Although weight loss plays a significant role in lowering BP, it may be challenging to stay constantly motivated for long-term results [ 28]. Developing strategies to identify individuals who are unable to maintain lifestyle changes may be crucial to help them stay motivated to achieve weight management goals [ 28]. Furthermore, in recent times, an effective tool to promote the maintenance of healthy lifestyle changes like weight loss can be the use of mobile technology and personal digital devices, especially when individuals no longer have the availability of support and accountability through active interventions [ 29]. In hypertensive individuals with normal weight, other interventions like the DASH diet help lower BP [ 28]. The Mediterranean diet (Med Diet) has also helped lower BP. As per the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study conducted in the United States in 2020 by a group of researchers who followed 851 US older adults, for every one unit increase in the Med Diet score in participants, it was found that there was a corresponding reduction of 0.69 units in SBP, a reduction of 0.33 in DBP, and a reduction of 0.45 on mean arterial pressure (MAP) [ 32]. Although this seems to be small, this change can have a noteworthy effect at the level of the population; that is, a decrease of 2 mm Hg in SBP can lead to a decrease of 10% when it comes to the population [ 32]. According to the observational studies conducted in Mediterranean countries, higher adherence to a Med Diet is associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, overall mortality as well as neoplastic disease [ 33, 34]. The Med Diet consists of higher consumption of extra virgin olive oil, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, cereals, as well as seeds; moderate consumption of fish, poultry, red wine, and dairy; and lower consumption of processed foods and red meat [ 35]. The statistical analysis of Hg removal potential among the different species i.e., Alcanivorax xenomutans, Halomonas sp., Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus and within the Halomonas spp. revealed that the Hg removal by NIOT-EQR_J251 was significantly higher (p< 0.01) than NIOT-EQR_J7 and NIOT-EQR_J258. There was a significant difference (p< 0.05) in the removal of Hg between NIOT-EQR_J248 vs. NIOT-EQR_J258 and NIOT-EQR_J248 vs. NIOT-EQR_J251. Al-Mailem etal. (2011) reported Haloferax sp. (HA1 and HA2), Halobacterium sp. HA3, and Halococcus sp. HA4 effectively volatilized (from 40 to 65%) the available 100 mg/L of Hg after 8 days. Many other isolates such as Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas stutzeri, Pseudomonas putida, Vibrio fluvialis could volatilize 60%-95%, 94%, 100%, 60% of Hg 2+, respectively, from culture ( Zhang etal., 2012; Dash etal., 2013; Giri etal., 2014; Saranya etal., 2017; Zheng etal., 2018). One of the quintessential steps to manage HTN is lifestyle modifications like exercise, weight loss, dietary interventions, a low-sodium diet, limiting alcohol consumption, smoking cessation, and stress management to help control BP. The treatment of HTN is based on specific characteristics like stage of disease, compliance, and comorbid conditions. For proper management of HTN, we may need to include pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions [ 5]. Despite advancements in medicine and treatment options, the global burden of HTN has been increasing due to the advancing age of the population and an increasing prevalence of obesity. HTN is an insidious disease that, if not treated promptly, predisposes us to cardiovascular complications and various other complications [ 6]. Increased physical activity, limiting salt intake, minimizing alcohol consumption, smoking cessation, and stress management together support the management of patients with HTN and as preventive measures in the general population [ 7]. However, it is important to note that lifestyle modification is a process that requires patients to adhere continuously [ 5].

