Abstract
The cyanobacteria community dynamics in two eutrophic freshwater bodies (Tiegang Reservoir and Shiyan Reservoir) was studied with both a traditional microscopic counting method and a PCR-DGGE genotyping method. Results showed that cyanobacterium Phormidium tenue was the predominant species; twenty-six cyanobacteria species were identified in water samples collected from the two reservoirs, among which fourteen were identified with the morphological method and sixteen with the PCR-DGGE method. The cyanobacteria community composition analysis showed a seasonal fluctuation from July to December. The cyanobacteria population peaked in August in both reservoirs, with cell abundances of 3.78 × 108 cells L-1 and 1.92 × 108 cells L-1 in the Tiegang and Shiyan reservoirs, respectively. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was applied to further investigate the correlation between cyanobacteria community dynamics and environmental factors. The result indicated that the cyanobacteria community dynamics was mostly correlated with pH, temperature and total nitrogen. This study demonstrated that data obtained from PCR-DGGE combined with a traditional morphological method could reflect cyanobacteria community dynamics and its correlation with environmental factors in eutrophic freshwater bodies.
Highlights
Eutrophication of water bodies and subsequent cyanobacteria blooms have become a worldwide environmental problem since last century
The city of Shenzhen is located in south Guangdong, and its tropical weather and fast economic development increase the chances of reservoir eutrophication and cyanobacteria blooms
It is necessary to develop a fast and reliable assessment method to evaluate the phytoplankton community composition and predict the occurrence of cyanobacteria blooms, which is of economic, health and environmental importance to Shenzhen City
Summary
Eutrophication of water bodies and subsequent cyanobacteria blooms have become a worldwide environmental problem since last century. The city of Shenzhen is located in south Guangdong, and its tropical weather and fast economic development increase the chances of reservoir eutrophication and cyanobacteria blooms. The traditional morphological observation method using a light microscope is still commonly used to study the population dynamics of phytoplankton communities in eutrophic water bodies. It is time consuming and influenced by personal error. We applied both an ITS-based PCR-DGGE method and the traditional morphological method to investigate the cyanobacteria communities in the Tiegang and Shiyan reservoirs of Shenzhen. We used Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) to study the relationship between cyanobacteria community dynamics and environmental factors
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
