Growth, trichome size and akinete production of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (cyanobacteria) under different temperatures: comparison of two strains isolated from the same pond.

摘要

Coiled morphotype Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (Woloszynska) Seenayya et Subba Raju that forms a water bloom in a shallow pond in northern Taiwan exhibits a negative correlation between trichome size and temperature. To investigate how temperature influences the growth and trichome size of C. raciborskii, two C. raciborskii strains isolated from the pond in August and February were grown at three temperatures (18, 24 and 30 degrees C). Both strains exhibited the lowest and highest specific growth rates at 18 degrees C and 24 degrees C, respectively, and the trichomes became the largest at 18 degrees C. However, specific growth rates of the strain isolated in August exceeded those of the strain isolated in February, and the trichomes of the strain isolated in February were larger than those of the strain isolated in August regardless of temperature. Moreover, although both strains produced larger numbers of akinetes at higher temperatures, the strain isolated in August produced many more akinetes than did the other. These findings suggest that the two strains are not identical, leading to the conclusion that the C. raciborskii population in the pond consists of at least two ecotypes. Large trichome formation and akinete production are thought to be different types of countermeasure against cold of C. raciborskii, and the patterns of investment in developing these functions seemed to vary between the strains.