The modification in functional groups present in the culture pellets was identified by measuring the spectra in the range of 400 to 4000 cm -1 using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy (IR Affinity-I spectrometer, Shimadzu, Japan), as described by Joshi etal. (2021). In brief, 48 h grown cultures in ZMB medium without Hg supplementation were used as a control, whereas cultures with 50 mg/L of Hg supplementation were used as Hg treated. The mixtures (lyophilized cells and 2% KBr) were fixed in the FT-IR spectrometer after compressing them into translucent sample discs, followed by analyzing in ATR-FT-IR mode by following the manufacturer’s protocol. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis of MRB

Data availability statement

Weight loss is one of the most important non-pharmacological interventions to lower BP. Numerous interrelated pathophysiologic mechanisms stimulate higher BP in obesity [ 12]. In overweight/obese individuals, accelerated vascular aging can lead to HTN due to inflammation, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance [ 13]. Obese individuals also experience increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system [ 14]. The combined effect results in increased sodium resorption by the kidney, impaired vasodilation, volume expansion, and decreased natriuresis, thus leading to elevated BP [ 15]. Ozemek et al. trials have shown that weight loss helped lower systolic BP in hypertensive individuals by 5 mm Hg and in normotensive individuals by 2 to 3 mm Hg. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, and a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese. In overweight or obese individuals, achieving their ideal body weight is best, but it is good to aim for at least a 1 kg reduction in body weight. The study by Ozemek et al. also revealed that for every 1 kg reduction in body weight, we can expect about a 1 mm Hg reduction in blood pressure. HG car dashboard cleaner makes the interior of the car look like new. This dash cleaner cleans and protects synthetic materials, plastic, rubber, vinyl and leather. Also, the car dash cleaner intensifies the colour and restores the shine of the polished surface. The HG dashboard spray also leaves a wonderfully fresh fragrance after the treatment, but not a detectable greasy coating. How do you use HG car dashboard cleaner? The pathogenesis of HTN involves oxidative stress. Another mechanism involved is the decreased bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO) [ 38]. Physical exercise could be a potential lifestyle intervention to treat HTN due to its beneficial effects on endothelial function and oxidative stress [ 38]. Exercise exerts an anti-inflammatory action via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and via the sympathetic nervous system, thus affecting BP directly [ 9]. The physiologic effects of exercise are further divided into acute, post-exercise, and chronic [ 9]. Aerobic exercises like speed walking, jogging, running, cycling, dancing, and swimming have been shown to decrease resting BP and BP reactivity to stressors [ 9]. A study by Ozemek et al. revealed the following about how diverse types of exercises affect BP: (1) Aerobic exercise of 90 to 150 minutes per week with 65%-75% heart rate reserve has been shown to impact SBP by −5/8 mm Hg in hypertensive individuals and by −2/4 mm Hg in normotensive individuals. (2) Dynamic resistance exercise of 90 to 150 minutes per week with 50%-80% one rep maximum, six exercises, three sets/exercise, and ten repetitions/set has been shown to decrease SBP by 4 mm Hg in hypertensive individuals and 2 mm Hg in normotensive individuals. (3) Isometric resistance exercise of 4 × 2 min (hand grip), 1 min rest between exercises, 30%-40% maximum voluntary contraction, and three sessions per week for 8-10 weeks have been shown to lower SBP by 5 mm Hg in hypertensive individuals and 4 mm Hg in normotensive individuals [ 11]. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), low-risk drinking is considered four drinks per day or less than fourteen drinks per week for men and less than or equal to three drinks per day and less than seven drinks per day for women [ 49]. Binge drinking is the consumption of five drinks by men and four drinks by women in a period of two hours [ 47, 50]. According to studies performed by O’Keefe et al. and Peng et al., it was shown that excessive consumption of alcohol has contributed to 16% of HTN cases worldwide [ 45, 51]. The pathophysiology of HTN in chronic alcohol consumption is by vagal inhibition and sympathetic stimulation [ 52]. Based on phenotype characteristics, a total of 162 bacterial colonies grown on the ZMA media supplemented with 10 mg/L of Hg as HgCl 2 were selected for further analysis. In the presence of 25 mg/L of Hg 2+, only 63 isolates out of 162 showed resistance. Further, these 63 isolates were characterized based on their growth pattern in the presence of more than 25 mg/L i.e. 50, 75, and 100 mg/L of Hg 2+ concentration. Among the 63 isolates, 21 isolates grew in the presence of 50 mg/L, followed by 9 and 4 isolates at 75 and 100 mg/L of HgCl 2, respectively. The growth pattern of 4 isolates in the presence of HgCl 2 is shown in Figure S1.

