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Diversity Indices and Growth Parameters of

Cyanobacteria from Three Lakes of Rajasthan

Dnyaneshwar Borase, Dolly Wattal Dhar* and Nirbhay Kumar Singh1

Centre for Conservation and Utilisation of Blue Green Algae, Division of Microbiology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute,

New Delhi-110012, India. 1Department of Microbiology, C. P. College of Agriculture, S.D. Agricultural University, S. K. Nagar 385506 India

*Corresponding author Email : dollywattaldhar@yahoo.com

INTRODUCTION

Cyanobacteria are gram negative prokaryotic

organisms capable of showing oxygenic photosynthe-

sis and are believed to have evolved approximately

3.8 billion years ago reported by Gorl (1998). These

organisms exhibit morphological diversity and unusu-

al capability for cellular differentiation while their

basic metabolism is fairly uniform (Schopf 2000).

These are widespread in their distribution and can be

found in freshwater lakes, hot and cold springs, arctic

ice (Torsvik 1996), deserts (Garciapichel 2001), ocean

and Antartic granite rocks (Rios 2007). The distribu-

tion of these has been reported to decline due to an-

thropogenic activities like habitat loss and fragmenta-

tion, disturbance and pollution, construction of dams,

chemical pollution and global climatic changes. The

vulnerability of cyanobacteria to environmental im-

pact and their possible depletion necessitated the un-

derstanding of the distribution of cyanobacteria in

selected aquatic sites having importance in terms of

economic, recreational and religious activity. It was

also considered important to characterize these organ-

isms for pigment profile and N assimilatory enzymes.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

Isolation and maintenance of cyanobacteria

Replicated random water samples were col-

lected from aquatic sites namely Anasagar, Pushkar

lake and Sambhar lake from Ajmer district of Raja-

sthan (Western India). Cyanobacterial strains were

isolated following standard enrichment culture tech-

niques using BG-11 medium (Stanier, 1995) in culture

room having light intensity of 52-55µmole photon/

m2 /s with 16/8 light and dark period. The isolated

colonies were picked up repeatedly, checked and puri-

fied by repeated subculturing, plating and streaking on

the BG-11 medium under similar cultural conditions.

The purity was checked by microscopic observation at

regular intervals and the strains were identified ac-

cording to keys given in standard monographs

Twenty three cyanobacterial strains were isolated from alkaline water samples of three aquatic sites

(Anasagar, Pushkar lake and Sambhar lake) from Ajmer district of Rajasthan. Microscopic exami-

nation showed one colonial, nine heterocystous and the remaining non-heterocystous filamentous

forms. Genera wise distribution showed abundance of Nostoc, Phormidium and Plectonema fol-

lowed by Anabaena and Westiellopsis. Microcystis and Oscillatoria were least abundant. Nostoc

and Phormidium showed highest abundance in terms of CFU/mL followed by Anabaena and Plec-

tonema. Pigments (chlorophyll, carotenoids and phycobilins) and N assimilatory enzymes (nitrate

reductase and glutamine synthetase) differed significantly amongst the identified cyanobacterial

strains.

Keywords: Diversity indices, Chlorophyll, Carotenoids, Phycobilins, Cyanobacteria and N-

assimilatory enzymes.

Received: 26.10.2012 Revised: 19.07.2013 Accepted: 27.10.2013

Vol. 26 (2) : 377-383 (2013) VEGETOS

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(Desikachary 1959, Geitler 1932).

Diversity analysis

Colony forming units (CFU0 for different gen-

era were counted and their abundance was calculated

as CFU/mL and percent distribution for different loca-

tions. Diversity analysis was undertaken using stand-

ard indices namely Shannons Diversity Index (H),

Simpsons Index of Diversity (SI) and Berger-Parkers

Index (D). The diversity indices were calculated as

follows:

Shannons Diversity Index (H) = ∑i=1(pi)ln(pi)

Pi = ni/N

where ni = number of individuals in group i

N = Total number of individuals in group

Shannon’s Evenness (EH) = H/ln(s)

Where S is the species richness i.e. number of species

in the group

Simpsons Index of Diversity = ∑n (n-1)/N (N-1)

Where n = Total number of organism of particular

species

N = total number of organism of all species

Simpsons Evenness (ED) = 1-D/S Where S= species

richness

Berger – parker Index = Nmax / N

Where Nmax = Number of individual in the most abun-

dant species

N = total number of individual of all species

Margalef index (DMg) = S-1/ln(N)

Menhinick (DMn) = S/N

Where S = species richness

N = total number of individuals

Pigments and N assimilatory enzymes

Pigments and N-assimilatory enzymes (nitrate

reductase and glutamine synthetase) were studied at

15th day of incubation. Hot methanol extraction meth-

od of (McKinney 1941) was used for chlorophyll de-

termination. Carotenoids and phycobiliproteins were

extracted in acetone (Jensen 1978) and phosphate

buffer (Bennet and Bogard 1973) for their estimation.

