Diversityindices Equation Variables Description Reference
Chao’s Index SðmaxÞchao 5 Sobs 1 a2
1 b2
S(max) 5 Maximum number of species; Sobs 5 Number
of species observed in different samples;
a 5 Singletons (number of species represented by one
individual each); b 5 Doubletons (number of species
represented by two individuals each)
Abundance-based estimates
species richness
Chao
(1984,
1988)
ShannonWiener
Diversity Index
(H)
H0
5 2
P s
i 5 1 piln pi
H0
5 ShannonWiener Diversity Index; S 5 Number
of OTUs; pi 5 Proportion of the community
represented by OTU
ShannonWiener Diversity
Index measures the rarity and
commonness of species in a
habitat.
Lemos
et al.
(2011)
Menhinick’s
Index
Dmn 5 S
ffiffiffi
N
p Dmn 5 Menhinick’s Index; S 5 Number of species;
N 5 Total number of individuals
Estimates species richness Kim et al.
(2017)
Margalef’s Index Dmg 5 S 2 1
ln N
ð Þ
Dmg 5 Margalef’s Index; S 5 Total number of species;
N 5 Total number of individuals in the sample
Estimates dependence between
species diversity and number of
organisms sampled
Kim et al.
(2017)
Abundance-based
coverage
estimator (ACE)
Index
SACE 5 Sabund 1 Srare
CACE
1 F1
CACE
γ2
ACE Sabund and Srare 5 Number of abundant and rare
OTUs; CACE 5 Sample abundance coverage estimator;
F1 5 Frequency of singletons; γ2
ACE 5 Estimated
coefficient of variation for rare OTUs
Abundance-based coverage
estimator of species richness
Kim et al.
(2017)
Brillouin Index
HB 5
ln N 2
P
ln
ni
N
HB 5 Brillouin Index; N 5 Total number of
individuals; ni 5 The number of individuals in the ith
species
Estimates species richness
similar to Shannon diversity
index
Kim et al.
(2017)
36.
TABLE 1.2 Betadiversity—microbial index.
Diversity
indices
Equation Variables Description Reference
Beta diversity
Jaccard
Index
J 5 Sc
Sa 1 Sb 1 Sc
J 5 Jaccard Index, Sa and Sb are the numbers
of species unique to samples a and b,
respectively, Sc 5 Number of species
common to the two samples
It is the fraction of species
shared between the samples.
Jaccard
(1912)
Sorensen
Index
Ss 5 2a
2a 1 2b 1 2c
Ss 5 Sorensen’s similarity coefficient; a is the
species common to both samples; b is the
species in sample 1; and c is the species in
sample 2
Used for comparing the
similarity of two samples.
Sorenson
(1948)
BrayCurtis BCij 5 1 2
Cij
Si 1 Sj
BCij 5 BrayCurtis Index; Cj 5 Sum of the
lesser values for only those species in
common between both sites; Si and Sj 5 The
total number of specimens counted at both
sites
Quantify the compositional
dissimilarity between two
different sites, based on
counts at each site.
Bray and
Curtis
(1957)
Morista-
Horn CD 5
2
P
s
i51
xiyi
Dx 1 Dy
ð Þxy
CD 5 0 if the two samples do not overlap in
terms of species; CD 5 1 if the species occur
in the same proportions in both samples;
xi 5 Number of times species i is
represented in the total X from one sample;
yi is the number of times species i is
represented in the total Y from another
sample; Dx and Dy are the Simpson index
values for the x and y samples, respectively.
S is the number of unique species
Estimate the measure of
dispersion of individuals in a
population.
Morisita
(1959)
(Continued)
37.
TABLE 1.2 (Continued)
Diversity
indices
EquationVariables Description Reference
Wilson and
Shmida
Index
βT 5
gðHÞ 1 lðHÞ
½
2α
βT 5 Beta turnover; H is habitat gradient;
g 5 Species gained; l 5 Species lost;
α 5 Average number of species found
within the community samples
Estimates changes, additivity
in the alpha diversity.
Wilson and
Shmida
(1984)
Colwell and
Coddington
Index
S 5 Sobs 1
F2
1
2F2
Sobs 5 Number of species in the sample;
F1 5 Number of singletons (i.e., the number
of species with only a single occurrence in
the sample); F2 5 Number of doubletons
(the number of species with exactly two
occurrences in the sample)
Estimate species diversity. Colwell and
Coddington
(1994)
Shannon
Beta Index
Hβi 5
P
j
Cij
Ci11
1
P
k
Cjk
Cij1
ln
Cijk
Cij1
= Ci1k
C111
H(βi) 5 Shannon Beta Index; Cijk 5 The
sequence count for subject i, from time j and
taxon k; 1 (plus) in the subscript denotes
the summation of the counts over the
specified indicator
Measures multiple alpha and
beta components when
community weights are
unequal.
