Allelopathic inhibitory effect of Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc. on Microcystis aeruginosa and its physiological mechanism

Eutrophication and algal blooms are the most serious environmental problems in the world, and biological tools, especially the allelopathic inhibitory effects of aquatic macrophytes on phytoplankton growth have been receiving world-wide attention. In our experiments, the allelopathic inhibitory effect of Myriophyllum aquaticum culture water on Microcystis aeruginosa and its eco-physiological mechanism were investigated by initial addition assays and continuous addition assays. The results showed that the growth of M. aeruginosa was markedly inhibited by M. aquaticum culture water. Compared with initial addition assays, M. aquaticum exhibited stronger inhibitory potential on M. aeruginosa by continuous addition assays, indicating that allelopathic compounds might be excreted continuously by M. aquaticum, and the inhibitory effects would be cumulative. We also found that the relative content of chlorophyll a (Chl a), phycocyanin (PC) and allophycocyanin (APC) of M. aeruginosa decreased to 52.7%, 15.3% and 7.6% respectively after being treated by M. aquaticum culture water for 5 days, and phycobiliprotein (especially APC) decreased more than Chl a. These results suggest that the phycobiliprotein would be the target of allelopathic inhibition of M. aquaticum on M. aeruginosa, and a new macrophyte to control cyanobacterial blooms would be found.