Spatio-temporal variation of toxin-producing gene abundance in Microcystis aeruginosa from Poyang Lake

Abstract Microcystis aeruginosa causes massive blooms in eutrophic freshwater and releases microcystin. Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and has kept at a mid-nutrient level in recent years. However, there is little research on microcystins production in Poyang Lake. In this study, water and sediment samples from ten sampling sites in Poyang Lake were collected from May to December in 2020, and from January to April in 2021 respectively. Microcystis genes ( mcyA,mcyB,16s rDNA ) were quantified by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR analysis,and then the spatial and temporal variation of mcy genes, physicochemical factors and bacterial population structure in the lake was analyzed. The relationship between the abundance of mcy genes and physicochemical factors in water column were also revealed. Results indicated that the microcystin-producing genes mcyA and mcyB showed significant differences in spatial and temporal levels as well, which is closely related to the physicochemical factors especially the water temperature(p < 0.05) and the nitrogen content(p < 0.05). The abundance of mcy genes in the sediment in December affected the abundance of mcy genes in the water column in the next year, while the toxic Microcystis would accumulate in the sediment. In addition to the toxic Microcystis , we also found a large number of non-toxic Microcystis in the water column and sediment, the ratio of toxic to non-toxic species can also affect the toxicity production of Microcystis aeruginosa . Overall, the results showed that Microcystis aeruginosa toxin-producing genes in Poyang Lake distributed spatially and temporally which related to the physicochemical factors of Poyang Lake.