Nitrate reductase activity was studied by diazocou-

pling method (Lowe and Evans 1964) and glutamine

synthetase activity was calculated using standard

curve of γ glutamyl hydroxamate (Shapiro and Stadt-

man 1970). The data recorded on various parameters

were subjected to statistical analysis using M-STATC

package according to factorial CRD. Duncans multi-

ple range Test (DMRT) was employed to compare the

mean performance of strains for specific parameters

which facilitated the identification of superior strains.

RESULTS

Distributional pattern, diversity indices) and abun-

dance

Nostoc and Phormidium showed highest per-

cent abundance in terms of CFU/mL followed by Ana-

baena and Plectonema. Percent abundance of

Westiellopsis, Microcystis and Oscillatoria were simi-

lar (90 CFU/mL). Abundance of Anabaena was more

or less similar in Anasagar and Pushkar Lake, whereas

Nostoc count was about double in Anasagar as com-

pared to Pushkar lake. Westiellopsis and Microcystis

were isolated from Anasagar only. CFU/mL of Phor-

midium was highest in Anasagar followed by Sambhar

lake and least in Pushkar lake. Plectonema showed

maximum CFU/mL in Pushkar lake, followed by

Sambhar lake (20 CFU/mL) and Anasagar (9 CFU/

mL). Oscillatoria could only be isolated from Sam-

bhar lake but not from Anasagar and Pushkar lake

(Table 1). Genera wise distribution showed Nostoc,

Phormidium and Plectonema to be more abundant

followed by Anabaena and Westiellopsis; where as

Microcystis and Oscillatoria were least abundant in

the selected water bodies (Table 2, Fig. 1).

Diversity indices calculated depicted variable

Fig 1. Percent abundance of cyanobacterial

genera from selected aquatic sites.

Diversity and growth parameters of Cyanobacteria from Rajasthan

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pattern. Shannon’s diversity index (H) depicted the

diversity of cyanobacterial flora under selected habi-

tat. It was highest for Anasagar (1.54) followed by

Pushkar lake (1.153) and Sambhar lake (1.098). Simp-

son’s index of diversity was 0.197 for Anasagar, 0.285

for Pushkar lake and 0.327 for Sambhar lake. Berger-

parker index is indicative of low evenness and it was

0.412 for Anasagar, 0.571 for Pushkar lake and 0.33

for Sambhar lake. Margalf index was 2.01, 1.50 and

1.82 for Anasagar, Pushkar lake and Sambhar lake.

Menhinick index was almost similar for Anasagar and

Sambhar lake (1.730 and 1.732), however, it was 1.88

for Pushkar lake. Shannon’s diversity index was high-

est for Phormidium and lowest for Nostoc, Berger

parker index was highest for Nostoc and lowest for

Plectonema, Simpson’s index was highest for Nostoc

and lowest for Phormidium (Table 3, Fig. 2).

Pigments and N-assimilatory parameters

Comparative pigments (chlorophyll, carote-

noids and phycobilins) differed significantly amongst

the cyanobacterial strains studied. The phycocyanin,

allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin also showed sig-

nificant difference.. Chlorophyll ranged from the low-

est of 0.19µg/ml in DB16 (Plectonema indica) to the

highest of 6µg/ml in DB 10 (Phormidium ceylan-

icum). Total carotenoids were highest (22.36 µg/ml) in

DB 21 (Plectonema wollei) and lowest (0.73 µg/ml) in

DB12 (Plectonema nostocorum). Chlorophyll to carot-

enoid ratio was less than one in almost all the strains

indicating that the accessory pigments were present in

higher amount as compared to chlorophyll. Total phy-

cobilins were highest in DB21 (72.71µg/ml) which

was attributed to the highest phycocyanin as compared

to allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin. The phycocya-

nin content ranged from the highest of 33.99µg/ml in

DB 21(Plectonema wollei) to the lowest of 2.74µg/ml

in DB 5 (Nostoc carneum). Allophycocyain was high-

est (27.35µg/ml) in the DB 16 (Plectonema indica)

and lowest (1.52µg/ml) in DB 5 (Nostoc carneum).

