蓝藻毒素的类型及其产毒基因

水体富营养化及蓝藻水华的频繁发生,严重破坏水域生态系统,有毒水华蓝藻产生的藻毒素,污染水体且危害水生动物和人类健康。本文综述了水华蓝藻的次级代谢产物藻毒素及藻毒素合成基因的国内外研究进展,介绍了蓝藻毒素的类型、不同毒素毒性机理、产毒基因以及利用产毒基因进行产毒蓝藻的分子生物学检测等,并对研究中存在的问题和未来的研究方向进行了展望,目的是为建立有毒水华蓝藻的预警机制、科学评价产毒蓝藻及其藻毒素的生态、环境危害及生态环境治理提供理论和技术支撑。     

微囊藻毒素生态学研究

通过对微囊藻毒素的生态学进行综述,认为藻毒素的产生和含量的变化受水环境生物多样性、环境因子和微囊藻自身生物量等的影响。保障蓝藻在种群竞争、生态演替中获得竞争优势的各因素中,藻毒素发挥了重要调节作用。研究蓝藻的产毒机制,对于理解水体富营养化机制,实施蓝藻水华的生物控制,最终对富营养化水体进行生态修复具有重要的理论意义和现实作用;     

微囊藻毒素生物合成基因及其功能研究进展

水体富营养化加剧,导致了蓝藻水华在世界范围内频发。蓝藻产生的微囊藻毒素是最常见的一种藻毒素,对人类和动物造成了很大的危害甚至导致死亡。微囊藻毒素经非核糖体合成途径由多肽合成酶合成。对微囊藻毒素的结构与性质、微囊藻毒素合成基因的功能及其生物合成、微囊藻毒素的分子生物学检测技术进行了评述,对未来的研究方向进行了展望。     

蓝藻毒素去除方法研究进展

蓝藻水华中产生的次生代谢产物蓝藻毒素对人类及陆生动物具有严重毒性和致癌作用,同时会危害水域生态系统的结构和功能。有毒藻华的频繁发生及其引发的环境和健康问题已经成为全球环境科学领域的研究热点。现有的净水技术去除饮用水中藻毒素效率不高,因此寻找高效的藻毒素去除方法是目前亟待解决的问题。本文首先阐述了蓝藻毒素的产生和释放机理,将蓝藻毒素的去除分为除藻和去除水体中溶解性藻毒素两类;其次,本文在国内外大量研究成果的基础上综述了当前蓝藻毒素的降解途径,并详细介绍了活性炭吸附法、高级氧化降解法、微生物降解法等具有实际应用前景的去除方法;最后,本文总结了当前蓝藻毒素去除方法的局限性,指出了未来的研究应向高效率、低能耗、无污染、实用性强的方向发展。     

微囊藻气囊尺寸与gvpA/gvpC基因的关系

我国是世界上湖泊富营养化最严重的国家之一。太湖、巢湖、滇池等大型浅水湖泊由于富营养化导致蓝藻水华连年爆发, 水质日趋恶化,丧失了原有的功能, 制约着地区经济发展。水华一般是指藻类过量繁殖形成的水体表面聚集物1。在我国, 微囊藻(Microcystis)和某些蓝藻是造成水华的最为常见的种类2。蓝藻水华可产生异味物质、腐烂发臭, 还可产生毒素危害人类健康。       

淡水蓝藻毒素

随着一些水体富营养化现象日趋严重,蓝藻水华出现频率也逐日增加,使水面覆盖一层蓝绿色的油漆状物,有时由于藻体过于密集而死亡分解产生恶臭,这不但影响水质、破坏了环境,而且由于某种环境因子或其它生物因素影响,变为有毒水华,引起动物中毒死亡,甚至影响人类的健康。蓝藻水华是指某些蓝藻大量繁殖而在水面上形成一层密集的絮状物,俗称“水华”。     

一株囊藻毒素降解辅助菌的发现

太湖、滇池等水体爆发的蓝藻水华,对水体生态环境及人们生活带来了严重的影响,引起了各级政府的高度重视。目前每年从太湖中打捞的水华数以亿吨计,但由于其毒性较大,无法利用,同时大规模发生蓝藻的水体底泥藻毒素含量也在不断提高。微囊藻毒素(Microcystins,MCs)是由淡水藻如微囊藻属、鱼腥藻属、     

