Search

Cyanobacterial blooms are widely known to cause problems in the aquatic environment, and their appearance has become more frequent due to global warming. Microcystis is one of the most widespread and dominant bloom-forming cyanobacterial genera, largely because Microcystis has the ability to control its buoyancy. A buoyancy experiment conducted on Microcystis sp. isolated from cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Senba, Japan, showed that buoyancy could be controlled using a combination of preculture under the dark conditions and the addition of powdered tightly bound extracellular polysaccharides (TB-EPS) and metal cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+). Preculture under the dark conditions, 96 h in length were the most effective treatment to reduce the cellular carbohydrate content of Microcystis and simultaneously increase its buoyancy. The addition of TB-EPS, Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions increased the colony size of Microcystis and enhanced buoyancy in precultures under both dark and light conditions. Thus, the buoyancy of Microcystis can be controlled by reducing its cellular carbohydrate content by preculturing it in dark conditions for 96 h and increasing the colony size with the addition of 100 mg l−1 EPS, 80 mg l−1 Ca2+ and 80 mg l−1 Mg2+. This study contributes to establishing a novel removal method for cyanobacterial blooms dominated by Microcystis, especially in water treatment facilities. • Microcystis buoyancy was controlled by decreasing cellular carbohydrate content using preculture under dark conditions. • The addition of TB-EPS, Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions increased the colony size of Microcystis and enhanced the buoyancy in precultures under both dark and light conditions. • This represents a novel removal method for cyanobacterial blooms in water treatment facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the surface of Microcystis cells, there is a carbohydrate called extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) playing a significant role in the colony formation of Microcystis. EPS consists of tightly cell-bound EPS (TB-EPS), and both of these substances are considered to be strongly related to the colony formation and buoyancy of Microcystis. In this study, Microcystis aeruginosa (strain: NIES-843) was used to examine the effects of EPS, TB-EPS, and divalent metal cations such as calcium and magnesium on the buoyancy and colony formation of M. aeruginosa NIES-843. Under various light conditions, the addition of TB-EPS into the culture medium induced M. aeruginosa NIES-843 to obtain high buoyancy at concentrations of Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentrations of 10 mg/L and 30 mg/L, respectively. Under the absence of light, the addition of EPS could lead M. aeruginosa to form a colony and obtain buoyancy, and the addition of TB-EPS could not significantly change the buoyancy of M. aeruginosa NIES-843. The colony size analysis showed that at the same cationic concentration, the addition of TB-EPS could induce M. aeruginosa to form the largest colony and present strong buoyancy. This study suggested that temperature and illumination are conducive to colony formation and present higher buoyancy of M. aeruginosa. Tightly cell-bound extracellular polysaccharides (TB-EPS) enhanced colony formation of Microcystis aeruginosa NIES-843, which is strictly related to buoyancy. Microscope observation shows the colony induced by TB-EPS likes wild Microcystis. Temperature and light affected colony formation and buoyancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]