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Advances in the aquatic sciences
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Diversity of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in Hartbeespoort Dam, South Africa

Andreas Ballot A B D , Morten Sandvik B , Thomas Rundberget A B , Christo J. Botha C and Christopher O. Miles B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Norwegian Institute for Water Research, N-0349 Oslo, Norway.

B Norwegian Veterinary Institute, N-0106 Oslo, Norway.

C Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa.

D Corresponding author. Email: andreas.ballot@niva.no

Marine and Freshwater Research 65(2) 175-189 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF13153
Submitted: 12 February 2013  Accepted: 10 July 2013   Published: 18 October 2013

Journal Compilation © CSIRO Publishing 2014 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND

Abstract

The South African Hartbeespoort Dam is known for the occurrence of heavy Microcystis blooms. Although a few other cyanobacterial genera have been described, no detailed study on those cyanobacteria and their potential toxin production has been conducted. The diversity of cyanobacterial species and toxins is most probably underestimated. To ascertain the cyanobacterial composition and presence of cyanobacterial toxins in Hartbeespoort Dam, water samples were collected in April 2011. In a polyphasic approach, 27 isolated cyanobacterial strains were classified morphologically and phylogenetically and tested for microcystins (MCs), cylindrospermopsin (CYN), saxitoxins (STXs) and anatoxin-a (ATX) by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) and screened for toxin-encoding gene fragments. The isolated strains were identified as Sphaerospermopsis reniformis, Sphaerospermopsis aphanizomenoides, Cylindrospermopsis curvispora, Raphidiopsis curvata, Raphidiopsis mediterrranea and Microcystis aeruginosa. Only one of the Microcystis strains (AB2011/53) produced microcystins (35 variants). Forty-one microcystin variants were detected in the environmental sample from Hartbeespoort Dam, suggesting the existence of other microcystin producing strains in Hartbeespoort Dam. All investigated strains tested negative for CYN, STXs and ATX and their encoding genes. The mcyE gene of the microcystin gene cluster was found in the microcystin-producing Microcystis strain AB2011/53 and in eight non-microcystin-producing Microcystis strains, indicating that mcyE is not a good surrogate for microcystin production in environmental samples.

Additional keywords: Cylindrospermopsis, Hartbeespoort Dam, microcystin, Microcystis, Raphidiopsis,Sphaerospermopsis.


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