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Molecular diversity of plankton in a tropical crater lake switching from hyposaline to subsaline conditions: Lake Oloidien, Kenya

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Abstract

Salinity in the climate sensitive tropical endorheic crater lake Oloidien (Great African Rift Valley, Kenya) decreased from hyposaline to subsaline conditions during the period 2010–2015. The change in salinity was accompanied by a pronounced change in planktonic life forms—from blooms of the cyanobacterium Arthrospira supporting tens of thousands of Lesser Flamingos to highly diverse communities of cyanobacteria and algae which do not sustain the consumer birds. Besides the well-known macro- and microscopic lake life, a hidden diversity of microorganisms was detected using molecular methods. SSU rRNA gene clone libraries and data from Ilumina Miseq sequencing of samples collected at the two contrasting stages revealed distinct and highly diverse microbial communities. Different bacterial clades dominated the two samples. In 2011, Firmicutes (class Bacilli) whose origin was the fecal waste of birds were the dominant group. However, the Cyanobacteria and Chloroflexi were the most prevalent in 2015. From the microbial eukaryote samples obtained in 2011, rotifers and ciliates that feed on Arthrospira and rich bacterial food dominated the plankton, while the cryptophytes were the most prevalent in 2015. On the two occasions, a mixture of organisms previously not known to occur in saline or in freshwater habitats was found.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the authorities of the Republic of Kenya, especially the National Council for Science and Technology for providing research permission (No. NCST/RRI/12/1/BS/232). W.L. thanks for financial support of the State High-Tech Research and Development Project (863) of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2012AA021706, 2013AA065805), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41376191) and State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (MMLKF16-10).

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  1. SOA Key Laboratory for Polar Science, Polar Research Institute of China, Jin Qiao Road 451, Shanghai, 200136, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Luo & Huirong Li

  2. Embu University College, P.O. Box 6-60100, Embu, Kenya

    Kiplagat Kotut

  3. Department of Experimental Limnology, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Alte Fischerhütte 2, 16775, Stechlin, Germany

    Lothar Krienitz

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  1. Wei Luo
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Luo, W., Li, H., Kotut, K. et al. Molecular diversity of plankton in a tropical crater lake switching from hyposaline to subsaline conditions: Lake Oloidien, Kenya. Hydrobiologia 788, 205–229 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2998-x

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