Synergy effect of environmental factors on the growth and toxins production by microcystis aeruginosa

Abstract

Microcystis is one of the most common algal genera that causes water eutrophication. The effect of water quality on the growth and toxins production of Microcystis has been attracting high research attentions. The relationship of different combinations of temperature, illumination intensity, nitrogen and phosphorus with the growth and toxin production of Microcystis aeruginosa was explored through an orthogonal test. Results showed that illumination intensity influences the growth of Microcystis aeruginosa mostly, followed by temperature, total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). Illumination intensity affects the toxin production of Microcystis aeruginosa most significantly, followed by TP, TN and temperature successively. 200Lx illumination intensity, 22°C temperature, 20 mg.L-1 TN and 0.6 mg.L-1 are the optimum toxin production conditions for Microcystis aeruginosa.