Highest phycoerythrin (18.38 µg/ml) was recorded in

DB10 (Phormidium ceylanicum) and lowest of 1.72

µg/ml in DB2 (Nostoc piscinale). Phycocyanin/ phy-

coerythrin ratio was highest (7.20) in DB2 (Nostoc

piscinale) and was more than one in all except in DB5

(Nostoc carneum) and DB17 (Phormidium molle) in

which it was 0.89. This study clearly indicated that the

phycocyanins formed a dominant component of total

phycobilins in cyanobacteria (Tables 4).

The nitrate reductase (NR) activity differed

significantly amongst the cyanobacterial strains. Plec-

tonema wollei (DB21), an isolate from Sambhar lake

exhibited highest NR activity followed by strains

DB22 (Phormidium ambiguum) and DB12

(Plectonema nostocorum). Strain DB5 (Nostoc car-

neum) showed lowest NR activity. The mean gluta-

mine synthetase (GS) activity differed significantly

amongst the cyanobacterial isolates examined. The

activity ranged from the highest of 73.387 µmole γ

glutamyl hydroxamate/mg chl in Plectonema notatum

(DB19) to the lowest of 6.355 µmole γ glutamyl hy-

droxamate/mg chl in Anabaena variabilis (DB 20)

(Table 4).

DISCUSSION

The density and diversity of cyanobacteria is

an integral component of aquatic systems. The

aquatic sites studied fall in the North Western por-

tion of India and get sufficient sunlight, tempera-

ture and nutrients which provide favourable envi-

ronment for the luxuriant growth of cyanobacteria.

In present study, these aquatic systems showed vari-

ation in distribution of different groups of cyano-

bacteria in terms of colony forming units. Nostoc

and Phormidium showed highest percent abundance

followed by Anabaena and Plectonema; whereas per-

cent abundance of Westiellopsis, Microcystis and Os-

cillatoria were almost similar. The relative occurrence

of cyanobacterial genera indicates that these may be

highly competitive, whether as floating assemblages

or as benthic forms. Nostoc is known to be one of the

Fig 2. Diversity indices for cyanobacterial genera

from selected aquatic sites

Dnyaneshwar Borase et al.

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most versatile diazotrophic cyanobacterial genera ob-

served in all types of environments as free living or

symbiotic state. The members of this genus exhibit

different modes of C and N nutrition which adapt

them to diverse ecological habitats. Analysis of soil

samples of 11 districts of Dhaka depicted 84 cyano-

bacterial strains of which about 50% were heterocys-

tous in nature and they predominantly Fischerella,

Nostoc and Calothrix (Khan 1994).

Diversity was analyzed using different indices

like Shannon’s diversity index (H), Simpson’s index

of diversity, Berger Parker index (indicative of low

evenness), Margalf index and Menhinick index. The

results of different diversity indices showed suffi-

cient variability among the water bodies selected in

the present study. Diversity profile of cyanobacterial

population has also been studied from coastal lakes in

Eastern Antarctica (Taton 2003). The high diversity

indices are representative of cyanobacterial isolates

with the potential to adapt to human interventions and

ecological perturbations. Berger-Parker indices are

mostly influenced by evenness, as against Shannon’s

indices, which are strongly biased towards richness,

due to the calculations based upon proportional abun-

dances of the species. On the other hand, athough

Simpson’s diversity index takes into account both

richness and evenness, it gives more weight to the

more abundant species in the sample. Menhinick and

Margalef indices do not use the information on species

proportion and suppose that if total abundance is larg-

er, species will be less evenly distributed, which is

often the case in natural communities. However, ecol-

ogists generally consider it better to use indices that

use information on the abundance or proportion of

each species. Values of indices in the present study

clearly indicated that these genera are widespread in

the Indian aquatic bodies and are known to contribute

significantly to the fertility of rice fields

(Venkataraman 1981, Kaushik 1994). The cyanobac-

teria are known to grow under inhospitable conditions

and can also improve physico- chemical properties by

adding organic C, N and available phosphorus

(Antarikanonda and Amarit 1991, Kaushik 1991,

1994).

Cyanobacteria play a major role as primary

producers in microbial mats; however, it is difficult

to apply classical methods to estimate their biomass

because they establish strong interactions with de-

tritic particles. Mishra (2003) concluded that Gloe-

otrichia sp. exhibited a maximum dry weight accu-

mulation while Calothrix membranacea the least.