Marcon
et al. (2012)
These listed microbial indices are used for analyzing the numerical composition of microbial diversity in a complex community of microbes.
38.
in the microbialcommunity (Valdespino-Castillo et al., 2018). Some of
the bacterial species, discovered in the early stages of ecological succes-
sion with respect to the glacial soil in the mountain ranges of the Alps
in Switzerland, including Proteobacteria (alpha . betaproteobacteria)
has shown a gradual decline in the soil percentage with age over a pro-
longed time period.
The process of a generalized microbial succession is slowed down
due to decreasing mineralization in the soil nutrients such as carbon
and nitrogen (Bhattacharyya Jha, 2015). The succession results in
diverse microbial composition in a single habitat, for instance as
observed in the deep seas. A hydrothermal vent sulfide chimney is
another suitable example as the habitat showing the microbial succes-
sion of chemoautotrophic microorganisms, on and around the walls of
the chimneys. Some microbes are dominant when the chimney is active
as it may supply the growth conditions. The succession depends on the
source of nutrients, temperature condition, and other conditions for the
growth of microbes from thermophilic to mesophilic to psychrophilic
microorganisms (Hou et al., 2020). The ground surface after the glacial
retreat is covered by a primary succession of microbes and these stimu-
late physical and biological processes which lead to favorable conditions
for further microbial and ecosystem succession (Yoshitake et al., 2018).
1.10 Microbial interactions
Microorganisms interact with one another and the other elements of
the ecosystem in a host by ways called microbial interactions Fig. 1.3,
during which the genetic material and biologic molecules are exchanged
FIGURE 1.3 Types of microbial interactions.
15
1.10 Microbial interactions
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
39.
and processed (Bragaet al., 2016). These interactions can be classified as
being intraspecific or interspecific (Selim Zayed, 2017) depending upon
the nature of the involvement of various interacting elements. These
interactions can also be classified as being positive or negative, depend-
ing upon the benefits derived by interacting elements, or the harmful
product resulting out of such involvements (Shimane et al., 2018).
The microbial communities are actively involved in creating favorable
environmental conditions, that too, for other microbial communities to
survive and carry out their interactions with each other and in an ecosys-
tem as well. For instance, the snow and ice algae present in the cryoconite
holes act as a source of nutrients and carbon for heterotrophic communi-
ties (Lutz et al., 2017). The ecosystem and hotspot regions characterized
with cryoconite holes are governed by the microbial interactions which
play an important role in influencing and vitalizing the carbon cycle in
these ecosystems. The microbial interactions within the cryoconite debris
form a microenvironment and matrix, promoting biochemical interac-
tions, many of them, yet to be explored (Sanyal et al., 2018).
The microbial communities interact for certain functional and meta-
bolic activities, the establishment and maintenance of which, determines
a successful establishment of the microbial community. An outcome of
these interactions is the coevolution process, which guides the microbial
adaptations in different habitats (Braga et al., 2016). Microbes associated
with different chemical processes may be driven by localized growth
enhancement or chemotaxis into chemical microniches (Mitchell, 2002).
These interactions help in improving their activities like signaling,
exchange of compounds and involve the physicochemical changes, meta-
bolites exchange and conversion, chemotaxis, and many more processes.
Some microbes are known to interact with the roots and seeds through
chemotaxis or chemotropism activated by plant exudates. Some processes
like the root nodule factors released by Rhizobia are perceived by root
cells leading to alteration of calcium flux and activates signaling pathway
for the production of cytokinins, which also acts as symbiotic interaction
of microbes (Braga et al., 2016; Moënne-Loccoz et al., 2015; Tribedi, 2016).
It is a well-established fact that the microbes, by virtue of exchang-
ing the vital materials produced through their interactions with each
other and the environment, can regulate the plant development pro-
cess, indirect way, by releasing phytohormones, contributing to the
ecosystem processes, producing biocontrol compounds and different
signaling compounds. Diverse communities of bacteria and fungi live
in close association with each other and on the surfaces of plant roots
(rhizosphere) and leaves (phyllosphere) and inside the plant tissues
(endosphere) (Kent Triplett, 2002). These are highly diverse and
have a fundamental role in water economy, nutrient acquisition,
growth, and disease tolerance. Some examples are arbuscular
16 1. Exploration of microbial ecology and diversity in hotspots
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
40.
mycorrhizal fungi (AMF),Basidiomycetes, Penicillium, Archeospora,
Glomus, Actinomycetes, Proteobacteria.
While such microbial interactions help in stabilizing and understand-
ing the dynamics of the biological communities, these interactions, can
show both positive as well as a negative effect in their relationship with
the host (Fig. 1.3).
