Cyanophages Infection of Microcystis Bloom in Lowland Dam Reservoir of Sulejów, Poland

Abstract

An increased incidence of cyanobacterial blooms, which are largely composed of toxigenic cyanobacteria from the Microcystis genus, leads to a disruption of aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Therefore, a better understanding of the impact of environmental parameters on the development and collapse of blooms is important. The objectives of the present study were as follows: (1) to investigate the presence and identity of Microcystis-specific cyanophages capable of cyanobacterial cell lysis in a lowland dam reservoir in Central Europe; (2) to investigate Microcystis sensitivity to phage infections with regard to toxic genotypes; and (3) to identify key abiotic parameters influencing phage infections during the summer seasons between 2009 and 2013. Sequencing analysis of selected g91 gene amplification products confirmed that the identified cyanophages belonged to the family Myoviridae (95 % homology). Cyanophages and Microcystis hosts, including toxic genotypes, were positively correlated in 4 of the 5 years analyzed (r = 0.67-0.82). The average percentage of infected Microcystis cells varied between 0.1 and 32 %, and no particular sensitivity of the phages to toxigenic genotypes was recorded. The highest number of cyanophages (>10(4) gene copy number per microliter) was observed in the period preceded by the following: an increase of the water retention time, growth of the water temperature, optimum nutrient concentrations, and the predomination of Microcystis bloom.

Planktonic microbial profiling in water samples from a Brazilian Amazonian reservoir

“…The majority of Cyanophages belonging to the family Myoviridae was found in the dry period sample in which Cyanobacteria were abundant. Myoviridae, a well‐known Cyanobacteria phage, was also observed in another reservoir dam in Poland (Mankiewicz‐Boczek et al., ), possibly indicating broad geographic distribution. (Huang, Wang, Jiao, & Chen, ; Mankiewicz‐Boczek et al., ; Roux et al., ).…”

“…Myoviridae, a well‐known Cyanobacteria phage, was also observed in another reservoir dam in Poland (Mankiewicz‐Boczek et al., ), possibly indicating broad geographic distribution. (Huang, Wang, Jiao, & Chen, ; Mankiewicz‐Boczek et al., ; Roux et al., ). Bacteriophages may regulate the environment by the cycling of organic matter in the biosphere and influence the evolution of bacterial genomes and pathogenicity or antibiotic resistance (Balcazar, ; Chibani‐Chennoufi, Bruttin, & Dillmann, ).…”

Metabolic Genes within Cyanophage Genomes: Implications for Diversity and Evolution

“…Some of the most extensively studied viruses are those that specifically infect cyanobacteria, called cyanophages. Cyanophages are of special interest due to their potential impact on cyanobacterial distribution, physiological processes and evolution [10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. …”

Online Measurement Method of Water Quality in the Sulejow Reservoir

“…The Reservoir evolution strongly impacted the local economy, farming, water retention and microclimatic conditions. The water condition is degrading due to unconstrained volumes of pollutants that are draining into the Reservoir, resulting in the excessive growth of blue-green algae [4][5][6][7][8]. This process as harmful and dangerous for every way of using the natural qualities of the reservoir must be assessed, predicted and minimized [9].…”