GROWTH AND WHOLE GENOME SEQUENCING OF CYANOBACTERIAL AND DIATOM CONSORTIA ENRICHED FROM CANADIAN ALKALINE SODA LAKES

The alkaline soda lakes situated in the Cariboo Platea are home to a variety of microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, eukaryotes, and viruses. These soda lakes are highly productive environments due to high concentrations of bicarbonate. This can result in the development of dense, thick microbial mats. These microbial mats develop at the sediment-water interface primarily consisting of cyanobacteria, and other diverse microbes. Seasonal variations such as pH, temperature, and alkalinity are the major driving factors for abundance of cyanobacteria and diatoms. We enriched five cyanobacterial and one diatom consortia from these lakes using different nitrogen sources (ammonia, nitrate, and urea), pH (8.2, 10, and 10.3), temperature (4°C, 20°C, 30°C), and alkalinity. To understand the eco-physiology of the enriched diatom and cyanobacteria, we will assess their growth by measuring optical density (750nm) at different temperatures (4°C, 10°C, 20°C, and 30°C), pH (8-10.5), and alkalinity (0.3-0.5M). We will also identify the associated heterotrophs in these consortia. Finally, we will obtain high-quality genomes of the diatom and cyanobacteria using long and short read DNA sequencing. This study will help in understanding competition and seasonal succession in microbial mats in alkaline soda lakes, with the potential to provide new cultures for use in alkaline biotechnologies as well as high quality reference genomes.