Citation:

Linz, D., I. Struewing, N. Sienkiewicz, E. Stelzer, J. Graham, AND J. Lu. Assessing cyanobacteria and potential cyanotoxin producing taxa in large rivers of the United States. 12th International Conference on Toxic Cyanobacteria, Toledo, OH, May 22 - 27, 2022.

Impact/Purpose:

1) Public concern over cyanobacterial blooms has increased due to their higher frequency of occurrences and their potential ecological and health impacts.  2)Microcystin is also the most common cyanotoxin produced with Microcystis and Planktothrix being the major toxin producing cyanobacterial genera during CyanoHABs. Previously, we have characterize cyanobacterial communities and toxic species in lake waters. However, the toxic cyanobacteria in the large rivers of the United States have limited documentation.  3) This information can be used to aid in toxin measurements and aid in making management decisions related to harmful algal blooms.  4) OW, regional offices, scientists and water quality managers could be interested in the results. 

Description:

Cyanobacteria and cyanotoxin blooms (harmful algal blooms – HABs) are a growing focus of current research due to their increased frequency and impact on freshwater ecosystems, public health, and the economy. Currently, many studies have focused on bloom events in lentic environments such as lakes or ponds, while comparatively few studies have explored lotic environments, and fewer still have examined the cyanobacterial communities and toxin producers in non-HAB conditions. To improve our understanding, we used metagenomics to characterize non-HAB microbial communities and cyanobacteria in twelve major US rivers at multiple time points during summer months. Our data reveal that US rivers possess diverse microbial communities in which cyanobacteria often comprised significant portions, including multiple potential toxin-producing species. Deep sequencing analyses of the microcystin E (mycE) gene were also conducted to understand: i) the capacity of these cyanobacteria to produce toxins, ii) the distribution of toxin producing potential across genera and across river location and time, and iii) the spatio-temporal distribution of mycE genotypic diversity. Combined, these data provide a unique perspective on cyanobacteria and toxin producing taxa that exist in rivers across the US and will improve our understanding of the conditions that may precede bloom events in lotic freshwater ecosystems.

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