Quantification and Evaluation of the Diversity of Total and Toxic Microcystis sp. in Tai and Yang-cheng Lakes

摘要

@@ 1. Introduction Recurring algae blooms of toxic cyanobacteria in the Tai and Yang-cheng lakes have been a serious issue for the past decade. Previous studies often focused on strains of Microcystis from laboratory culture cultivation, and there have been a few reports of the genetic diversity in natural blooming populations. The main limitation with laboratory culturing approach is that not all genotypes proliferate in the lab condition that deviate from environmental conditions and limited isolates may lead to bias in genetic diversity assessment. And very limited information regarding the composition of Microcystis populations in Tai and Yang-cheng Lakes across time or space is available. The objective of present study was to establish and utilize quantitative PCR (qPCR) for quantification of total and potentially toxic microcystin-producing Microcystis using 16S rDNA and mcyA gene, and to compare the gene variations of Microcystis in Tai and Yang-cheng lakes during blooming season.