蓝藻水华及其所产生藻类毒素的研究进展

蓝藻水华已经成为人类所关注的重要环境问题之一。在最近的几十年里,我国的湖泊生态系统受到损害,水体质量有所下降,我国的经济和发展受到一定的制约。藻类毒素的产生是蓝藻水华带来的主要危害之一,有研究表明世界上25%~75%的蓝藻水华会产生藻毒素。本文对蓝藻水华及其所产生的藻类毒素的种类、毒性作用等方面进行综合阐述,旨在为生态环境保护和人类健康提供理论依据。     

微囊藻毒素LR诱导大鼠肾NRK细胞Bax蛋白表达

近年来水体富营养化已成为一个全球性关注的问题,过量的氮、磷使藻类过度生长并产生水华。微囊藻毒素是蓝藻的一些属产生的次生代谢产物,在发生水华的水体中这类毒素普遍存在。微囊藻毒素产生的原因和作用目前还不是很清楚,然而它们对动物和人类都能产生极为严重的影响。       

微囊藻胞内毒素的提取方法

随着全球淡水水体富营养化程度的不断加剧,蓝藻水华及其毒素污染问题已经逐渐威胁到人类饮用水的安全。微囊藻(Microcystis)为常见的水华蓝藻种类,其所产生的微囊藻毒素(Microcystins,MCs)不仅会严重危害水生态系统,并且可能会给人类健康带来威胁1,2。我国云南滇池、江苏太湖和安徽巢湖等淡水湖泊均发生不同程度的蓝藻水华,并检测到了高含量MCs的存在3,4。       

A 4700-Year History of Cyanobacteria Toxin Production in a Shallow Subtropical Lake

Cyanobacterial toxins or cyanotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by cyanobacteria and are found in water bodies around the world causing negative effects on aquatic ecosystems and human health. There are numerous environmental and biological triggers for toxin production, and the ecological role of most toxins is still being determined. Whereas cyanobacterial toxin occurrence appears to be expanding and monitoring efforts have increased in recent years, the history of toxin existence in lakes is poorly understood. Here, I report the history of the cyanotoxin, cylindrospermopsin (CYN), in sediments of hypereutrophic Lake Griffin, Florida, USA, from approximately 4700 years ago to present. The record includes three periods of toxin abundance: one associated with recent, European settlement in the watershed, and the other two during the middle to late Holocene, prior to human impacts on the lake. Each period corresponds to changes in different paleolimnological measurements suggesting drivers of CYN production have varied through time. This CYN record demonstrates the use of sediment toxin concentrations as a tool to reconstruct historic cyanobacterial toxin occurrence and shows that toxin production can occur independent of anthropogenic stressors.     

水华蓝藻对鱼类的营养毒理学效应

水体富营养化导致蓝藻水华的发生已成为全球关注的水环境问题,很多鱼类处于水生态系统食物链的最高级,蓝藻水华的主要次级代谢产物-微囊藻毒素可通过鱼类的摄食活动或生物富集作用在鱼体组织中累积,并通过食物链危及人类健康。近年来,微囊藻毒素对鱼类的毒性效应引起众多科学家的关注。在天然水体中不少鱼类可以主动摄食蓝藻,所以,水华蓝藻对鱼类来说既具有营养物作用、也具有潜在的毒性作用。鉴于目前机械收获的水华蓝藻生物量资源化利用问题以及水产饲料业亟需大力开发鱼粉替代蛋白源的需要,从营养学和毒理学这两个角度来研究水华蓝藻对鱼类的营养作用和毒性效应具有较高的理论和现实意义。主要概述了蓝藻粉、蓝藻细胞对鱼类的营养学和毒理学效应,以期拓展水华蓝藻对鱼类毒性效应的研究视野,同时也为水华蓝藻的资源化利用提供新的思路。     

Health impacts from cyanobacteria harmful algae blooms: Implications for the North American Great Lakes

Harmful cyanobacterial blooms (cHABs) have significant socioeconomic and ecological costs, which impact drinking water, fisheries, agriculture, tourism, real estate, water quality, food web resilience and habitats, and contribute to anoxia and fish kills. Many of these costs are well described, but in fact are largely unmeasured. Worldwide cHABs can produce toxins (cyanotoxins), which cause acute or chronic health effects in mammals (including humans) and other organisms. There are few attempts to characterize the full health-related effects other than acute incidences, which may go unrecorded. At present these are difficult to access and evaluate and may be ascribed to other causes. Such information is fundamental to measure the full costs of cHABs and inform the need for often-costly management and remediation. This paper synthesizes information on cHABs occurrence, toxicology and health effects, and relates this to past and current conditions in the Great Lakes, a major global resource which supplies 84% of the surface water in North America. This geographic region has seen a significant resurgence of cHABs since the 1980s. In particular we focus on Lake Erie, where increased reporting of cHABs has occurred from the early 1990's. We evaluate available information and case reports of cHAB-related illness and death and show that cHABs occur throughout the basin, with reports of animal illness and death, especially dogs and livestock. Lake Erie has consistently experienced cHABs and cyanotoxins in the last decade with probable cases of human illness, while the other Great Lakes show intermittent cHABs and toxins, but no confirmed reports on illness or toxicity. The dominant toxigenic cyanobacterium is the genus Microcystis known to produce microcystins. The presence of other cyanotoxins (anatoxin-a, paralytic shellfish toxins) implicates other toxigenic cyanobacteria such as Anabaena (Dolichospermum) and Lyngbya.     