The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found in the article/ Supplementary Material. Author contributions In context to these four isolates, the shift in wavenumbers, changes in peak height, and the appearance/disappearance of new peaks in the presence of Hg 2+; suggest alterations in functional groups (especially -SH group), which might play an important role in the Hg detoxification. SEM analysis of Hg treated and untreated isolatesNow the top of the interior is clean, it's time to shake and beat the mats. That will deal with the larger bits of dirt. A conserved region of merA gene encoding bacterial mercuric reductase enzyme was detected using the above isolated genomic DNA ( Joshi etal., 2021). The PCR reactions were carried out using the primer set F1merA (5’-TCGTGATGTTCGACCGCT-3’) and F2merA (5’-TACTCCCGCCGTTTCCAAT-3’) containing 1 U/μl Taq polymerase (Sigma-Aldrich), 1 × Enzyme buffer, 200 μM of each dNTP (Sigma-Aldrich), 1.25 mM MgCl 2, and 0.5 μM of each primer and 50 ng template DNA in a thermal cycler (Applied Biosystems). PCR reaction was carried out under the following amplification conditions: pre-denaturation step at 94°C for 2 min followed by 30 cycles of 94°C for 1 min, 52°C for 1 min and an extension step at 72°C for 1 min and final extension at 72°C for 7 min as described by Dash and Das, (2014). For the isolates that showed negative PCR reactions with F1merA and F2merA primer set, a re-attempt has been made for amplifying the merA gene by gradient PCR method (annealing at 54 ± 5°C) and by using another set of primer A1F (5′-ACCATCGGCGGCACCTGCGT-3’) and A5R (5′-ACCATCGTCAGGTAGGGGACCAA3-′) as described by De etal. (2008). Amplification of the merA gene was confirmed by visualizing it under the Gel Doc system (BioRad). Confirmation of Hg 2+ to Hg 0 reduction by the isolates To inspect the consequence of Hg 2+ concentration on the morphology, the bacterial cells were freshly grown in the presence (50 and 100 mg/L - test samples) and absence (control) of Hg 2+ as HgCl 2; and cell pellets were harvested by centrifugation (5000 rpm at 4°C for 5 min) after 48 h. SEM analysis has been carried out, as reported by Joshi etal. (2021). In brief, the bacterial cells were fixed with 2.5% glutaraldehyde followed by the post-fixing in 1% osmium tetroxide and dehydration of the cells with graded ethanol series (25%, 50%, 80%, 90%, and absolute). The processed samples were scanned using SEM (JEOL-JSM-IT500). Extraction of metabolites and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis

When the isolate NIOT-EQR_J7 was grown in the presence of Hg 2+ supplementation, a slight reduction in the peak intensity attributed to the thiol group (S-H stretch) at 2383.09 cm -1 was observed as compared to the control along with the wavelength that shifted to 2442.42 cm -1. In contrast, the peak intensity corresponding to the thiol group of NIOT-EQR_J248 at 2304.55 cm -1 increased compared to without Hg 2+ supplementation and the shift in wavelength to 2246.72 cm -1 was observed. In the case of NIOT-EQR_J251, the peaks corresponding to the S-H group appeared at 2341.34 cm -1 in the presence of Hg 2+ whereas, in the absence of Hg 2+, the peak was negligible. The peak was absent in both the presence and absence of Hg 2+ in the case of isolate NIOT-EQR_J258 ( Figures5A–D). In accord with our findings, previous studies had also reported similar results ( Dash and Das, 2014; De etal., 2014; Joshi etal., 2021) and suggested significant changes in the FT-IR spectrum such as a shift in wavenumber in the region of O-H groups, –S-H group, amide C=O, Nitrile C–N stretch, phosphate groups, etc. The changes in peak height and area have also been observed when isolates were grown in the presence of Hg 2+ ions compared to the controlled ones. The transmittance of the infrared (IR) in the presence of Hg 2+ was lower than in the absence of Hg 2+. The changes suggested that the presence of metal leads to a lesser degree of bond stretching, consequently reducing the IR transmittance. The contribution of functional groups in metal binding was legitimized undeniably by the formation of varying spectral bands with and without Hg ( Oves etal., 2013). The GC-MS study was included to get insight into the metabolic changes in the MRB isolates under Hg stress. It revealed that the metabolic profiles of MRB isolates are diverse with different biological properties. GC-MS metabolic profiles revealed that the number of compounds increased in the presence of Hg compared to the control isolates, where some compounds were found to be different in Hg-treated samples. A total of 50 metabolites were identified in the absence of Hg, whereas with 50 mg/L of Hg, 64 compounds were identified. The minimum metabolites (6) were identified in NIOT-EQR_J258 without Hg, whereas