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Effects of elevated nitrogen on the growth and geosmin productivity of Dolichospermum smithii

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Abstract

Geosmin is one of the most common earthy-musty odor compounds, which is mainly produced by cyanobacteria in surface water. Nitrogen (N) is an important factor affecting the growth of cyanobacteria and its secondary metabolites production due to the eutrophication. In this study, we compared the effects of elevated N on the growth and geosmin productivity of Dolichospermum smithii NIES-824 (synonym Anabaena smithii NIES-824), aiming to better understand the mechanisms involved and give an important and fundamental knowledge to solve off-flavor problem. Results show that elevated N concentration promoted more chlorophyll a (Chl-a) production, whereas the geosmin synthesis decreased, revealing a possible competitive correlation between the Chl-a concentration and geosmin production of D. smithii NIES-824. The majority of geosmin (> 90%) was retained intracellularly during the 28 days of cultivation. The qRT-PCR analysis demonstrates that the expression level of the geosmin synthase gene (geoA) was constitutive and decreased at the higher N concentration during the exponential growth phase of cyanobacterial cells. Furthermore, the decrease of geoA expression during the decline phase suggested that geoA transcription was closely related to cell activity and isoprenoid productivity.

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Funding

This study was supported by a Health Labor Sciences Research Grant (H30-Kenki-Ippan-004) from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Japan.

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Author notes

  1. Qingyue Shen and Kazuya Shimizu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Qingyue Shen & Hanchen Miao

  2. Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Kazuya Shimizu, Motoo Utsumi, Zhongfang Lei & Zhenya Zhang

  3. Faculty of Life Sciences, Toyo University, 1-1-1 Izumino, Ora-gun, Gunma, Japan

    Shinya Tsukino

  4. Microbiology Research Center for Sustainability, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Motoo Utsumi

  5. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aramaki-Aza Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

    Osamu Nishimura

  6. National Institute of Public Health, 2-3-6 Minami Wako, Saitama, Japan

    Yasuhiro Asada & Michihiro Akiba

  7. Faculty of Applied Biosciences, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 1-1-1 Sakuragaoka, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan

    Naoshi Fujimoto

  8. Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering, Kagoshima University, 1-21-40 Korimoto, Kagoshima-city, Kagoshima, Japan

    Hirokazu Takanashi

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  1. Qingyue Shen
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  2. Kazuya Shimizu
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Correspondence to Kazuya Shimizu.

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Shen, Q., Shimizu, K., Miao, H. et al. Effects of elevated nitrogen on the growth and geosmin productivity of Dolichospermum smithii. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 177–184 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10429-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10429-4

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