Biochemical, toxicological and genomic investigation of a high-biomass producing Limnothrix strain isolated from Italian shallow drinking water reservoir

Abstract

The presence of cyanobacteria in water for drinking and recreational purposes is considered problematic due to their bloom-forming and toxigenic potential. While most cyanotoxins are produced by extensively studied cyanobacteria, little is known about other abundant genera not usually assessed for their toxic potential. Here, a new isolate of Limnothrix redekei from an Italian drinking water reservoir was cultured and investigated using biological, chemical, and genomic methods. Compared to other Limnothrix spp., the isolate yielded high biomass productivity and was mainly constituted by proteins. The isolate had genomic features similar to those of the other 10 genomes of Limnothrix spp. published so far, regardless of their geographical origin. Most genes were implicated in primary metabolism (e.g. photosynthesis, nutrients transport, cell division), while <1 % of the genome was dedicated to secondary metabolism. Two regions encoding for a cyanobactin and a polyketide were found, whereas those for known cyanotoxins were absent. Toxicological investigations based on the crustacean Artemia sp. bioassay revealed potential toxicity of Limnothrix aqueous extracts (mortality >90 %). The highest toxicity was observed in a single fraction of the extract, whose UV spectrum presented carotenoid-like characteristics. Although the structure of the putative toxin was not yet elucidated, these findings pose the basis for further investigations on Limnothrix spp. toxicity, for which the observed toxic aqueous extracts could not exclude possible implications for ecosystems and humans through drinking water resources.