Abstract
The inhibitory effect of plants on algae offers a new and promising alternative method for controlling harmful algal blooms. Previous studies showed that anti-algal effects might be obvious from extracts of fallen leaves from terrestrial plants, which had great potential for cyanobacterial control in field tests. To investigate the anti-algal activities and main algicidal mechanisms of Ginkgo biloba fallen leaves extracts (GBE) on Microcystis flos-aquae, the cell density, photosynthetic fluorescence, and gene expression under different concentrations of GBE treatments were tested. GBE (3.00 g L−1) showed a strong inhibitory effect against M. flos-aquae with an IC50 (96h) of 0.79 g L−1. All the inhibition rates of maximal quantum yield (Fv/Fm), effective quantum yield (Fq’/Fm’), and maximal relative electron transfer rate (rETRmax) were more than 70% at 96 h at 3.00 g L−1 and more than 90% at 6.00 g L−1. Further results of gene expression of the core proteins of PSII (psbD), limiting enzyme in carbon assimilation (rbcL), and phycobilisome degradation protein (nblA) were downregulated after exposure. These findings emphasized that photosynthetic damage is one of the main toxic mechanisms of GBE on M. flos-aquae. When exposed to 12.00 g L−1 GBE, no significant influence on the death rate of zebrafish or photosynthetic activity of the three submerged plants was found. Therefore, appropriate use of GBE could control the expansion of M. flos-aquae colonies without potential risks to the ecological safety of aquatic environments, which means that GBE could actually be used to regulate cyanobacterial blooms in natural waters.
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This work was supported by the Shanghai Science and Technology innovation action plan (19DZ1204500), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31502172), and the Major Projects of Water Pollution Control and Management of China (2017ZX07205003).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Yuxin Shi, Liu Shao, and Peimin He planned and constructed the experimental setup. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Yuxin Shi. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yuxin Shi and Liu Shao. Anglu Shen and Peimin He reviewed and edited the manuscript together. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Highlights
• Ginkgo biloba extracts was found to be an efficient botanical algaecide.
• The expression of some key photosynthesis related genes was influenced by GBE
• Photosynthetic damage is one of the main toxic mechanisms of GBE on M. flos-aquae.
• GBE (< 12.00 g L−1) had no significant potential risk to aquatic ecological safety.
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Shi, Y., Shen, A., Shao, L. et al. Effects of Ginkgo biloba extract on growth, photosynthesis, and photosynthesis-related gene expression in Microcystis flos-aquae. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 87446–87455 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21663-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21663-3