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Effects of allelochemical extracted from water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes Linn.) on the growth, microcystin production and release of Microcystis aeruginosa

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Abstract

This study explored the optimisation of a method of extracting allelochemicals from Pistia stratiotes Linn., identified the optimal dose range for the allelochemicals’ anti-algal effect and investigated their impact on the growth of Microcystis aeruginosa, as well as the production and release of microcystin-LR (MC-LR). Based on measured changes in algal cell density and chlorophyll a (Chl-a) content, the allelochemicals were confirmed to have the strongest anti-algal effect with the lowest half-effect concentration of 65 mg L−1 when they were extracted using ethyl acetate as the extraction solvent, 1:20 g mL−1 as the extraction ratio and 1 h as the extraction time. The allelochemicals extracted from P. stratiotes using this optimal method exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect on the growth of algae when used within a dose range of 60–100 mg L−1; the relative inhibitory ratio reached 50–90 %, and Chl-a content reduced 50–75 % in algae cell cultures within 3–7 days. In addition, the extracted allelochemical compounds demonstrated no significant impact on the extracellular release of MC-LR during the culturing period. The amount of intracellular MC-LR per 106 algal cells increased depending on the increasing dose of allelochemicals from P. stratiotes after 7 days of culturing and maintained stability after 16 days. There was no increase in the total amount of MC-LR in the algal cell culture medium. Therefore, the application of allelochemicals from P. stratiotes to inhibit M. aeruginosa has a high degree of ecological safety and can be adopted in practical applications for treating water subjected to algae blooms because the treatment can effectively inhibit the proliferation of algal cells without increasing the release of cyanotoxin.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support for the present work was obtained from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 21207036), the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang province (no. LQ12B07001), the Key Science Technology Innovation Team Project of Zhejiang province (no. 2012R10026-14) and the significant agricultural projects of major science and technology projects in Zhejiang province (no. 2010C02001). Meanwhile, a heartfelt thanks to the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for providing M. aeruginosa (FACHB-911), as well as providing all the guidance and help on the determination of microcystin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences, Huzhou Teachers College, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, 313000, China

    Xiang Wu, Junren Chen & Jinyun Ye

  2. Environmental Protection Monitoring Centre Station, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, 313000, China

    Hao Wu

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  1. Xiang Wu
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  2. Hao Wu
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Correspondence to Xiang Wu.

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Wu, X., Wu, H., Chen, J. et al. Effects of allelochemical extracted from water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes Linn.) on the growth, microcystin production and release of Microcystis aeruginosa . Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 8192–8201 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1783-x

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