Microbial Technology & Infectious Disease Laboratory

• Dr. Sabu Thomas, Faculty Scientist and Principal Investigator, Cholera and Biofilm Research Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
• Dr. Reba Kanungo, Former Dean Research, Former Professor and HOD, Department of Microbiology, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Puducherry, Kalapet, 605014. (Retired)
• Dr Shashikala N., Professor and HOD, Department of Microbiology, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Puducherry, Kalapet, 605014.
• Dr. Sathish Mundayoor, Consulting Scientist, Inter-University Centre for Biomedical Research & Super Speciality Hospital (IUCBR & SSH), Thalappady, Kottayam

• Identifying, characterising New emerging & re-emerging infectious diseases causing agents.
• Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance in microbiota.
• Molecular characterisation of pathogens and co-relation to severity of disease manifestations.
• Testing of antimicrobial activity of natural products as well as synthetic materials against standard and clinical strains of both bacteria and fungi.

1. Sherly Antony, Saritha Susan Vargese, Mercy John Idikula, Carol Sara Cherian, Heidi Lord, Ritin Fernandez. Clinical presentation, and outcomes of COVID-19 in Cystic Fibrosis patients: A Systematic Review. PROSPERO 2021 CRD42021237792 Available from: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021237792
2. Antony S, Ravichandran K, Kanungo R. Multidrug resistance in Enterobacteriaceae colonizing the gut of an adult rural population in South India. Indian J Med Microbiol 2018; 36: 488-93.
3. Manoharan A, Manchanda V, Balasubramanian S, Lalwani S, Modak M, Bai S, Vijayan A, Shet A, Nagaraj S, Karande S, Nataraj G. Invasive pneumococcal disease in children aged younger than 5 years in India: a surveillance study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2017 Mar 1; 17(3):305-12.
4. Manoharan A, Barla GS, Peter R, Sugumar M, Mathai D. Multidrug resistance mediated by co-carriage of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases, AmpC and New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase-1 genes among carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae at five Indian medical centres. Indian journal of medical microbiology. 2016 Jul 1; 34(3):359.

Facilities: Microbial Technology and Infectious diseases laboratory offers a wide spectrum of microbiological applications including bio-degradation experiments, antibacterial and antifungal efficacy testing, and comparison of activities of various dental pastes, resin composites, adhesives and other biomaterials. Also facilities for isolation and identification of pathogenic bacteria from various infections exist. Standard ATCC strains including common gram positives, gram negatives and candida strains are maintained. In addition special or and clinical strains like MRSA, S. mutans and special oral flora like anaerobes are maintained for optimum performance of various experiments. Facilities for molecular identification and characterization of pathogens as well as normal flora by help of PCR are available.

Well-equipped microbiology laboratory with basic facilities like:
- Biosafety cabinet Type 2
- Digital colony counter
- Compound and Simple Microscopes
- Hot air oven
- Bacteriological Incubators
- Basic chemicals and media
-Genotyping facilities of both Conventional and Real Time PCR exist in PRC.

The notable projects completed under the laboratory of Microbial Technology and Infectious Disease Laboratory over the years includes the following:

Project Title	Indian Surveillance for Invasive Streptococci serotypes
Principal investigator	Dr. Anand Manoharan
Methodology:	This is a cross sectional observational study integrating Disease Surveillance with Clinical outcomes. Study aims to measure changes in various attributes of children diagnosed pneumonia (VT strains) and various patterns of microbial colonization as compared by vaccination status
Agency	Bill Gates Foundation
Project value	/- ( Rs. 7 crores and thirty lakhs )
Duration	3 years
Project Title	Alliance for surveillance of invasive pneumococci (ASIP)
Principal investigator	Dr. Anand Manoharan
Methodology	This project is an observational, prospective hospital/community/ and retrospective laboratory based multi-centric surveillance study of the invasive diseases caused by S. pneumoniaeor H. influenzae or N. meningitidis in children less than 5 years of age in India . The project included 10 states with 18 tertiary care centers/ teaching institutes laboratories, 59 sentinel pediatricians, and 10 central laboratories participating from different geographic sites in India. Started in January 2011 the main goals of the study were to understand the burden of pediatric invasive disease in India and to identify the most prevailing organisms and their serotypes responsible for the Invasive paediatric diseases (IPD) in-turn deciding upon the suitability and choice of paediatric vaccine to be introduced in the country.
Agency	GSK pharmaceuticals
Project value	79 lakhs
Duration	3 years
Current status	Completed
Outcome	Manoharan A, Manchanda V, Balasubramanian S, Lalwani S, Modak M, Bai S, Vijayan A, Shet A, Nagaraj S, Karande S, Nataraj G. Invasive pneumococcal disease in children aged younger than 5 years in India: a surveillance study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2017 Mar 31; 17(3):305-12.
Project Title	Global molecular epidemiology of New Delhi Metallo beta lactamase (NDM) mediated carbapenemase resistance among the clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae.
Principal investigator	Dr. Anand Manoharan
Methodology	New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM) is a major, global plasmid-mediated anti-microbial resistance threat. Phylogenetic tools to study global NDM molecular epidemiology are lacking. Understanding global NDM molecular epidemiology and comparative genomics will provide much needed information for effective transmission prevention and treatment strategies. The present project is a multicentric collaboration setup involving 10 international research groups (countries include India, Singapore, Australia, Serbia, Vietnam, Canada, USA, China, Taiwan and Russia) with primary objective of gaining insight into the multiple genetic mechanisms of NDM-1 spread in Singapore, India and worldwide as well as helping in identifying infection control strategies effective in reducing the NDM spread in these countries.
Agency	National University of Singapore
Project value	Rs.10, 00,000/-
Current status	Completed
Outcome	Manoharan A, Barla GS, Peter R, Sugumar M, Mathai D. Multidrug resistance mediated by co-carriage of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases, AmpC and New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 genes among carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae at five Indian medical Indian J Med Microbiol 2016;34:359-61.

