Open AccessIsolation of a Poterioochromonas capable of feeding on Microcystis aeruginosa and degrading microcystin‐LR
Author(s) -
Zhang Xue,
Hu HongYing,
Hong Yu,
Yang Jia
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2008.01355.x
Subject(s) - microcystis aeruginosa , cyanobacteria , microcystis , biology , microcystin , algae , algal bloom , microbiology and biotechnology , microcystin lr , botany , bloom , bacteria , food science , ecology , phytoplankton , nutrient , genetics
Algal blooms have become a worldwide issue recently, especially those comprised of toxic cyanobacteria. Grazers' predation of bloom‐forming algae plays an important role in water clearing. In this study, a species of golden alga (strain ZX1), capable of feeding on the toxic cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa , was isolated and identified as Poterioochromonas sp. (GenBank accession: EU586184 ) on the basis of morphological characteristics and 18s rRNA gene sequencing. Feeding experiments showed that ZX1 could clear high densities of M. aeruginosa (7.3 × 10 5 –4.3 × 10 6 cells mL −1 ) in a short time (40 h), with inhibition ratios higher than 99.9%. ZX1 grew during the feeding processes and achieved a maximum density of 10–20% of the initial M. aeruginosa density. Furthermore, this study is the first to report that ZX1 was able to degrade microcystin‐LR (MC‐LR) in cells of M. aeruginosa while digesting the whole cells, and that the degradation process was determined to be carried out inside the ZX1 cell. For a total MC‐LR (intra‐ and extracellular) concentration of up to 114 μg L −1 , 82.7% was removed in 40 h. This study sheds light on the importance of golden alga in aquatic microbial ecosystems and in the natural transportation/transformation of MC‐LR.