A Study on the Bioresources of the Loktak Lake, Manipur (India) for Livelihood by the People Living in Five Villages Located in and Around the Lake

In this paper different bioresources of the Loktak lake linked to the livelihood of the communities residing in the periphery of the lake is investigated using questionnaire survey and purposive sampling technique in 300 households from five selected villages. Identification of species and data analysis was taken up using appropriate methodologies. In all 38 type of fishes, 1 type of prawn, 2 type of mollusca, 1 type of mussel, 16 type of vegetables, 8 type of fodders, 6 type of fuelwoods, 3 type of thatch grasses, 12 type of plants with medicinal properties and 2 type of handicraft items were found used by the villagers from Loktak lake for consumption and household earning. People of the survey villages were found to be poor and depended on the lake’s resources for consumption and household financial earning. In some of these villages certain bioresources has been responded to be lost. The resources of the lake have been found degrading because of several anthropogenic activities. Suitable policies and conservation measures involving the villagers needed to be adopted urgently by the concerned authorities for the protection and long term management of the lake and its bioresources.

Phumdis-A Promising Alternative Energy Resource

ABSTRACTThe inadequate sources of energy coupled with the increasing demands of power have necessitated the search for novel renewable energy resources. ‘Phumdis’ are one such promising alternative. Phumdis are floating mats of heterogeneous mass of vegetation, soil and organic matter found in Loktak Lake in Manipur, North Eastern India. This paper delineates the use of Phumdis as an alternative energy source. Phumdis from Loktak Lake, Manipur were processed and analyzed for their biofuel capabilities. The Results indicate that the phumdis have high calorific content, cloudpoint and flash point indicating that they are at par with other fuels.

Aquisphaera Insulae Sp. Nov., a New Member in Isosphaeraceae Isolated From the Floating Island of Loktak Lake and Emended Description of the Genus Aquisphaera

Strain JC669T was isolated from a floating island of Loktak lake, Manipur, India and shared highest 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with Aquisphaera giovannonii OJF2T. The strain is an aerobe, Gram-stain-negative, yellowish orange coloured, non-motile, NaCl intolerant, spherical to oval shaped, grows in single or aggregates and produce structures which appear like fruiting bodies. Strain JC669T grows well up to pH 9.0, has MK6 as respiratory quinone, C18:1ω9c, C16:0 and C18:0 as major fatty acids and phosphatidylcholine, an unidentified amino lipid, an unidentified choline lipid (UCL) and six unidentified lipids (UL1,2,3,4,5,6) as polar lipids. The genome size of strain JC669T is 10.04 Mbp and genomic G+C content of 68.5 mol%. Based on phylogenetic, polyphasic including genomic analyses support strain JC669T as a novel species of the genus Aquisphaera, for which we propose the name Aquisphaera insulae sp. nov. Type strain is JC669T ( =KCTC 72672T = NBRC 114306T).

Water quality assessment of Loktak Lake, Northeast India using 2-D hydrodynamic modelling

The paper comprises of an application of a multi-faceted physically based two-dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic model to simulate the transport phenomena of Loktak Lake, including the water quality of Loktak Lake, for which there is consensus that it is deteriorating due to river discharge from sub-catchments carrying sewage loads, soil sediments and agricultural fertilizers, and therefore, has emerged as a serious environmental concern. Accordingly, the study attempts to understand the overall environmental quality of the Loktak system and in particular simulate Loktak Lake water quality (state) variables by coupling through MIKE 21 ECO Lab. The model simulated dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen demand throughout the lake.

Bacterial Operational Taxonomic Units Replace the Interactive Roles of Other Operational Taxonomic Units Under Strong Environmental Changes

Background: Microorganisms are an important component of an aquatic ecosystem and play a critical role in the biogeochemical cycle which influences the circulation of the materials and maintains the balance in aquatic ecosystems. Objective: The seasonal variation along with the impact of anthropogenic activities, water quality, bacterial community composition and dynamics in the Loktak Lake, the largest freshwater lake of North East India, located in the Indo-Burma hotspot region was assessed during post-monsoon and winter season through metagenome analysis. Methods: Five soil samples were collected during Post-monsoon and winter season from the Loktak Lake that had undergone different anthropogenic impacts. The metagenomic DNA of the soil samples was extracted using commercial metagenomic DNA extraction kits following the manufacturer’s instruction. The extracted DNA was used to prepare the NGS library and sequenced in the Illumina MiSeq platform. Results: Metagenomics analysis reveals Proteobacteria as the predominant community followed by Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria. The presence of these groups of bacteria indicates nitrogen fixation, oxidation of iron, sulfur, methane, and source of novel antibiotic candidates. The bacterial members belonging to different groups were involved in various biogeochemical processes, including fixation of carbon and nitrogen, producing streptomycin, gramicidin and perform oxidation of sulfur, sulfide, ammonia, and methane. Conclusion: The outcome of this study provides a valuable dataset representing a seasonal profile across various land use and analysis, targeting at establishing an understanding of how the microbial communities vary across the land use and the role of keystone taxa. The findings may contribute to searches for microbial bio-indicators as biodiversity markers for improving the aquatic ecosystem of the Loktak Lake.