Physicochemical attributes and bacteriome diversity of Lake Tunari, Taraba State, Nigeria

Deborah Ebunoluwa Adedire 2, *, Adijat Ozohu Jimoh 1, Zainab Kashim-Bello 1, Bilyaminu Adam Wase Shuaibu 3, Oluwabukola Atinuke Popoola 1, Kabiru Isa Pate 4, Onyinyechi Stainless Uzor 1, Eno Etingwa 1, Jumoke Florence Joda 1, Oyetola Olanrewaju Opaleye 1, Victoria Adejoke Ogunlowo 1, Kehinde Rukayyat Adeniran 5, Patrick Aderinola 4 and Oyekanmi Nashiru 1, 2, 5

1 Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, National Biotechnology Development Agency, Abuja, Nigeria.
2 NABDA Southwest Center, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
3 Aquatic Bioresources Training Center, National Biotechnology Development Agency, Idah, Kogi, Nigeria.
4 Aquatic Bioresources Training Center, National Biotechnology Development Agency, Tunari, Taraba, Nigeria.
5 Center for Genomics Research and Innovation, National Biotechnology Development Agency, Abuja, Nigeria.
 
Research Article
International Journal of Science and Technology Research Archive, 2024, 06(02), 059–070.
Article DOI: 10.53771/ijstra.2024.6.2.0043
Publication history: 
Received on 05 March 2024; revised on 01 May 2024; accepted on 04 May 2024
 
Abstract: 
Physicochemical parameters of aquatic habitats can play an influential part in shaping the microbial communities of water bodies. In this study, water samples from Lake Tunari were analysed for its microbiome and physicochemical attributes, using spectrophotometric and culture-dependent methodologies respectively.
The temperature of the lake ranged from 28.00 – 29.00 (°C), while the pH ranged from 6.50 – 7.20. Heavy metals such as Manganese (0.48 ppm), Lead (0.14 ppm) and Selenium (0.10 ppm) showed significantly high values in selected parts of the lake, surpassing limits set by the World Health Organisation. Microbiome analysis revealed the largest phylum across sample sites as Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Planctomycetota with peak relative abundance values of 64.13%, 45.29% and 16.11% respectively. Bacterial genera such as Exiguobacterium, Methylocystis and Rhodoferax were detected from designated sites. The presence of these genera capable of tolerating, utilizing or degrading metal ions in water samples of the Lake might be indicative of chemical and metal trickles into the water body. In addition, relatively new and understudied bacterial phyla such as Gemmatimonadota, as well as unknown bacterial clades were identified from water samples of the lake.
This study has revealed that Lake Tunari is not impervious to pollution, caused by either anthropogenic activities or from adjoining water channels. Environmental health awareness programs can be introduced to enlighten the populace, while scheduled microbial and physicochemical surveillance can be adopted, to control microbial contamination and curtail toxic material inflow into the Lake.

 

Keywords: 
Lake Tunari; Bacteriome diversity; DADA2; Physicochemical analysis
 
Full text article in PDF: 
 
Copyright information: 
Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0