Benthic cyanobacteria (Oscillatoriaceae) that produce microcystin-LR, isolated from four reservoirs in southern California

Cyanobacteria that produce the toxin microcystin have been isolated from many parts of the world. Most of these organisms are planktonic; however, we report on several microcystin-producing benthic filamentous cyanobacterial isolates from four drinking-water reservoirs in southern California (USA): Lake Mathews, Lake Skinner, Diamond Valley Lake (DVL), and Lake Perris. Some samples of benthic material from these reservoirs tested positive for microcystin by an ELISA tube assay, and all the positive samples had in common a green filamentous cyanobacterium 10–15 μm in diameter. Seventeen unialgal strains of the organism were isolated and tested positive by ELISA, and 11 cultures of these strains were found to contain high concentrations of microcystin-LR (90–432 μg L−1). The cultures were analyzed by protein phosphatase inhibition assay (PPIA) and HPLC with photodiode array detector (PDA) or liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Microcystin per unit carbon was determined for six cultures and ranged from 1.15 to 4.15 μg mg−1 C. Phylogenetic analysis of four cultures from Lake Skinner and DVL using cyanobacterial-specific PCR and sequencing of the partial 16S rRNA gene suggested the highest similarity to an unidentified cyanobacterium in the oscillatoriales, and to a Phormidium sp. Morphologically, some of the isolates were similar to Oscillatoria, and others resembled Lyngbya. The significance of these organisms lies in the relative scarcity of known toxin producers among freshwater benthic cyanobacteria, and also as a source of cell-bound microcystin in these reservoirs.