1.11 Hotspots bioindicators/indicating unique environment of
hotspots
A characteristic exhibited by every microorganism in an ecosystem to
potentially indicate the environmental health of the surrounding region
can be accounted on the basis that they can tolerate a limited range of
chemical, physical, and biological conditions (Holt Miller, 2010).
Through the utilization of bioindicators, researchers can anticipate the
common conditions for a specific region or the level and/or the degree
of environmental contamination (Parmar et al., 2016). Some bioluminescent
bacteria belonging to the genus Photobacterium from the North-
Western Mediterranean Sea Hotspot region can effectively be used to test
water for environmental toxins with the help of stress proteins. Toxins
released by microbes affect the cellular metabolism of bacteria (Martini
et al., 2016).
Microorganisms also encompass the oceanic biomass and are respon-
sible for the majority of productivity and nutrient cycle in a marine eco-
system, as they have a rapid rate of growth, and react to even low
levels of contaminants and other physicochemical and biological changes.
One such example is of the bacterium Vogesella indigofera from the
Mediterranean basin region which reacts to heavy metals quantitatively.
Under conditions influenced by no metal pollution, blue pigment is a
significant marker of the underlying morphological change that has
occurred (Krieg, 2015). On the other hand, under the presence of hexa-
valent chromium ions, the production of pigment is blocked. This can
be attributed to the fact that there is an essentially important relation-
ship between the concentration of chromium ions and the generation of
blue pigment by the bacterium (Aslam et al., 2012).
An interesting fact is that some microbes are adaptable to extreme
environmental conditions and habitats by showing different strategies
for their existence, such as the generation of pigments like violacein,
carotenoids, melanin, β-carotene, etc. These pigments help the microbes
to get adopted to harsh conditions like ultraviolet radiance, the genetic
ability for carbon and nitrogen cycling and the capacity to degrade com-
plex organic compounds (Sajjad et al., 2020; Valdespino-Castillo et al.,
2018).
17
1.11 Hotspots bioindicators/indicating unique environment of hotspots
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
41.
1.12 Conclusion andway forward
With the scientific advancements made in sophisticating the pro-
cesses of microbial exploration and understanding their mysterious
roles in the undiscovered functioning of the ecosystem, it is imperative
to consider that the revelation of various interactions, networks, and
intricate scope of distribution associated with microbial ecology would
have a much penetrating impact in understanding their outreach as
quintessential elements of biological diversity. Rather in Ed Yong’s
tone—It’s the start of a new era when people are finally ready to
embrace the microbial world.
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bution in soils: Physics and scaling. Advances in Agronomy, 100, 81121.
23
References
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
encouraging diversified species.Within the microbial community, pro-
karyotes are the dominant group in comparison to others and are
actively involved in ecosystem functioning (Powell, 1993). In the biodi-
versity hotspot region, the microbial world is still to uncover which is a
large pool of biodiversity on land (Vibha Neelam, 2012). The study of
microbial ecology is gaining immense interest. Members of the micro-
bial family, that is, bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes are at the fore-
front in shaping the morphology, physiology, functioning, and overall
working of living systems (Braga et al., 2016; Briones Raskin, 2003).
As most of the findings are based on discovering microbes of surface
soil (about 1040 cm depth), the data on identification of the microor-
ganisms are not sufficient (Martı́nez-Alonso et al., 2010).
2.2 Biodiversity hotspot in the Indian continent
India is blessed with a diverse climatic condition which is the basis
for biological diversity, ultimately maintains equity relations amidst
humans and organisms. The well-known biodiversity hotspots of the
Indian subcontinent are the Himalayas, Indo Burma Region, Sundaland,
and the Western Ghats situated in different parts of India. They are
listed in the top 36 biodiversity hotspot around the world. However,
these hotspots are under threat and on the verge of extinction of many
rare species. Thus it is the need of time to conserve these species as it is
a heritage of the country. Conserving this biodiversity amid many
development projects going on in a country like India is challenging but
essential for sustainable development.
2.3 Factors affecting biodiversity hotspots in India
The presence of green hills, clear water, fantastic caves, and variety had
made this biodiverse area alluring. But recent activities like fraternization
of trade, human, and geogenic action to a certain extent has dragged the
cleaner zone of biodiversity toward containment of pollutants (Vareda
et al., 2019; Yang et al., 2018). Different actions responsible for deteriorating
the habitats in the hotspots are listed in Fig. 2.1. One of the activities which
are done for human welfare is dam construction. The dam is a modern-
day technology having double facet, that is, affirmative as well as the pes-
simistic outcome. Even this biodiversity zone is not left alone by today’s
world mechanistic engineering action. Even the emergence of toxicants like
metal imparts toxicity to reachable biota belonging to nearby ranges
depending on its type and chemical form. Escorted with cytotoxicity,
mutagenicity, and carcinogenic character, they are a big threat to animals
26 2. Habitat-specific microbial community associated with the biodiversity hotspot
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
50.
and plants especiallyto human health, calling an emergency for imple-
mentation of an appropriate technique for abatement and inhibition of its
entry into the natural environment (Hadjiliadis, 2012).