The cyanotoxin-microcystins: current overview

The monocyclic heptapeptides microcystins (MCs), are a group of hepatotoxins, produced worldwide by some bloom-forming cyanobacterial species/strains both in marine and freshwater ecosystems. MCs are synthesized non-ribosomally by large multi-enzyme complexes consisting of different modules including polyketide synthases and non-ribosomal peptide synthetases, as well as several tailoring enzymes. More than 85 different variants of MCs have been reported to exist in nature. These are chemically stable, but undergo bio-degradation in natural water reservoirs. Direct or indirect intake of MCs through the food web is assumed to be a highly exposed route in risk assessment of cyanotoxins. MCs are the most commonly found cyanobacterial toxins that cause a major challenge for the production of safe drinking water and pose a serious threat to global public health as well as fundamental ecological processes due to their potential carcinogenicity. Here, we emphasize recent updates on different modes of action of their possible carcinogenicity. Besides the harmful effects on human and animals, MC producing cyanobacteria can also present a harmful effect on growth and development of agriculturally important plants. Overall, this review emphasizes the current understanding of MCs with their occurrence, geographical distribution, accumulation in the aquatic as well as terrestrial ecosystems, biosynthesis, climate-driven changes in their synthesis, stability and current aspects on its degradation, analysis, mode of action and their ecotoxicological effects.     

Cyanotoxin production and phylogeny of benthic cyanobacterial strains isolated from the northeast of Brazil

Most of the knowledge about cyanobacteria toxin production is traditionally associated with planktonic cyanobacterial blooms. However, some studies have been showing that benthic cyanobacteria can produce cyanotoxins. According to this, we aimed to evaluate the production of microcystins and saxitoxins in benthic cyanobacteria isolated from aquatic ecosystems in the Northeast of Brazil and to use a polyphasic approach for their identification. Forty-five clonal strains were isolated from rivers and water supply reservoirs, and identified using morphological and molecular phylogenetic characteristics. In order to evaluate the toxins production, the strains were screened for genes involved in the biosynthesis of microcystins and saxitoxins, positive results were confirmed and cyanotoxins quantified using HPLC. Eight species were identified belonging to the Phormidiaceae, Pseudanabaenaceae and Nostocaceae families. This is the first study in Brazil that shows that strains from the Geitlerinema genus correspond to at least three phylogenetic lineages, which possibly correspond to three distinct species to be subsequently reclassified. The strains that showed one of the genes involved in the cyanotoxins production were analyzed by HPLC and Geitlerinema amphibium, Geitlerinema lemmermannii, Cylindrospermum stagnale and Phormidium uncinatum were identified as producing one or more saxitoxins variants. Thus, this is the first report of saxitoxins production for those first three species and the first report in Brazil for P. uncinatum.     

Cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in fishponds and their effects on fish tissue

Cyanobacteria can produce toxic metabolites known as cyanotoxins. Common and frequently investigated cyanotoxins include microcystins (MCs), nodularin (NOD) and saxitoxins (STXs). During the summer of 2011 extensive cyanobacterial growth was found in several fishponds in Serbia. Sampling of the water and fish (common carp, Cyprinus carpio) was performed. Water samples from 13 fishponds were found to contain saxitoxin, microcystin, and/or nodularin. LC–MS/MS showed that MC-RR was present in samples of fish muscle tissue. Histopathological analyses of fish grown in fishponds with cyanotoxin production showed histopathological damage to liver, kidney, gills, intestines and muscle tissues. This study is among the first so far to report severe hyperplasia of intestinal epithelium and severe degeneration of muscle tissue of fish after cyanobacterial exposure. These findings emphasize the importance of cyanobacterial and cyanotoxin monitoring in fishponds in order to recognize cyanotoxins and their potential effects on fish used for human consumption and, further, on human health.     

