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Co-regulatory role of Microcystis colony cell volume and compactness in buoyancy during the growth stage

  • Cyanobacterial blooms and water ecological restoration
  • Published:
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Abstract

The buoyancy of Microcystis colonies determines the occurrence and dominance of bloom on the water surface. Besides the cell density regulation and the formation of larger size aggregates, increases in cell volume per colony (Vcell) and the colony’s compactness (i.e., volume ratio of cells to the colony, VR) may promote Microcystis colony buoyancy. Yet only a few studies have studied the relationship between the internal structure variation of colonies and their buoyancy, and the co-regulatory role of Vcell and VR of Microcystis colonies in the floating velocity (FV) remains largely unexplored. In the present study, we optimized a method for measuring the compactness of Microcystis colonies based on the linear relationship between total Vcell and chlorophyll a. Different relationships between the VRs and FVs were observed with different colony size and Vcell range groups. Both field and laboratory experiments showed that FV/(D50, median diameter)2 had a significant linear relationship with VR, indicating that the cell density and extracellular polysaccharides were unchanged over a short time period and could be estimated via the slope and intercept of a fitted line. We also constructed a functional relationship between FV, VR, and Vcell and found that high VR and Vcell can promote Microcystis buoyancy. This means that increasing cell compactness or Vcell may be an active regulation strategy for Microcystis colonies to promote buoyancy. Therefore, quantifying the internal structure of Microcystis colonies is strongly recommended for the assessment of Microcystis bloom development and their management.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Enhua Li (Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences) for kindly providing the instrument LISST 200x for our use. We also thank Natalie Kim, PhD, from Liwen Bianji, Edanz Editing China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 31870450, 31670465, and 31800390), and Xingqiang Wu was supported by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. 2018373).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Algal Biology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Huaming Wu, Tiantian Yang, Chunbo Wang, Cuicui Tian, Bangding Xiao & Xingqiang Wu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Huaming Wu & Tiantian Yang

  3. Department of Environmental Science, Egerton University, P.O. Box, Egerton-Nakuru, 536-20115, Kenya

    Oscar Omondi Donde

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  1. Huaming Wu
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Correspondence to Xingqiang Wu.

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Highlights

• Cell volume and compactness of Microcystis colony was dynamic during the growth stage.

• Higher cell volume or compactness of Microcystis can promote the higher buoyancy.

• Microcystis colony’s internal structure may be related to the active buoyancy regulation.

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Wu, H., Yang, T., Wang, C. et al. Co-regulatory role of Microcystis colony cell volume and compactness in buoyancy during the growth stage. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 42313–42323 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08250-0

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