2.4 The Himalayas
The Himalayan region has spread in the arena of country like Bhutan,
Northern India, and major parts of Nepal. They are well known for their
high peaks mountain comprising about more than 100 mountains higher
than 7200 m height and also marked as highest mountains in the world
including Mount Everest and K2 (Rüber et al., 2020). There are about 163
species declared on the verge of extinction belonging to the group of mam-
mals, birds, reptiles, invertebrate, and plant species. In case of plants, the
Himalayan valley is densely populated with varied species of plants and
about 300 varied species of animals including wild water buffalo, sloth bear,
big squirrel, and requires urgent attention. The issues faced by these regions
are imparting harm to local medicinal plants, black bears, etc. (Pandit et al.,
2007; Tali et al., 2019). For example, some of the species are on the verge of
extinction such as Namdapha’s flyinal plants like Himalayan Yew, Blue-
poppy, Snow Lotus plants for profiteering purposes.
2.5 The Indo-Burma region
The Indo-Burma region is the second biodiversity hotspot that belongs to
the Indian subcontinent. The regions stretch over different countries
FIGURE 2.1 Factors responsible for creating disturbances in biodiversity hotspot of India.
27
2.5 The Indo-Burma region
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
51.
including India’s Northeasternstates, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand,
Vietnam, and the southern part of China, covering about 23 lakh km2
area.
This hotspot consists of 13,500 plant species, 1260 marine fishes, reptiles,
mammals, etc. (Jose et al., 2016). Among these, the botanical cover is threat-
ened to be extinct which is clear from the fact that only 1.18 lakh km2
vege-
tation cover is remaining. Factors dragging the priceless rare species to
extinction are farming activity, commercial plantation, fisheries, etc. which
has to drop down the original habitat to 5% (Dudgeon, 2012). These areas
are known for its unique biota and environ created due to its unique habitat.
Also known for its superiority in biological values, provide and promote
diverse niche for existence of microbes with beneficial characteristic (Jose
et al., 2016). However, regrettably, because of its tough and high mountains,
its extreme environment construct, researchers find it difficult to attend and
explore the microbial communities dwelling in this ecological condition.
2.6 The Sundaland
The Sundaland biodiversity hotspot region exists in the Nicobar
group of Islands—Borneo, Java and Sumatra, Singapore, the Philippines
which covers 15 lakh km2
area. The Nicobar Islands constitute India.
These islands have been declared as the sector biosphere reserve in 2013
through the United Nations. These islands have wealthy terrestrial as
nicely as marine ecosystems together with mangroves, seagrass beds,
and coral reefs. Also, it is accompanied by various marine fishes, rep-
tiles, etc. dwelling in the water bodies (Giam et al., 2012). The
Sundaland comprises 25,000 species of plants, 380, 770, 450, 245, 950
mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, freshwater fishes, respectively.
Presently only 1 lakh km2
vegetation cover is remaining while the area
under protection is 1.79 lakh km2
. Fifteen thousand plants, almost half
of mammals and reptiles are endemic to the region. These islands are
an abode to unique orchids and tropical plant species of high economic
value, like oil palm, rubber, etc. The endangered species in this hotspot
are turtles, pangolins, orangutans, tigers, rhinoceros, the Bali starling,
straw-headed bulbul, and many more. The Sundaland biodiversity hot-
spot faces red danger and has lost most of its habitat due to deforesta-
tion, intensive commercial agriculture, man-made forest fires, extensive
illegal hunting, and poaching of animals (Verma et al., 2020).
2.7 The Western Ghats
Another hotspot of India is the Western Ghats (the Sahayadri range)
which is also listed as a biodiversity zone with a unique climate and
28 2. Habitat-specific microbial community associated with the biodiversity hotspot
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
52.
environmental ecosystem. Thereare over 7000 plant species in the
Western Ghats, of which about 5600 are endemic (Bossuyt et al., 2004).
The rare and susceptible species include Nilgiri Tahr, Lion-tailed
macaque, parakeets, laughing thrush birds, and more. The biotic group
of Western Ghats is also under extinction and needs attention for the
preservation of endangered species. Due to the proximity of this region
to the ocean, they receive a higher volume of rainfall. Most of the spe-
cies belonging to the group of amphibians and reptiles present in this
region are rare and not found in other parts of the world. Also, another
country like Srilanka, situated extreme south of India is known for rus-
tic and wealthy species too and connected with India through an
extended stretch of bridge having 140 Km. There is more than 6000 vas-
cular flora present here belonging to 2500 genus. Within these, 3000
plants are prevalent in this area. Even the world famous spices like
black pepper, cardamom have been known to be evolved from the
Western Ghats. Majorly, of the total plant species, most of the plants are
situated on Agasthyamalai Hills located in the acute South. The area is
likewise domestic to round 450 species of birds, 140 mammals, 260 rep-
tiles, and 175 amphibians. Such variety is pretty lovely in addition to
uncommon, however, now lies at the verge of extinction. The plants on
this area became firstly unfold over 190,000 rectangular kilometers,
however, has decreased to 43,000 rectangular kilometers today.
