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First report of geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB) in Dolichospermum and Oscillatoria from Vietnam

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Abstract

Cyanobacteria are the major producers of the taste and odour compounds geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB) in drinking water and fish worldwide. In recent years, the outbreaks of cyanobacteria blooms in Tri An and Dau Tieng Reservoirs, Vietnam have led to an increase attention in taste and odour problems. In the present study, the two off-flavour compounds geosmin and 2-MIB were found in field samples and 50 isolated strains of planktonic cyanobacteria from Dau Tieng and Tri An Reservoirs. They were screened for the first time using headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HPME GC–MS). The ability to produce off-flavour compounds was determined by the presence of two molecular markers: geoA and mib. Results showed that mean geosmin and 2-MIB concentrations ranged from 13.3 to 9.6 ng/L and 4.9 to 101.7 ng/L in field samples, respectively. A total of five geosmin-producing strains [with the highest concentration: 272.9 ng/g wet weight (ww)] and nine 2-MIB-producing strains (with the highest concentration: 362.1 ng/g ww) belonging to two cyanobacteria genera Dolichospermum and Oscillatoria were identified. Four of the geosmin producers also produced 2-MIB. The 16S rRNA maximum likelihood (ML) tree showed a high diversity of the isolated strains that represented different morphotypes and genotypes. The BLAST searches revealed that the 16S rRNA gene sequence obtained in this study shared the similarity values ranging between 96.46 and 99.37% compared to the available sequences from GenBank. This is the first report of off-flavour compound producing cyanobacteria in Vietnamese waters. The combination of HPME GC–MS and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) provides a robust tool for reliably characterizing the off-flavour compound. Our results highlight that taste and odour-producing cyanobacteria belonging to Chroococcales in Vietnamese waters are unexplored and require further investigation.

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Acknowledgements

This study was found by the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology under grant number “KHCBSS.02/19–21”. Thank Ms. Alexis Enright from Loyola University for the reading and editing of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH), 475A Dien Bien Phu Street, Ward 25, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam

    Thanh-Luu Pham

  2. Institute of Tropical Biology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), 85 Tran Quoc Toan Street, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam

    Thanh-Luu Pham

  3. Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, 182 Nguyen Van Linh Street, Thanh Khe District, Da Nang City, 550000, Vietnam

    Manh Ha Bui

  4. Department of Environmental Sciences, Saigon University, District 5, 273 An Duong Vuong Street, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam

    Manh Ha Bui

  5. Department of Chemistry, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Dr, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA

    Mark Driscoll

  6. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Kazuya Shimizu & Utsumi Motoo

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Correspondence to Thanh-Luu Pham.

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Pham, TL., Bui, M.H., Driscoll, M. et al. First report of geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB) in Dolichospermum and Oscillatoria from Vietnam. Limnology 22, 43–56 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-020-00630-2

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