the maximum metabolites (22) was identified in NIOT-EQR_J251 with Hg 2+. The NIOT-EQR_J7 metabolic profile was almost the same in both control and Hg-treated samples. A total of 14 metabolites were present in the control sample, whereas 15 metabolites were identified with Hg. In the case of NIOT-EQR_J248, NIOT-EQR_J251, and NIOT-EQR_J258, a total of 10, 20, and 6 compounds were identified in the control sample, whereas 16, 22, and 11 metabolites were present with Hg, correspondingly.According to the American College of Cardiology, a BP higher than 180/120 mm Hg is considered a hypertensive emergency or crisis. Patients with these blood pressures need emergency medical help. Untreated high BP may increase the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, and other serious complications. Monitoring BP every two years, starting at age 18, is important to diagnose and treat hypertension timely to prevent complications. HTN is diagnosed by performing repeated careful measurements of blood pressure. Blood pressure is categorized as follows: Normal blood pressure, defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) less than 120, and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) less than 80. An elevated BP is an SBP of 120 to 129 and a DBP of less than 80. HTN is defined as a systolic pressure more than or equal to 130 or a diastolic pressure more than or equal to 80. Science and Technology for Islands, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, Chennai, India GC-MS analysis was performed to characterize the bacterial response and the metabolomic changes leading to Hg tolerance. The solvent extraction method was used to extract the bacterial metabolites. In brief, the freshly inoculated and exponentially grown MRB and MMRB bacterial cells in ZMB medium (non-exposed and exposed to 50 mg/L of Hg) were freeze-dried using BENCHTOP lyophilizer (VIRTIS Instrument, Gardiner, NY). For extraction of compounds, 50 mg of lyophilized bacterial cells were suspended in ethyl acetate and chloroform (1:1; v/v) and homogenized. After homogenization, the solution (crude extract) containing the metabolites was transferred to the clean glass vial by pipetting. These steps were repeated two-three times to obtain a pure and ample amount of sample. The separated organic fractions (crude extract) were treated with anhydrous NaSO 4 (Sigma-Aldrich) to remove moisture, which was again concentrated on the rotary evaporator (BUCHI Rotavapor R-215/V advanced, Switzerland) at RT and stored at -80°C until further analysis. The concentrated crude extract was re-suspended in 1 mL of Dichloromethane (DCM) and 5 µL of the sample was injected into the GC-MS analyzer (Agilent Technologies Instrument 7890A GC System, 240 Ion Trap GC/MS, USA). The GC-MS analysis was carried out under external ionization mode using a fused silica column HP 5 MS column (30 m × 0.320 mm × 0.25 µm). High purity helium was used as a carrier gas at a constant flow rate of 1 mL/min. For analysis, the chromatographic conditions i.e. initial injector and detector temperature, were set at 250°C and 330°C, respectively. The temperature of the column was programmed from 50°C (hold for 2 min) to 320°C (2 min hold), with a constant 5°C increment per minute and 1 min hold at 330°C. A metabolic library of all the separated compounds found via GC-MS analysis of bacterial extract was created and identified using NIST mass spectral library match. The PubChem CID, structures, names, and molecular weight of those bioactive compounds were obtained from the PubChem database. In-silico analysis Centre for Ocean Science and Technology for Islands, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, Port Blair, India Our preliminary study suggests that the detoxification of Hg 2+ is the immediate result of the GST and merA function as shown in Figure S6. The existence of the glutathione reductase gene in some bacterial mer operons also supports the role of LMW thiols in Hg 2+ detoxification ( Norambuena etal., 2018). The E. coli, together with the integrated merA - GST gene, was able to survive in the high Hg stress environment and transform Hg 2+ to Hg 0 ( Cursino etal., 2000). It is correlated that IOTG may act as Hg(II)-buffering agents and subsequently, Hg 2+ is reduced by merA. In the case of merA, mercuric ion was uptaken by the active process i.e. mer mediated transport (merP and merT) and converted to Hg 0 form by mercuric reductase. On the other hand, the Hg 2+ that was uptaken through the passive process could subsequently be inactivated by GST or conjugated to merA. Thus, an alternative method is proposed via which Hg resistance level may be augmented in bacteria: the sequestering of Hg given a protein-ligand interaction may lead to an improved way for the volatilization process. Conclusions