Effects of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) on the interspecific competition between Microcystis and Scenedesmus

Abstract

The widespread use of detergents increases the concentration of surfactant in lakes and reservoirs. High surfactant loads produces toxicity to algae; however, the influence of the increasing surfactant on the competition between algae is not clear. In this paper, different amounts of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) were added to test the effects of LAS on the competition between Microcystis aeruginosa and Scenedesmus obliquus under eutrophic condition. In single culture, the growth of S. obliquus was promoted under lower LAS concentrations (1 and 20 mg L(-1)), but cell density of S. obliquus reduced when treated with higher LAS concentration (100 mg L(-1)). The growth of M. aeruginosa was inhibited markedly with 20 and 100 mg L(-1) LAS. Compared with single culture, the result was opposite in co-cultures and the cell density of S. obliquus increased significantly when treated with LAS of 1, 20, and 100 mg L(-1). The specific growth rates of S. obliquus and M. aeruginosa in both cultures were 0.4-0.5 day(-1) and 0.6-0.7 day(-1), respectively, except that the specific growth rate of M. aeruginosa in both cultures treated with 100 mg L(-1) LAS was about 0.2 day(-1). M. aeruginosa dominated over S. obliquus in the co-culture without LAS, while the competition was completely opposite with the addition of 20 mg L(-1) LAS. The growth of S. obliquus treated with 20 mg L(-1) LAS was not affected significantly in single culture but was promoted by 75 % in co-culture. Moreover, the growth of S. obliquus in co-culture treated with 100 mg L(-1) LAS was promoted by more than 97 %. These results suggested that the increasing LAS would overturn the competition of algae in freshwater ecosystems.

Species-dependent variation in sensitivity of Microcystis species to copper sulfate: implication in algal toxicity of copper and controls of blooms

“…This was due to that Cu 2+ are essential micronutrient for Microcystis 51. Additionally, it has also been well documented that low-level contaminants promote Microcystis growth525354. However, the sensitivity or tolerance to heavy metals varies amongst different algae and this variation caused that the beneficial concentration of Cu 2+ for M. flos-aquae and M. viridis inhibited growth of M. aeruginosa and M. wesenbergii .…”

Effects of Phenolic Pollution on Interspecific Competition between Microcystis aeruginosa and Chlorella pyrenoidosa and their Photosynthetic Responses

“…The Lotka-Volterra competitive model [28] was used to calculate the population dynamics of the two species under the stress of organic compounds in co-cultures [14,15], which was calculated using the following formula:Nmn−Nmn−1tn−tn−1=rmnNmn−1(Kmn−Nmn−1−αNcn−1)Kmn Ncn−Ncn−1tn−tn−1=rcnNcn−1(Kcn−Ncn−1−βNmn−1)Kcn where N mn ( N mn − 1 ) and N cn ( N cn − 1 ) represent the cell concentrations of M. aeruginosa and C. pyrenoidosa , respectively, when they were co-cultured at day t n ( t n − 1 ); r mn and r cn are the intrinsic growth rates of M. aeruginosa and C. pyrenoidosa , respectively, which are calculated according to the mono-cultures; K mn and K cn are the carrying capacity of each unit of cell concentrations of M. aeruginosa and C. pyrenoidosa respectively in mono-cultures; α and β are the competition coefficients in co-cultures; α indicates the inhibition of C. pyrenoidosa on M. aeruginosa ; and β represents the inhibition of M. aeruginosa on C. pyrenoidosa .…”

“…In recent years, some studies have shown that organic pollutants (such as alkylbenzene sulfonate and pentachlorophenol) have the potential to overturn algal community structure [14,15]. For example, M. aeruginosa competed over Scenedesmus obliquus in co-cultures without alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), while the result was opposite when LAS (20 μg mL −1 ) was added in co-cultures [15]. Similarly, the effects of pentachlorophenol (PCP) on M. aeruginosa and Chlorella vulgaris were studied in co-cultures [16].…”

“…In China, Microcystis is a very common bloom-forming cyanobacterium. Some organic compounds could influence the growth of Microcystis [15,19], while the detailed information about the competition between Microcystis and other algae under the stress of phenol is still unclear. Therefore, in this study, two common species of phytoplankton ( M. aeruginosa and C. pyrenoidosa ) were chosen to investigate the effects of phenol in mono- and co-cultures.…”

Interspecific competition between Microcystis aeruginosa and Chlamydomonas microsphaera stressed by tetracyclines

“…Low concentration of pentachlorophenol (1 µg L − 1 ) that closed to the concentration in surface water stimulated the growth of M. aeruginosa, a shift dominance from M. aeruginosa to Chlorella vulgaris was observed when pentachlorophenol was over 0.25 mg L − 1 (de Morais et al 2014). M. aeruginosa outcompeted Scenedesmus obliquus in co-culture without linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) or 1 mg L − 1 of LAS, while S. obliquus dominated with above 20 mg L − 1 of LAS (Zhu et al 2016). Similarly, the effect of phenol on competition between M. aeruginosa and Chlorella pyrenoidosa in coculture were investigated (Tan et al 2019a), described that phenolic pollution overturned the competition between both species.…”