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

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.