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Molecular identification and evolution of the cyclic peptide hepatotoxins, microcystin and nodularin, synthetase genes in three orders of cyanobacteria

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Abstract

The cyanobacterial hepatotoxins, microcystin and nodularin, are produced by a wide range of cyanobacteria. Microcystin production has been reported in the four cyanobacterial orders: Oscillatoriales, Chroococcales, Stigonematales, and Nostocales. The production of nodularin is a distinct characteristic of the Nostocales genus Nodularia. A single rapid method is needed to reliably detect cyanobacteria that are potentially capable of producing these hepatotoxins. To this end, a PCR was designed to detect all potential microcystin and nodularin-producing cyanobacteria from laboratory cultures as well as in harmful algal blooms. The aminotransferase (AMT) domain, which is located on the modules mcyE and ndaF of the microcystin and nodularin synthetase enzyme complexes, respectively, was chosen as the target sequence because of its essential function in the synthesis of all microcystins as well as nodularins. Using the described PCR, it was possible to amplify a 472 bp PCR product from the AMT domains of all tested hepatotoxic species and bloom samples. Sequence data provided further insight into the evolution of the microcystin and nodularin synthetases through bioinformatic analyses of the AMT in microcystin and nodularin synthetases, with congruence between the evolution of 16S rRNA and the AMT domain.

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Acknowledgements

The work was funded by the Australian Research Council. We are grateful to Dr. Milena Bruno, Dr. Daniel R. Dietrich and George Izaguirre for allowing us to use the Lake Spino bloom samples, Planktothrix culture, and the Phormidium isolates. Many thanks to Kathy Bourke for assisting with the PCR screening. We would also like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. A.-D.J. is the recipient of research scholarships from the University of New South Wales and the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences.

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  1. School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, The University of New South Wales, 2052, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Anne-Dorothee Jungblut & Brett A. Neilan

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  1. Anne-Dorothee Jungblut
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  2. Brett A. Neilan
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Correspondence to Brett A. Neilan.

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Jungblut, AD., Neilan, B.A. Molecular identification and evolution of the cyclic peptide hepatotoxins, microcystin and nodularin, synthetase genes in three orders of cyanobacteria. Arch Microbiol 185, 107–114 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-005-0073-5

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