Abstract:
The food web of the saline-alkaline Lake
Nakuru is dominated by the cyanobacterium Arthrospira
fusiformis as the primary producer and a huge
population of Lesser Flamingos as direct consumers.
However, the dense blooms of Arthrospira are not
stable, and collapse irregularly and unpredictably.
During such periods they are replaced by other algae
or cyanobacteria. The wide fluctuation in the cyanobacterial
and algal populations of Lake Nakuru has a
great influence on food availability for Lesser Flamingos,
and is therefore of high ecological importance.
To support the descriptive work on these
phenomena, we describe here a new cyanobacterial
taxon from this soda lake: Haloleptolyngbya alcalis
Dadheech, Mahmoud, Kotut et Krienitz gen. et sp.
nov. The study was based on multilocus molecular
analyses of 16S rRNA gene, 16S-23S internal transcribed
spacer, partial sequences of beta and alpha
subunits including intergenic spacer (cpcBA-IGS) of
phycocyanin operon, phenotypic features using light
microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission
electron microscopy, and ecology. The new taxon
established a separate lineage within the family of
Peudanabaenaceae (Oscillatoriales).
