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Two types of bound extracellular polysaccharides and their roles in shaping the size and tightness of Microcystis colonies

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Abstract

Extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) can be distinguished into soluble or bound types and significantly contributes to colony formation in Microcystis. Depending on the binding strength with cells, the bilayer structure of bound EPS contains loosely or tightly bound EPS (LB-EPS or TB-EPS) and their roles in shaping the size and tightness of Microcystis colonies deserve further investigation. In this study, the influences of two types of bound EPS on the size and tightness of Microcystis colonies were investigated after a series of pretreatment to obtain LB-EPS retaining or stripped samples. Results showed that cells with LB-EPS formed large and loose colonies. Furthermore, the ratios of LB-EPS to TB-EPS, which indicate the size and tightness of the colonies, were higher in the retaining groups than in the stripped groups. Our findings also provide evidence that calcium enrichment is conducive to colony formation in Microcystis. This study provides new insights into the formation and enlargement of Microcystis colonies, which contributes to a better understanding on the role of EPS in Microcystis aggregation and morphology changes.

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Funding

This study was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31470507), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2019B14014), and PAPD, the National Water Pollution Control and Treatment Science and Technology Major Project (2017ZX07603).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Xiao Tan, Xiaoqian Shu & Zhipeng Duan

  2. School of Population and Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Keshab Parajuli

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  1. Xiao Tan
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  2. Xiaoqian Shu
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  3. Zhipeng Duan
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  4. Keshab Parajuli
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Correspondence to Xiao Tan.

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Tan, X., Shu, X., Duan, Z. et al. Two types of bound extracellular polysaccharides and their roles in shaping the size and tightness of Microcystis colonies. J Appl Phycol 32, 255–262 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-019-01937-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-019-01937-z

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