The Ngari was purchased from the local markets of Manipur and processed at the Medical Microbiology Laboratory, Bharathidasan University, India. For isolation of associated bacteria, the fish samples were homogenized in 0.1% peptone saline and serially diluted 10 fold in physiological saline (0.9%) with 0.1% peptone. The serially diluted samples were plated onto Man Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) agar. The inoculated plates were incubated at 37 ◦C. Bacterial colonies that exhibited clear zone on the plates were individually picked and streaked on MRS agar and repeatedly sub-cultured for clonality. The selected isolates were identified biochemically by gram staining, lactic acid producing ability, catalase,
oxidase activity, growth at 45 ◦C in 6.5% NaCl and fermentation of wide range of sugars. The genotyping was performed using 16S
rRNA sequencing as described by Brosius et al. [14] and Kostinek
et al.