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Light and Phosphate Competition Between Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and Microcystis aeruginosa is Strain Dependent

  • Microbiology of Aquatic Systems
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Abstract

The hypothesis that outcomes of phosphorus and light competition between Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and Microcystis aeruginosa are strain dependent was tested experimentally. Critical requirements of phosphorus (P*) and of light (I*) of two strains of each species were determined through monoculture experiments, which indicated a trade-off between species and also between Microcystis strains. Competition experiments between species were performed using the weakest predicted competitors (with the highest values of P* and of I*) and with the strongest predicted competitors (with the lowest values of P* and of I*). Under light limitation, competition between the weakest competitors led C. raciborskii to dominate. Between the strongest competitors, the opposite was observed, M. aeruginosa displaced C. raciborskii, but both strains co-existed in equilibrium. Under phosphate limitation, competition between the weakest competitors led C. raciborskii to exclude M. aeruginosa, and between the strongest competitors, the opposite was observed, M. aeruginosa displaced C. raciborskii, but the system did not reach an equilibrium and both strains were washed out. Hence, outcomes of the competition depended on the pair of competing strains and not only on species or on type of limitation. We concluded that existence of different trade-offs among strains and between species underlie our results showing that C. raciborskii can either dominate or be displaced by M. aeruginosa when exposed to different conditions of light or phosphate limitation.

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Acknowledgments

We thank W. Beekman-Lukassen, F. Gillissen, I. Paredes, N. Noyma, and J. Beijer for assistance with the experiments. M.B.G.S. PhD scholarship (BEX2834/04-9) and M.M.M. Post-Doc fellowship (BEX1988/08-5) were funded by the Federal Government of Brazil, Ministry of Education, through CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Ministério da Educação). This study was conducted under the flag of the CAPES (Brazil)/Wageningen University (The Netherlands) CAPES-WUR project 004/2008.

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  1. Laboratório de Ecologia e Fisiologia do Fitoplâncton, Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rua São Francisco Xavier 524—PHLC Sala 511a, CEP 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Marcelo Manzi Marinho

  2. Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Maria Betânia Gonçalves Souza & Miquel Lürling

  3. Department Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute for Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Miquel Lürling

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  1. Marcelo Manzi Marinho
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Marinho, M.M., Souza, M.B.G. & Lürling, M. Light and Phosphate Competition Between Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and Microcystis aeruginosa is Strain Dependent. Microb Ecol 66, 479–488 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-013-0232-1

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