Other recent projects and training programmes under Dr. Sherly Antony include the following: Presently working as the postdoctoral fellow under Dr T U Sukumaran, MD PhD., PIMS and RC

Ongoing studies:

1. Viral triggers in under-five wheezers (SERB- DST funded 2020- ongoing)

Collaborative studies completed:

1. Faecal carriage and acquirement of drug resistant colonizers in a tertiary care centre in South India. (IUCBR, Kottayam) (2020)Antimicrobial efficacy of Curcumin incorporated suture material. (2017)
2. Antimicrobial activity of different kinds of honey. (2018)
3. Antimicrobial activity of Grape seed extracts. (2018)
4. Antimicrobial activity of chalcone derivatives. (2018)
5. Antimicrobial activity of Polycaprolactone nanoparticles. (2017)
6. Antimicrobial activity of Ganoderma and Phellinus extracts. (2017)

Dental Faculty Projects:

1. Evaluation of bactericidal effect of different concentrations of Zinc oxide nanoparticles incorporated calcium hydroxide sealer against faecalis biofilm- An in-vitro study. {Completed-2019}

Dental Student Projects:

1. An invitro evaluation of the biodegradation of dental resin composites and adhesives by mutans UA159 esterase. {COMPLETED- 2017}
2. Comparative evaluation of anticandidal property of silver nanoparticles and sodium hypochlorite as denture cleansers. {COMPLETED-2018}
3. Comparative evaluation of antimicrobial efficacy, antibiofilm effect and resistance to biodegradation of a novel composite and zinc oxide nanoparticles incorporated composite against Streptococcus mutans UA159 – an in-vitro study {COMPLETED-2019}
4. Comparison of the antimicrobial efficacy of 2.5% sodium hypochlorite irrigant when activated with Max I probe, Ultrasonic and Endovac systems against Enterococcus faecalis in primary teeth root canals : An in- vitro study {Ongoing}
5. Comparative evaluation of the antibiofilm property of chitosan hydrogel loaded with catechin and chitosan hydrogel loaded with chlorhexidine. {Ongoing}

6. Effect of non-surgical periodontal therapy on gingival crevicular fluid periostin levels in chronic periodontitis patients with and without type ii diabetes mellitus{Ongoing}

MSc. Projects:

1. Detection of Campylobacter antigen and common enteric pathogens in stool samples of diarrhoeic patients. (2017-2018)
2. Antimicrobial activity of different concentrations of medica grape seed extracts. (2018)
3. Antimicrobial activity of chloroform and methanol extracts of Capparis mooni. (2018)
4. Preliminary analysis on the effect of Vanillic acid on preventing the pathogenesis of Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212) {2019}
5. Analysing the influence of growth parameters on pathogenesis and cell to cell communication in Pseudomonas aeruginosa {2019}
6. Experimental investigation on the anti- virulence and biofilm inhibition property of Perillaldehyde against the clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa {2019}
7. A pilot study of the comparison of the antimicrobial efficacy of 2.5 % sodium hypochlorite irrigant when activated with different probe systems against Enterococcus faecalis in primary teeth root canals (2020)
8. Detection of faecal carriage of drug resistant bacterial colonisers in a tertiary care centre in South India (2020)
9. Phenotypic characterization of virulence factors influencing pathogenesis of candida species isolated from clinical samples in a tertiary care centre in Kerala (2020)

BSc. Training Project:
Isolation and identification of microbes from clinical samples using conventional and molecular techniques. (2017) Short course on research laboratory training (SCRLT) programmes on Antimicrobial susceptibility testing conducted quarterly as part of ASPIC club in collaboration with REACT Asia Pacific (2019)

1. Antony S., Reshmy R., Sindhu R., Binod P., Pandey A. (2020) Possible Strategies for Hazardous Waste Management and Legality. In: Hussain C. (eds) Handbook of Environmental Materials Management. Springer, Cham.
2. Antony S., Rathinam P., Reshmy R., Sindhu R., Binod P., Pandey A. (2021) Consumer Nanoproducts: A New Viewpoint. In: Handbook of Consumer Nanoproducts. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6453-6_106-1
3. Rathinam P., Antony S, Reshmy R., Sindhu R., Binod P., Pandey A. (2021) Consumer nanoproducts in food. (Accepted)
4. Antony S., Sukumaran T U , Rathinam P., Reshmy R., Sindhu R. (2021) Biosurfactants in Respiratory viruses and the COVID-19 Pandemic. (Submitted)
5. Rathinam P., Antony S., Reshmy R., Sindhu R. (2021) Biosurfactant As An Intervention For Medical Device Associated Infections. (Submitted)

1. Sherly Antony, George Varghese, Bilsa P M, Reshma Mary Joseph, Vindhuja Udayan et al. Are the Antenatal women susceptible to Rubella and measles? -A Seroprevalence study. Abstracts from the International Science Symposium on HIV and Infectious Diseases (ISHID 2019): Infectious diseases. BMC Infect Dis 20, 324 (2020). htps://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-020-05038-y
2. Sherly Antony, Vineetha Varghese, Aswathi Biju, Ceyona Chacko, Prasanth Rathinam. Preliminary investigation on the effect of vanillic acid on preventing the pathogenesis of Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212) Abstracts from the International Science Symposium on HIV and Infectious Diseases (ISHID 2019): Infectious diseases. BMC Infect Dis 20, 324 (2020). htps://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-020-05038-y