Chlorophyll a plays a pivotal role together with acces-

sory pigments like carotenoids and phycobiliproteins

Table 1. Cyanobacterial abundance in terms of the colony forming units (CFU/mL)

Genus CFU/mL Relative Distribution (CFU/mL and %)

Anasagar Percent Pushkar Lake

Percent

Sambhar

Lake Percent

Anabaena 194 99 8.62 95 20.6 - -

Nostoc 592 402 34.98 190 41.21 - -

Westiellopsis 90 90 7.83 - - - -

Microcystis 90 90 7.83 - - - -

Phormidium 576 459 39.94 17 0.368 100 47.61

Plectonema 188 9 0.783 159 34.49 20 9.52

Oscillatoria 90 - - - - 90 42.85

Total 1820 1149 63.13 461 25.32 210 11.53

Table 2. Genera wise abundance of cyanobacteria

in selected aquatic sites

Genera Total

strains Location of Lake

Anasa-

gar

Pushkar Sambhar

Anabaena 2 1 1 -

Nostoc 6 5 1 -

Westiellopsis 1 1 - -

Microcystis 1 1 - -

Phormidium 6 3 2 1

Plectonema 6 1 4 1

Oscillatoria 1 - - 1

Total 23 12 8 3

Diversity and growth parameters of Cyanobacteria from Rajasthan

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Table 3. Diversity indices for the selected aquatic sites

Diversity indices Locations

Anasagar Pushkar Lake Sambhar Lake

Shannon’s diversity index (H) 1.54 1.153 1.093

Simpson’s diversity index 0.197 0.285 0.327

Berger-parker index 0.412 0.571 0.333

Margalf index (DMg ) 2.010 1.50 1.820

Menhinick index (DMn) 1.730 1.880 1.732

Table 4. Comparative pigments (chlorophyll, carotenoids and phycobiliproteins) and N-assimilatory en-

zymes (Nitrate Reductase , NR and Glutamine synthetase, GS) in cyanobacterial strains from selected

aquatic sites

Strains Chlorophyll

(µg/ml)

Carotenoids

(µg/ml)

Phycobiliproteins (µg/ml)* N-assimilatory enzymes

PC APC PE NR! GS!!

