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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2005, p. 6126-6133, Vol. 71, No. 10
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.10.6126-6133.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Genetic Variation of the Bloom-Forming Cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa within and among Lakes: Implications for Harmful Algal Blooms

Alan E. Wilson,1* Orlando Sarnelle,2 Brett A. Neilan,3 Tim P. Salmon,3 Michelle M. Gehringer,3 and Mark E. Hay1

School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 310 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30332,1 Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Natural Resources Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824,2 School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia3

Received 1 February 2005/ Accepted 6 June 2005

To measure genetic variation within and among populations of the bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa, we surveyed a suite of lakes in the southern peninsula of Michigan that vary in productivity (total phosphorus concentrations of ~10 to 100 µg liter–1). Survival of M. aeruginosa isolates from lakes was relatively low (i.e., mean of 7% and maximum of 30%) and positively related to lake total phosphorus concentration (P = 0.014, r2 = 0.407, n = 14). In another study (D. F. Raikow, O. Sarnelle, A. E. Wilson, and S. K. Hamilton, Limnol. Oceanogr. 49:482-487, 2004), survival rates of M. aeruginosa isolates collected from an oligotrophic lake (total phosphorus of ~10 µg liter–1 and dissolved inorganic nitrogen:total phosphorus ratio of 12.75) differed among five different medium types (G test, P of <0.001), with higher survival (P = 0.003) in low-nutrient media (28 to 37% survival) than in high-nutrient media. Even with the relatively low isolate survivorship that could select against detecting the full range of genetic variation, populations of M. aeruginosa were genetically diverse within and among lakes (by analysis of molecular variance, {Phi}sc = 0.412 [{Phi}sc is an F-statistic derivative which evaluates the correlation of haplotypic diversity within populations relative to the haplotypic diversity among all sampled populations], P = 0.001), with most clones being distantly related to clones collected from lakes directly attached to Lake Michigan (a Laurentian Great Lake) and culture collection strains collected from Canada, Scotland, and South Africa. Ninety-one percent of the 53 genetically unique M. aeruginosa clones contained the microcystin toxin gene (mcyA). Genotypes with the toxin gene were found in all lakes, while four lakes harbored both genotypes possessing and genotypes lacking the toxin gene.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 310 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332. Phone: (770) 722-9075. Fax: (509) 356-5349. E-mail: alan.wilson{at}biology.gatech.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2005, p. 6126-6133, Vol. 71, No. 10
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.10.6126-6133.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Hotto, A. M., Satchwell, M. F., Boyer, G. L. (2007). Molecular Characterization of Potential Microcystin-Producing Cyanobacteria in Lake Ontario Embayments and Nearshore Waters. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 4570-4578 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kardinaal, W. E. A., Tonk, L., Janse, I., Hol, S., Slot, P., Huisman, J., Visser, P. M. (2007). Competition for Light between Toxic and Nontoxic Strains of the Harmful Cyanobacterium Microcystis. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 2939-2946 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wilson, A. E., Wilson, W. A., Hay, M. E. (2006). Intraspecific Variation in Growth and Morphology of the Bloom-Forming Cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 7386-7389 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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