Presently, most effective 1.5% of the authentic woodland, nevertheless,
exists in Sri Lanka. The mountains of the Western Ghats in Peninsular
India are an international biodiversity hotspot (Garg et al., 2017). An
exponential twofold increment withinside the counted number of spe-
cies during the last decade and a half (200115) has evidenced that a
vast majority of amphibians of this place had still to be discovered (Biju
Bossuyt, 2005), and there is probability that the original diversity is
far greater in number than the estimated value (Biju Bossuyt, 2005).
In terms of species diversity, the Western Ghats positioned at the fourth
position which ranked next to Indo-Burma, also grabbed the foremost
spot among another hotspot region in terms of amphibian’s range. The
speedy disclosure of these species becomes possible due to the vast
range of available advanced molecular tools and a synchronized step-
wise approach.
2.8 Approach to safeguard biodiversity hotspots in India
Industralization, urbanization and other human activities are respon-
sible for aggravating pollution, deforestration etc. which cause uncon-
trolled impact on their habitats, inturn causing nuisance. The
conservation of biodiversity is the need of time. The negligence of the
29
2.8 Approach to safeguard biodiversity hotspots in India
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
53.
government toward precautionaryinvestment, monitoring, and mainte-
nance also lead to dwindling this diversity zone. Depicting the menac-
ing state of art can overture for fastening policy and administrative
action toward this crisis. In such circumstances, paramount involvement
of government and policymakers for sustainable preservation model
and definitive protocol for species restoration is required, also demands
effective policy and financial commitments at large scale. The protection
of biodiversity in India also requires the involvement of residents who
indirectly get benefited from this diverse heritage. Many policies are
already introduced by the Indian government such as Marine Turtle
Policy and Marine Standing Policy for marine biodiversity protection
from pollution. Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change is
the heading agency that has been administered by the Indian
Government; they also highlighted the Biological Diversity Act in 2002.
International Union for Conservation of Nature has categorized the bio-
logical entity into different groups depending upon their present status
as threatened, vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, and
extinct. Also, many international agencies are actively involved in fund-
ing the plan/policy for the preservation of threatened species in the hot-
spot region.
2.9 Habitat-specific microbes of hotspot region
The microorganisms play a vital and frequently specific position
withinside the functioning of the ecosystems in preserving equality
amidst biosphere and productivity. The harm in biodiversity and the
approach to revive for human welfare is the thrust area seeking atten-
tion. Each habitat comprises a specific group of microbes which differ
from site to site. Microbes present in this region are mostly in symbiotic
association with other members of microbes pertaining in the soil
(Taylor et al., 2007). For instance, the coexistence of algae and bacterial
diversity determines the number of the carbon source utilized by bacte-
ria, which directly symbolizes direct relation of nutrient cycling with
microbial exploitation suggesting linkage between bacterial diversity
and algal production. The major reason for inhabitant of special com-
munity is competition between microbial species, resultant into decre-
ment in the microbial diversity of specific habitats. Specific habitat is a
battle field where microbes are engaged in a fight for dominance defeat-
ing existence of other species. In case of some microbes, they are backed
with genetic setup which makes them behave in ecologically aggressive
manner. The characteristics laced with these microbes are high resis-
tance against abiotic stress, tolerance against viral infection, varied sub-
strate intake, out-grow competitors. However, there are some concepts
30 2. Habitat-specific microbial community associated with the biodiversity hotspot
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
54.
which are unexplainedconcerned to adherence of particular microbial
species within communities (Yadav et al., 2015).
A genetically diverse group of microbes depending upon their meta-
bolic need, environmental conditions, etc. persist in a particular niche
(Kühl et al., 2012). Invertebrate-microbe symbioses additionally play
essential roles in host ecological achievement via the supply of supple-
mental vitamins and the manufacturing of protective secondary metabo-
lites. The total pull of DNA in soil signifies cumulative genomes of
microbes, small eukaryotes, and many plants and animals, which is
used for tracking by the individual. In the Indo-Burman region, the
presence of strains Trichoderma has been reported to synthesize three
important enzymes, namely, chitinase, protease, and β-1,3-glucanase.
Tayang and Jha (2010) detected the presence of an endophytic fungus
Fusarium sp. having antimicrobial effect against most of the pathogens.
