O papel das interações químicas na ocorrência e dominância de cianobactérias formadoras de florações

Abstract

Cyanobacteria have been pointed as one of the main problems in freshwater systems. These blooming microorganisms are potentially toxic and their occurrence have been directly related to the lost of water quality and human health problems. High nitrogen affinity, strategies to storage phosphorus and the ability to adjust their position in the water column are some competitive advantages of cyanobacteria over other phytoplankton components. Recently, mechanisms of chemical communication, such as allelopathy and quorum sensing, have been indicated as an alternative advantage of cyanobacteria. The aim of this study was: 1. to evaluate if Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and Microcystis aeruginosa can interact chemically, and if stressed conditions caused by competition and light can interfere in this relationship; 2. to evaluate how the competition between C. raciborskii and M. aeruginosa can induce morphological variation (colony formation) in M. aeruginosa and how the role of coevaluation. Laboratory experiments were performed and exudates from C. raciborskii and M. aeruginosa, cultivated in different conditions, were added to the same species as target. The results revealed that the strains of C. raciborskii (CYRF) and M. aeruginosa (MIRF), isolated from Funil Reservoir (RJ), showed more responses to chemical interactions than the strains from different places. When CYRF was grown in regular light (100 μmol quanta m-2s-1) and stressed by competition, this strain produced allelochemicals that inhibited the growth of MIRF, while MIRF cultivated in light stress (25 μmol quanta m-2s-1) produced allelochemicals that inhibited the growth of CYRF. It was also observed that both strains have the ability to communicate by quorum sensing. This communication induced growth self-inhibition in CYRF, while it induced colony formation in MIRF. When colony formation was evaluated, the production of inducible molecules to colony formation in MIRF was triggered by the competition with different strains of C. raciborskii, and not only by the competition with CYRF. The results also showed that, among ten strains of M. aeruginosa, only MIRF was able to form colonies when in contact with exudates from competition between CYRF and MIRF. The colony formation signal was pointed as strain-dependent, highlighting the importance of the co-evolution in chemical interactions among cyanobacteria. These results suggest that chemical interactions among species can play an important role, still unexplored, in the dominance and successional pattern of species.