BioProject

Lonar Lake, which was created by a meteor hitting the Earth during the Pleistocene epoch, is a saltwater lake in Buldana district, Maharashtra, India. More...

Lonar Lake, which was created by a meteor hitting the Earth during the Pleistocene epoch, is a saltwater lake in Buldana district, Maharashtra, India. The crater thereby formed is the only hypervelocity meteoritic impact crater on basalt rock. Initial appreciation of the lake was, as of volcanic origin, but now it is recognized as an impact crater created by the hypervelocity impact of either a comet or a meteorite. The presence of plagioclase that has been either converted into maskelynite or contains planar deformation features (PDFs) has confirmed the impact origin of this crater.

A lake that evolved in the resulting basaltic rock formation, is both saline and alkaline in nature. Geologists, ecologists, archaeologists, naturalists and astronomers have reported several studies on the various aspects of this crater lake ecosystem. Lonar Lake has a mean diameter of 1.2 kilometres (3,900 ft) and is about 137 metres (450 ft) below the crater rim. The meteor crater rim is about 1.8 kilometres (5,900 ft) in diameter. The circular depression bears a saline water lake in its central portion. The crater's age is estimated to be 52,000 ± 6,000 years (Pleistocene). It is the second largest impact crater in basaltic rock and is partially filled by a salt water lake. The chemical characteristics of the lake shows two distinct regions that do not mix - an outer neutral (pH 7) and an inner alkaline (pH 11) region each with its own flora and fauna. The lake is a haven to a wide range of plant and animal life.

An attempt has been made to make partial metagenomic library of the mud of this lake. Functional driven approach has been adopted and being screened for the products for antiproliferative activities (anti-cancer) and for industrially important enzymes. The positive clones are being sequenced and planned for submission of sequences. At present we have two sequences with anti-proliferative protiens and two with industrially important enyme cellulose.

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