In another study by Jose et al. (2016), they identified three cellulolytic
fungal isolates displaying excessive FPase pastime and their information
had been submitted in NCBI, GenBank as Talaromyces verruculosus
SGMNPf3 (KC937053), Trichoderma gamsii SGSPf7 (KC937055), and
Trichoderma atroviride SGBMf4 (KC937054). Bhattacharyya et al. (2014)
used a metagenomics approach to assess the different soil bacterial com-
munities of five varied zones in terms of geology and hydrology, target-
ing mainly floor and subsurface soil habitats of Brahmaputra valley,
tagged as mega-biodiversity hotspot. Identifying the total microbial spe-
cies persistence in this unique zone can definitely add on to the diverse
beneficial role of microbes performed with the aid of using extraordi-
nary microbial companies inside an ecosystem.
Microbial diversity also had a pivotal involvement the diversification
of a particular ecosystem. The Northeastern part of the Indian continent
is covered by natural forest and many parts of the zone are untouched
and uncovered by the discoverer/researcher and from industrial inter-
ference. This region provides varied niches that trigger the propagation
of novel microorganisms in the soil which are still unexplored. Many
microbes are unidentified, undiscovered, and many are unculturable
which are putting a big constrain in exploring. According to the study
of De Mandal et al. (2015), Indo-Burman hotspot consists of a total of 29
phyla, within which the dominant phyla have been Acidobacteria
(39.45%) accompanied with the aid of using Proteobacteria (26.95%),
Planctomycetes (7.81%), Actinobacteria (7.18%), Bacteroidetes (6.65%),
Chloroflexi (4.11%), and Nitrospirae (3.33%) (Bhattacharyya et al., 2014)
while the study on a microbial pool of Indo-Burman hotspot used a
culture-independent metagenomic approach for the identification of
microbial population. By following 16s rRNA housekeeping gene
for identification of microbes, the authors found dominancy of
microbes belonging to the genera Proteobacteria, Acidobacterium, and
31
2.9 Habitat-specific microbes of hotspot region
Microbial Diversity and Ecology in Hotspots
The Project GutenbergeBook of Half a
Hundred Hero Tales of Ulysses and The Men of
Old
60.
This ebook isfor the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
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you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Half a Hundred Hero Tales of Ulysses and The Men of Old
Editor: Francis Storr
Illustrator: Frank Cheyne Papé
Release date: January 3, 2013 [eBook #41765]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HALF A
HUNDRED HERO TALES OF ULYSSES AND THE MEN OF OLD ***
61.
HERCULES AND THEGOLDEN APPLES
HALF A HUNDRED
HERO TALES
OF ULYSSES AND THE MEN OF OLD
62.
EDITED BY
FRANCIS STORR
EDITOROF THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, LONDON
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
FRANK C. PAPÉ
NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1913
Copyright, 1911,
by
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
Published January, 1911
PREFACE
The apology offeredfor adding yet another book of Classical Stories
to the endless existing versions, ancient and modern, in verse and in
prose, is the plea that Vivien offers to Merlin for her tender rhyme:
It lives dispersedly in many hands,
And every minstrel sings it differently.
You Greeks, said the Egyptian priest to Herodotus, are always
children, and Greece will never lose the secret of eternal youth. The
tale of Troy divine, of Thebes and Pelops' line, the song of sweet
Colonus, the most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisby, Dido with a
willow in her hand—these old stories of Homer and Sophocles, of
Virgil and Ovid, have not lost their gloss and freshness. The
innocent brightness of a new-born day is lovely yet. They have
been sung or said by Wace and Caxton, by Chaucer and
Wordsworth, by Keats and William Morris; they have been adapted
for young readers by Fénelon, by Niebuhr, by Kingsley, by
Hawthorne, and yet the last word has not been said. Each new
editor makes his own selection, chooses some new facet, or displays
the jewel in a new light. As Sainte-Beuve remarks of Don Quixote
and other world classics, One can discover there something more
than the author first of all tried to see there, and certainly more than
he dreamed of putting there.
The present collection of Fifty Stories (there might well have been
five hundred) makes no pretense either of completeness or of
uniformity. Some of the contributors have followed closely the texts,
others have given free play to their fancy, but in every case the
myths have been treated simply as stories and no attempt has been
made either to trace their origin or to indicate their religious or
65.
ethical significance. Mostof the stories point their own moral, and
need no more commentary than Jack the Giant-killer or the Sleeping
Beauty. Young readers of to-day resent the sermons even of a
Kingsley. From Tanglewood Tales, a book that was the joy of our
childhood, we have borrowed ten stories, and have taken the liberty
of dividing into chapters and slightly abridging the longest of
Hawthorne's Tales. All but one of the remaining forty are original
versions.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Pluto and Proserpine 1
By H. P. Maskell
Pan and Syrinx 5
By Mrs. Guy E. Lloyd
The Story of Phaeton 13
By M. M. Bird
Arethusa 19
By V. C. Turnbull
The Story of Daphne 24
By M. M. Bird
Deucalion and Pyrrha 28
By M. M. Bird
Epimetheus and Pandora 33
66.
