Phosphatase activity of a thermos-halotolerant cyanobacterium: Effect of environmental factors

Abstract

Cyanobacteria that grow above seawater salinity at temperatures above 45°C have rarely been studied.  The present study is an attempt to decipher these unknown facts where the unique properties of phosphatase enzymes in a thermo-halotolerant Iceland clone 2 Leptolyngbya has been studied under some important environmental conditions that play a distinctive role in the growth of these extremophiles in those adverse ecological niches. Leptolyngbya used in this present study is a unique species having 2 extreme characteristics of tolerance to high salt concentrations and temperature, so it is of intrinsic and scientific interest to study the phosphate dynamics and its variability under different ecological factors.  The results of these experiments clearly show that under very adverse conditions of low light or high temperature and very high salt concentrations (almost 3 times of salt present in seawater 90g/L) this extremophile has the capacity to maintain its growth and metabolism which is the key to its survival in these extreme habitats. Observations from growth experiments under different environmental conditions (Temperatures, pH, salt concentrations, different light intensities) under laboratory conditions were found to be like its diverse patterns and adaptive ability in the extreme environment this organism has been isolated from. Phosphatase activity as a way of understanding how P is metabolized under extreme conditions revealed that the highest phosphatase activity was observed in high salt concentrations (3 times that of seawater) and high temperatures of 45°C and low light intensities that is a very significant observation and scientifically important.