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The combined effects of Dolichospermum flos-aquae, light, and temperature on microcystin production by Microcystis aeruginosa

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Abstract

The effects of light, temperature, and coculture on the intracellular microcystin-LR (MC-LR) quota of Microcystis aeruginosa were evaluated based on coculture experiments with nontoxic Dolichospermum (Anabaena) flos-aquae. The MC-LR quota and transcription of mcyB and mcyD genes encoding MC synthetases in M. aeruginosa were evaluated on the basis of cell counts, high-performance liquid chromatography, and reverse-transcription quantitative real-time PCR. The MC-LR quotas of M. aeruginosa in coculture with a 1/1 ratio of inoculum of the two species were significantly lower relative to monocultures 6-d after inoculation. Decreased MC-LR quotas under coculture conditions were enhanced by increasing the D. flos-aquae to M. aeruginosa ratio in the inoculum and by environmental factors, such as temperature and light intensity. Moreover, the transcriptional concentrations of mcyB and mcyD genes in M. aeruginosa were significantly inhibited by D. flos-aquae competition in coculture (P <0.01), lowered to 20% of initial concentrations within 8 days. These data suggested that coculture eff ects by D. flos-aquae not only reduced M. aeruginosa’s intracellular MC-LR quota via inhibition of genes encoding MC synthetases, but also that this eff ect was regulated by environmental factors, including temperature and light intensities.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 21004, China

    Ruoqi Chen  (陈若旗), Fangfang Li  (李方方), Jiadong Liu  (刘佳栋), Hongye Zheng  (郑红叶), Fei Shen  (沈飞), Yarong Xue  (薛雅蓉) & Changhong Liu  (刘常宏)

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  1. Ruoqi Chen  (陈若旗)
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  2. Fangfang Li  (李方方)
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Correspondence to Yarong Xue  (薛雅蓉) or Changhong Liu  (刘常宏).

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Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31471810, 31272081), the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment (No. 2012ZX07101-013-05(02)), and the Jiangsu Key Technology R&D Program (No. BE2012372)

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Chen, R., Li, F., Liu, J. et al. The combined effects of Dolichospermum flos-aquae, light, and temperature on microcystin production by Microcystis aeruginosa . Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 34, 1173–1182 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-016-5204-0

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