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Europaand the God-Bull 50
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Cadmus and the Dragon's Teeth 65
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Orpheus and Eurydice 83
By V. C. Turnbull
Hercules and the Golden Apples 89
I. Hercules and the Old Man of the Sea
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hercules and the Golden Apples 98
II. Hercules and Atlas
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hercules and Nessus 107
By H. P. Maskell
The Quest of the Golden Fleece 111
By M. M. Bird
How Theseus Found His Father 124
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Theseus and the Witch Medea 131
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Theseus Goes to Slay the Minotaur 138
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
67.
Theseus and Ariadne144
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Paris and Œnone 154
By V. C. Turnbull
Iphigenia 161
By Mrs. Guy E. Lloyd
Protesilaus 166
By Mrs. Guy E. Lloyd
The Death of Hector 173
By V. C. Turnbull
The Wooden Horse 180
By F. Storr
The Sack of Troy 185
By F. Storr
The Death of Ajax 191
By F. Storr
The Flight of Æneas from Troy 196
By F. Storr
Æneas and Dido 201
By V. C. Turnbull
Æneas in Hades 209
By V. C. Turnbull
68.
Nisus and Euryalus217
By F. Storr
Ulysses in Hades 224
By M. M. Bird
Circe's Palace 232
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Ulysses and the Cyclops 262
By Hope Moncrieff
The Sirens 271
By V. C. Turnbull
The Story of Nausicaa 275
By M. M. Bird
The Homecoming of Ulysses 283
By M. M. Bird
Baucis and Philemon 292
By H. P. Maskell
Hypermnestra 296
By V. C. Turnbull
Œdipus at Colonos 302
By Mrs. Guy E. Lloyd
Midas 308
By H. P. Maskell
69.
Perseus and Andromeda313
By V. C. Turnbull
Meleager and Atalanta 320
By H. P. Maskell
The Story of Dædalus and Icarus 326
By M. M. Bird
Scylla, the Daughter of Nisus 330
By Mrs. Guy E. Lloyd
The Story of Pyramus and Thisbe 340
By M. M. Bird
Hero and Leander 344
By Mrs. Guy E. Lloyd
Pygmalion and the Image 352
By F. Storr
Cephalus and Procris 359
By H. P. Maskell
Echo and Narcissus 364
By Thomas Bulfinch
The Ring of Polycrates 369
By M. M. Bird
Romulus and Remus 375
By Mrs. Guy E. Lloyd
70.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Hercules and theGolden Apples Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
The Story of Daphne 26
Hercules and Nessus 108
Theseus Goes to Slay the Minotaur 138
Æneas in Hades 212
Ulysses and the Cyclops 266
Perseus and Andromeda 316
Romulus and Remus 380
HALF A HUNDRED HERO TALES
71.
PLUTO AND PROSERPINE
BYH. P. MASKELL
In the very heart of Sicily are the groves of Enna—a land of flowers
and rippling streams, where the spring-tide lasts all through the
year. Thither Proserpine, daughter of Ceres, betook herself with her
maidens to gather nosegays of violets and lilies. Eager to secure the
choicest posy, she had wandered far from her companions, when
Pluto, issuing, as was his wont, from his realm of shadows to visit
the earth, beheld her, and was smitten by her childlike beauty.
Dropping her flowers in alarm, the maiden screamed for her mother
and attendants. 'Twas in vain; the lover seized her and bore her
away in his chariot of coal-black steeds. Faster and faster sped the
team as their swart master called to each by name and shook the
reins on their necks. Through deep lakes they sped, by dark pools
steaming with volcanic heat, and on past the twin harbors of
Syracuse.
When they came to the abode of Cyane, the nymph rose up from
her crystal pool and perceived Pluto. No farther shalt thou go! she
cried. A maiden must be asked of her parents, not stolen away
against her mother's will! For answer the wrathful son of Saturn
lashed his foam-flecked steeds. He hurled his royal scepter into the
very bed of the stream. Forthwith the earth opened, making a way
down into Tartarus; and the chariot vanished through the yawning
cave, leaving Cyane dissolved in tears of grief for the ravished
maiden and her own slighted domain.
Meanwhile Ceres, anxious mother, had heard her daughter's cry for
help. Through every clime and every sea she sought and sought in
vain. From dawn to dewy eve she sought, and by night she pursued
the quest with torches kindled by the flames of Ætna. Then, by
72.
Enna's lake, shefound the scattered flowers and shreds of the torn
robe, but further traces there were none.
Weary and overcome with thirst, she chanced on a humble cottage
and begged at the door for a cup of water. The goodwife brought
out a pitcher of home-made barley wine, which she drained at a
draught. An impudent boy jeered at the goddess, and called her
toss-pot. Dire and swift was the punishment that overtook him.
