| dc.description.abstract | Lake Magadi is an alkaline saline Lake in Kenya, which lies on the Great Eastern
Rift valley. Although the lake is characterized by extremes of salt, pH and
temperature, it supports diverse groups of cyanobacteria. In this study, we used
different media to isolate novel groups of cyanobacteria. We recovered 11 isolates
affiliated to the orders Chroococcales, Oscillatoriales, Pleurocapsales and Nostocales.
Isolates affiliated to Chroococcidiopsis species had similarity values below 90% to
currently characterized taxa indicating that these could be completely new
phylotypes. This taxon has not been isolated before from the soda lake indicating
the power of molecular techniques in identifying novel cyanobacterial taxa.
Only two of the recovered isolates had 99% similarity to known organisms.
Previous studies have mainly relied on microscopic examination and
identification, which can lead to misidentification and subsequent assignment of
an organism to the wrong taxon. The recovered isolates are a useful resource of
more studies on taxonomy and secondary metabolite production. | en_US |
