Context: Recently, the colour of Lonar lake water in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district turned pink due to a large presence of ‘Haloarchaea’ microbes.

About Haloarchaea

• Haloarchaea’ is a salt-loving microbe.
• Haloarchaea or halophilic archaea is a bacteria culture which produces pink pigment and is found in water saturated with salt.
• The oval-shaped Lonar lake, formed after a meteorite hit the earth some 50,000 years ago.
• The increased salinity and pH facilitated the growth of halophilic microbes, mainly Haloarchaea.