Ceres sprinkled over him the few drops that remained; and, changed
into a speckled newt, he crept away into a cranny.
Too long would be the tale of all the lands and seas where the
goddess sought for her child. When she had visited every quarter of
the world she returned once more to Sicily. Cyane, had she not
melted away in her grief, might have told all. Still, however, on
Cyane's pool the girdle of Proserpine was found floating, and thus
the mother knew that her daughter had been carried off by force.
When this was brought home to her, she tore her hair and beat her
breast. Not as yet did she know the whole truth, but she vowed
vengeance against all the earth, and on Sicily most of all, the land of
her bereavement. No longer, she complained, was ungrateful man
worthy of her gifts of golden grain.
A famine spread through all the land. Plowshares broke while they
were turning the clods, the oxen died of pestilence, and blight befell
the green corn. An army of birds picked up the seed as fast as it was
sown; thistles, charlock, and tares sprang up in myriads and choked
the fields before the ear could show itself.
Then Arethusa, the river nymph, who had traveled far beneath the
ocean to meet in Sicily her lover Alpheus, raised her head in pity for
the starving land, and cried to Ceres: O mourning mother, cease thy
useless quest, and be not angered with a land which is faithful to
thee. While I was wandering by the river Styx I beheld thy
Proserpine. Her looks were grave, yet not as of one forlorn. Take
comfort! She is a queen, and chiefest of those who dwell in the
world of darkness. She is the bride of the infernal king.
73.
Ceres was buthalf consoled, and her wrath was turned from Sicily to
the bold ravisher of her daughter. She hastened to Olympus, and laid
her plaint before Jupiter. She urged that her daughter must be
restored to her. If only Pluto would resign possession of Proserpine,
she would forgive the ravisher.
Jupiter answered mildly: This rape of the god lover can scarce be
called an injury. Pluto is my brother, and like me a king, except that
he reigns below, whereas I reign above. Give your consent, and he
will be no disgrace as a son-in-law.
Still Ceres was resolved to fetch her daughter back, and Jupiter at
length agreed that it should be so on condition that Proserpine,
during her sojourn in the shades, had allowed no food to pass her
lips.
In joy the mother hurried down to Tartarus and demanded her
daughter. But the fates were against her. The damsel had broken her
fast. As she wandered in the fair gardens of Elysium she had picked
a pomegranate from the bending tree, and had eaten seven of the
sweet purple seeds. Only one witness had seen her in the fatal act.
This was Ascalaphus, a courtier of Pluto, who some say had first put
it into the mind of the king to carry off Proserpine. In revenge for
this betrayal, Ceres changed him into an owl, and doomed him ever
after to be a bird of ill-omen who cannot bear the light of day, and
whose nightly hooting portends ill tidings to mortals.
But Ceres was not doomed to lose Proserpine utterly. Jupiter
decreed that for six months of each year her daughter was to reign
in dark Tartarus by Pluto's side; for the other six months she was to
return to earth and dwell with her mother. Joy returned to the
mother's saddened heart; the barren earth at her bidding once more
brought forth its increase. Soon the fields were smiling with golden
corn, and the mellow grapes hung heavy on the vines, and once
again that favored land became the garden of the world.
75.
PAN AND SYRINX
BYMRS. GUY E. LLOYD
Long ages ago in the pleasant land of Arcadia, where the kindly
shepherds fed their flocks on the green hills, there lived a fair
maiden named Syrinx. Even as a tiny child she loved to toddle forth
from her father's house and lose herself in the quiet woods. Often
were they forced to seek long and far before they found her, when
the dew was falling and the stars coming out in the dark blue sky;
but however late it was, they never found her afraid nor eager to be
safe at home. Sometimes she was curled up on the soft moss under
the shelter of a spreading tree, fast asleep; sometimes she was lying
by the side of a stream listening to the merry laughter of the water;
sometimes, sitting over the stones upon the hillside, she would be
watching with wonder and delight the lady moon, with her bright
train of clouds, racing across the sky as if in hot chase.
Years passed on, and Syrinx grew into a tall and slender maiden,
with long fair hair and great gray eyes, with a look in them that
made her seem to be always listening. Out in the woods there are so
many sounds for any one who has ears to hear—the different notes
of the birds, the hum of the insects, the swift, light rustle as some
furry four-legged hunter creeps through the underwood. Then there
is the pleasant, happy murmur of the breeze among the leaves, with
a different sound in it for every different tree, or the wild shriek of
the gale that rends the straining branches, or the bubbling of the
spring, or the prattle of the running stream, or the plash of the
waterfall. Many are the sounds of the woods, and Syrinx knew and
loved them all until
Beauty born of murmuring sound,
Had passed into her face.
76.
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