DB1 0.59 hij 7.283 efg 13.987 ijk 5.250 jk 4.093 k 0.678 i 31.880 fgh

DB2 1.79 fg 6.140 hi 12.367 kl 3.787 lm 1.717 o 1.014 i 53.910 bcd

DB3 1.01 hi 5.203 ij 19.903 ef 6.477 i 3.393 l 1.134 i 34.800 efg

DB4 0.36 ij 1.130 l 4.003 n 3.043 m 3.397 l 1.304 i 20.650 ghi

DB5 2.44 def 1.453 l 2.737 n 1.520 n 3.053 lmn 0.399 i 15.947 hi

DB6 2.07 ef 10.973 de 13.613 ijk 10.770 g 7.293 g 7.067 efgh 57.003 abcd

DB7 4.37 b 7.877 fg 12.033 kl 16.017 d 8.433 f 42.103 bc 13.857 hi

DB8 1.05 hi 6.163 hi 25.543 c 14.600 e 6.683 h 13.884 ef 53.993 bcd

DB9 1.23 gh 17.283 c 11.320 l 11.380 fg 10.483 e 15.274 ef 53.680 bcd

DB10 6.00 a 20.567 b 20.313 def 16.257 d 18.377 a 3.676 ghi 48.453 bcdef

DB11 0.68 hij 4.193 jk 12.487 jkl 5.700 ij 3.260 lm 6.540 fghi 11.520 i

DB12 0.26 j 0.727 l 4.490 n 2.717 m 1.883 o 50.677 ab 21.474 ghi

DB13 2.57 de 10.843 e 15.597 hi 14.270 e 2.633 n 29.600 d 52.200 bcdf

DB14 1.98 ef 2.857 k 8.290 m 4.350 kl 2.733 mn 0.954 i 7.255 i

DB15 2.95 cd 12.253 d 22.193 d 12.387 f 5.207 j 17.200 e 46.113 cdef

DB16 0.19 hij 2.847 k 30.433 b 27.347 a 7.577 g 4.390 ghi 66.513 b

DB17 2.13 ef 6.960 gh 14.527 hij 12.277 f 16.303 b 2.844 hi 45.880 cdef

DB18 2.18 ef 8.423 f 20.803 de 16.107 d 15.760 bc 35.857 cd 53.883 bcd

DB19 0.72 hij 4.057 jk 7.707 m 6.070 ij 15.350 c 10.713 efgh 73.387 a

DB20 1.98 ef 7.237 fgh 18.263 fg 8.147 h 4.937 j 2.688 hi 6.335 i

DB21 3.33 c 22.360 a 33.993 a 24.543 b 14.177 d 58.713 a 63.140 c

DB22 4.27 b 16.103 c 16.617 gh 21.220 c 8.387 f 50.747 ab 44.127 def

DB23 0.59 hij 6.587 ghi 15.460 hi 9.220 h 5.960 i 12.268 efg 49.503 bcdf

Mean 1.97 8.83 15.50 11.08 7.07 14.7 40.23

SE(m)± 0.26 0.487 0.735 0.388 0.190 3.081 6.534

CD(0.05) 0.743 1.391 2.099 1.108 0.542 8.798 18.661

Superscripts denote DMRT ranking; ‘a’ signifies the highest value and values denoted by same superscript are nonsignificant.

* PC- Phycocyanin; APC- Aophycocyanin; PE- Phycoerythrine ! NR: µmole NO2 / mg chl; !! GS: µmole γ glutamyl hydroxamate/ mg chl

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for absorption of light energy in cyanobacteria, hence

their quantification was of great importance. A signifi-

cant difference in the contentsof chlorophyll, carote-

noids and phycobiliproteins was recorded amongst the

cyanobacterial strains isolated from three aquatic sites.

Carotenoids protect the cyanobacterial cell from pho-

tooxidation damage and are found to be associated

with proteins. The variation in the patterns of carote-

noid composition was reported to be useful for species

identification of cyanobacteria (Hertzberg, 1971).

Healey (1968) reported similar carotenoid patterns for

Phormidium ectocarpi (PCC7375) and Phormidium

persicinum (CCAP 1469). The phycobiliproteins are

organized into granules (phycobilisomes) localized on

the outer surface of the thylakoids and these function

as important light harvesting components for driving

the photosynthetic reactions in cyanobacteria (Gantt

1975).

The phycocyanin, allophycocyanin and phyco-

erythrin differed significantly and phycocyanin/ phy-

coerythrin ratio was more than one which clearly indi-

cated that the phycocyanins formed a dominant com-

ponent of total phycobilins in cyanobacteria. All natu-

rally occurring cyanobacteria were found to produce

phycocyanin (Bryant 1982). In Anabaena PCC 7120

only a single set of phycocyanin related genes have

been identified which are constitutive in nature

(Sidler, 1994). In contrast, phycoerythrin is not always

found in all cyanobacteria living in either freshwater

or in soil or in marine environments (Bryant 1982).

The ranking of strains for the pigments exhibits

their potential utilization as colouring agents, phy-

coflour probes or as additives in a range of cosmetics

and pharmaceutical products (MacColl and Guard-

Friar 1987). These pigments can have tremendous

potential in the biotechnological implications i.e. in

the area of natural colours. Polyacrylamide disc gel

electrophoresis phycobiliprotein pattern of 21 cyano-

bacterial species depicted a distinct heterogeneity even

between strains assigned to the same species (Schenk

and Kuhfittig 1983).

The cyanobacterial nitrate reductase is closely

associated with photosynthetically active thylakoid

membranes and depends upon ferrodoxin as the sole

natural electron donor. Nitrate assimilation has been

studied exhaustively by a number of researchers

(Bagchi 1948). Plectonema wollei, isolated from Sam-

bhar lake reported maximum nitrate reductase activity.

Meeks et al. (1983) observed that Anabaena strains

have a high NR activity of 26-30 µ moles as compared

to an activity of 1-4 µ moles in unicellular cyanobac-

terium Synechococcus. GS/GOGAT pathway has

been shown to be the major ammonia assimilatory

route under nitrogen limiting conditions in these

organisms (Thomas 1975). Glutamine synthetase

(GS; EC 6.3.1.2) is the key enzyme of nitrogen me-

tabolism in prokaryotes and is subjected to a sophis-

ticated regulatory control. In the presence of abun-

dant carbon sources, nitrogen deficiency results in a

high level of glutamine synthetase activity and if

nitrogen is abundant, GS activity is down-regulated

(Garcia-Dominguez 1999). Glutamine synthetase

activity is also regulated at more levels namely

feedback inhibition, reversible covalent modifica-

tion, and transcriptional regulation.

Acknowledgements

The facilities provided by the Division of Mi-

crobiology and Center for Conservation and Utilisa-

tion of Blue Green Algae, IARI, New Delhi for carry-

ing out these investigations are gratefully acknowl-

edged.

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