Abstract: Soda lakes are saline and alkaline ecosystems that have existed throughout the geological record of Earth. They are widely distributed across the globe, but are abundant in terrestrial biomes such as deserts and steppes and in geologically interesting regions such as the East African Rift valley. Lake Magadi is a shallow hyper saline basin located in East African Rift valley. The lake is a representative of the most stable alkaline environments on earth with a pH range of 9 to 13. It has hot springs that host both hyperthermophilic and haloalkalithermophilic bacteria. Haloalkalithermophilic Bacteria and Archaea belonging to all major trophic groups have been described from many soda lakes including Lake Magadi. The lake is an intriguing ecosystem harboring productive microbial communities of ecological and economic importance in spite of the extreme environmental conditions. Soda lake microorganisms harbor biotechnologically relevant enzymes and biomolecules (e.g. cellulases, amylases, ectoine). These enzymes and biomolecules are useful in developing new applications such as medicine, food, detergents and research reagents. Many studies on alkalithermophilic bacteria; like isolation, characterization and identification, have been done on Kenyan soda lakes and there is the need to augment bioprospecting efforts in soda lake environments with new integrated approaches. This minireview highlights the ecology and growth characteristics of the halophilic alkalithermophiles that have been isolated. Properties of the halophilic alkalithermophiles are described including their roles in resistance to the combined stressors of high salinity, alkaline pH and high temperature.
Keywords: cellulases, amylases, ectoine, hyperthermophilic, haloalkalithermophilic, bioprospecting.
Title: MICROBIAL DIVERSITY OF LAKE MAGADI AND OTHER SODA LAKES
Author: Eunice Mulango, Dr. Remmy Kasili, Dr. Romano Mwirichia, Dr. Christabel Muhonja
International Journal of Life Sciences Research
ISSN 2348-313X (Print), ISSN 2348-3148 (online)
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