Sustained and enhanced inhibitory effects of allelochemicals on Microcystis Aeruginosa during its recruitment stage

Abstract

Microcystis aeruginosa is the main toxic strain in cyanobacterial blooms, and the recruitment stage in its temperature-dependent seasonal succession is considered as the key to its subsequent growth. In this study, a protocol with specific temperature settings was developed as the simulated recruitment stage in order to investigate and confirm the superior inhibitory effects of allelochemicals on M. aeruginosa at that stage of recruitment. One of the most common allelochemicals, gallic acid (GA) (10 mg/L, 20 mg/L) was employed to treat M. aeruginosa under initially low temperature condition (15 °C), then intermediate (20 °C) and last normal (26 °C), which corresponds to the critical temperatures for cyanobacterial recruitment and growth. Growth, metabolism, photosynthetic activity, extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) and microcystins (MCs) release were analyzed and discussed in this study, and a more sustained and better inhibitory effect over a 20-day period was achieved. Notably, GA (10 mg/L) markedly delayed the recruitment of M. aeruginosa from low temperature, with an inhibition efficiency of 85.71 %, and suppressing Fv/Fm and photosynthetic pigments production. It is also observed that M. aeruginosa at recruitment stage exhibited higher sensitivity and poorer resistance to allelochemical treatment, with variable responses suggesting that optimal dosages may alter. The antioxidant enzyme activities remained high under prolonged stress, and the secretion of EPS was stimulated, indicating that cyanobacteria were more inclined to form colonies. While the laboratory-based inhibitory mechanism appeared to increase the release of microcystins in individual cells, the actual concentration of microcystins in natural aquatic environments requires further investigation.