A comparative analysis of the bacterial community structure of freshwater lakes located in the outer Himalayan Region of India

Abstract

Abstract Bacteria are one of the most abundant domains of life that are capable of surviving in different environments including the fresh water habitats like river, streams, lakes etc. Many fresh water lakes located in the outer Himalayan region within Indian territory are the important source of water for residents for various domestic and agricultural purposes. There is a cluster of such lakes located in the lower Himalayan region in the Kumaun area of Uttarakhand state in India that includes lakes like Nainital, Bhimtal, Naukuchiatal, Sattal and Garurtal. These lakes are the sources of potable water for local population and their presence have also led to the development of these sites into famous tourist spots. Since the increased human intervention is fastly changing the natural ecosystem of these lakes, the study of their microbial population is very important not only to define the level of anthropogenic disturbances but also to draw ecological inferences in terms of biogeochemical cycles in such environments. The present work represents the first report to provide a comprehensive insight into the bacterial community composition of the above mentioned 5 freshwater lakes through next generation sequencing targeting V3-V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene. This investigation highlights the abundance of different bacterial genera in these lakes as well as their relation with the anthropogenic activities. The presence of gut bacteria like Prevotella, Clostridium, Treponema indicate the contamination of fecal discharge in lake water and questions their potability in untreated form.