1.A) Microbiome of the glacier ecosystem

The Himalayan alpine regions are mostly covered by glaciers. The glacier ecosystem consists of the snow-covered area, known as the supraglacial zone; the area beneath the ice, known as the englacial zone; and the area not covered by the ice, known as forefields. These sites are inhabited primarily by microbial communities, which play a substantial role in the functionality of the glacier ecosystem. Upon glacier retreat, microbial communities occupy the newly deglaciated area of the glacier and are helpful in the primary microbial succession, leading to nutrient build-up and soil development. As microbes in the glacier ecosystem perform numerous functions, their diversity should be explored from such sites to get insight into microbes' ecological and functional roles. We use culture-dependent and independent approaches to explore the variety and functionality of the microbes from Himalayan alpine glacier ecosystems. We further explore the glacier forefield's microbial communities for succession studies and their role in nutrient cycling and ecological development.

1.B) Microbial adaptation and bioprospecting from the alpine region

Extreme environmental settings like low temperature or freezing cold, frequent freeze-thaw, low nutrient conditions, and high ultraviolet radiations, accompanied by osmotic and oxidative stress, are limiting factors for the survival of an organism. Nevertheless, the extreme high-altitude glacier niches are habitats of diverse and infinite microbial communities. Himalayan glaciers offer great opportunities for unraveling the physiological and underlying genetic basis of adaptation in cold, harsh environments. The stressful conditions create a suitable environment for the isolation and bioprospection of novel and unique bacterial isolates with poly-adaptational features. Given their vast and harsh habitat, cold-adapted bacteria, with their unique physiology, provide phenomenal opportunities for the bioprospection of novel enzymes and bioactive molecules.

1.C) Hypersaline environment of alpine region, utilization of salt and cold stress bacteria

The weather is becoming more unpredictable every day as a result of climate change. Extreme weather events, sea level rise, increasing evaporation rates, etc. are all caused by it. It has increased the instances of colder and chilling winters, which damage agricultural crops. Similarly, the increased water evaporation along with anthropogenic activities such as irrigation with unsuitable water causes salt precipitation in soils thus reducing the productivity and yield of different crops. In order to reduce plant stress from cold and salt, our aim is to isolate plant growth-promoting bacteria from colder and hypersaline locations, respectively. We wish to develop formulations, which can be used further in agricultural lands with similar environmental conditions.

2.A) Improving the traditional dry toilet: Human waste management

Harsh climatic conditions (heavy snowfalls and landslides) in high-altitude regions such as Lahaul valley of the northwestern Indian Himalaya remove the topsoil thereby increasing the rate of nutrient leaching and leading to poor soil fertility. Such conditions have led the local scheduled tribes communities to traditionally rely on obtaining organic manure from human excreta (night-soil). The Himalayan dry toilets of Lahaul Valley of the northwestern Himalaya are an age-old practice that supplements soil with night-soil compost for enhanced productivity and conserving water in freezing winter conditions. However, the low temperature poses a big hurdle in degradation due to the low availability of the microbial load lengthening the composting process. The decomposition in such a cold climate (below 20° C), therefore, displays the crucial role of psychrotrophs in the composting process. The use of psychrotrophic microorganisms at the onset of the decomposition aids in accelerating the composting process. A traditional practice combined with microbiological interventions offers an opportunity for the improvement and sustenance of the existing dry toilet systems. The quality compost generated from the improved dry toilets is good manure for sustaining the agroecosystem of the ecologically fragile region.

2.B) Agro-waste management

The agricultural sector contributes to a large fraction of residual biomass generation annually throughout the world. Open burning, dumping, and landfilling are some of the preferred poor management tactics to manage such waste that causes wastage of the residual resources and contributes to environmental pollution. Hilly areas with extremely low temperatures hinder the bioconversion of organic waste efficiently. Such problems can be overwhelmed by bioprospecting the extremozymes from cold-adapted microorganisms. The extreme environments are interesting sources for isolating and identifying microbial populations with potential hydrolytic and plant growth-promoting attributes. Bioprospecting these microbial populations provides a sustainable approach to managing and transforming agro-residual waste into nutrient-rich compost contributing to a circular economy.

Vitamin D 2 enriched shiitake and oyster mushroom and their value-added products may help cater to the population affected with vitamin D deficiency. For vegetarians, mushrooms are the only food source of Vitamin D. Captive production and Vitamin D enrichment of shiitake mushroom was developed and shiitake soup of 30,000IU and 600 IU (1 RDA) strength has been formulated. Safety, quality control, microbiological parameters, and aflatoxin of the products have been conducted and the developed 30,000 IU shiitake soup has been tested in human subjects. The technology of vitamin D 2 enriched shiitake mushroom has been commercialized to 11 benefactors, and under the Fund Scheme for the Upliftment of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) launched by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India, three clusters have been formed, benefitting 750 families.