The rise of potentially toxin producing cyanobacteria in Lake Naivasha,Great African Rift Valley,Kenya

Lake Naivasha, an important inland water ecosystem and a crucial freshwater resource in the Great African Rift Valley, has displayed clear signals of degradation in recent decades. We studied the phytoplankton composition and biomass levels in the period 2001–2013 and noted a progressive increase in the occurrence of potentially toxic cyanobacteria. Analyses for the presence of cyanotoxins such as microcystins (MC), cylindrospermopsin (CYN) and anatoxin-a (ATX-a) were carried out on samples collected in 2008–2013. Among the cyanotoxins tested, low concentrations of MC were detected in the lake. This is the first record of the occurrence of MC in Lake Naivasha. For the first time, molecular phylogenetic investigations of field clones of cyanobacteria from Lake Naivasha were carried out to establish the taxa of the dominant species. Amplification of the aminotrasferase (AMT) domain responsible for cyanotoxin production confirmed the presence of the mcyE gene belonging to the microcystin synthesis gene cluster in field samples containing Microcystis and Planktothrix species. These findings suggest that toxin producing cyanobacteria could become a threat to users of this over-exploited tropical lake in the near future.     

微囊藻毒素生物治理技术研究进展*

近年来,随着全球气候变暖和水体富营养化程度加深,蓝藻水华频繁暴发。微囊藻毒素是有害蓝藻产生及释放的危害最大的一类蓝藻毒素,对生态环境和公众健康造成了严重的威胁。因此,寻求有效的微囊藻毒素降解方法已成为全球科学领域的研究热点。针对微囊藻毒素生物治理技术展开综述,阐述了微囊藻毒素的产生、理化性质及生物毒性,总结了微生物、水生植物、浮游动物等自然生物降解微囊藻毒素的能力。在此基础上概述了生物滤池、人工湿地、生态浮床、膜生物膜反应器等生物治理技术对微囊藻毒素的去除效果,分析了现有微囊藻毒素生物处理方法的优势和局限性,并对今后的研究方向提出展望,为解决水环境中微囊藻毒素的污染问题提供思路。     

Harmful cyanobacteria and their cyanotoxins in Egyptian fresh waters – state of knowledge and research needs

Cyanobacterial blooms have increased in freshwater ecosystems worldwide in the last century, mostly resulting from eutrophication and climate change. These blooms represent serious threats to environmental and human health because of the production of harmful metabolites, called cyanotoxins. Like many countries, Egypt has been plagued with cyanobacterial blooms in most water sources, including the Nile River, irrigation canals, lakes and fishponds. However, the data about cyanotoxins produced in these blooms are limited. Only two types of cyanotoxins, microcystins and cylindrospermopsin, have been identified and characterised, mainly from Microcystis and Cylindrospermopsis blooms. The data revealed the presence of microcystins in raw and treated drinking waters at concentrations (0.05–3.8 µg l^?1), exceeding the WHO limit (1 µg l^?1) in some drinking water treatment plants. In addition, Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus caught from ponds containing heavy cyanobacterial blooms have accumulated considerable amounts of cyanotoxins in their edible tissues. The data presented here could be the catalyst for the establishment of a monitoring and management programme for harmful cyanobacteria and their cyanotoxins in Egyptian fresh waters. This review also elucidates the important research gaps and possible avenues for future research on cyanobacterial blooms and cyanotoxins in Egypt.     

Unraveling Cyanobacteria Ecology in Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP)

Cyanobacteria may be important components of wastewater treatment plants’ (WWTP) biological treatment, reaching levels of 100% of the total phytoplankton density in some systems. The occurrence of cyanobacteria and their associated toxins in these systems present a risk to the aquatic environments and to public health, changing drastically the ecology of microbial communities and associated organisms. Many studies reveal that cyanotoxins, namely microcystins may not act as antibacterial compounds but they might have negative impacts on protozoans, inhibiting their growing and respiration rates and leading to changes in cellular morphology, decreasing consequently the treatment efficacy in WWTP. On the other side, flagellates and ciliates may ingest some cyanobacteria species while the formation of colonies by these prokaryotes may be seen as a defense mechanism against predation. Problems regarding the occurrence of cyanobacteria in WWTP are not limited to toxin production. Other cyanobacterial secondary metabolites may act as antibacterial compounds leading to the disruption of bacterial communities that biologically convert organic materials in WWTP being fundamental to the efficacy of the process. Studies reveal that the potential antibacterial capacity differs according to cyanobacteria specie and it seems to be more effective in Gram (+) bacteria. Thus, to understand the effects of cyanobacterial communities in the efficiency of the waste water treatment it will be necessary to unravel the complex interactions between cyanobacterial populations, bacteria, and protozoa in WWTP in situ studies.