UPSI Digital Repository (UDRep)
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UPSI Digital Repository (UDRep)
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| Abstract : Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris |
| Cyanobacterial bloom is a serious threat to the safety of public drinking water resources due to potential cyanotoxin microcystin contamination. Water operators inadequately monitor occurrences and dynamics of cyanobacterial blooms and their toxic potential. An effective monitoring and risk assessment can be challenging as the commonly used cyanobacterial biomass indicator might not explain the actual bloom’s toxicity. This study aimed to determine a reliable cyanobacterial biomass indicator for monitoring toxigenic blooms in the reservoir used for public drinking water supply. The reservoir was sampled for 12 months at three sampling sites to determine its water physicochemical properties, cyanobacterial biomass abundance, and toxigenic potential estimated by mcyE gene copy numbers. Cyanobacterial biomass was quantified as total chlorophyll-a and blue-green algae phycocyanin (BGA-PC). The results showed that total chlorophyll-a and BGA-PC are highly variable on temporal and spatial scales. Microcystis spp. was the dominant toxigenic cyanobacteria, with the mean mcyE gene concentrations ranging from 29.5 to 1,180,144.06 copies/mL. Meanwhile, Anabaena spp. and Planktothrix spp. were also detected in several samples, with the mean mcyE gene concentrations ranging from 28.25 to 3,877.05 copies/mL and 18.45 to 3,017.4 copies/mL, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that mcyE gene was only significantly correlated to BGA-PC (R = 0.553, P < 0.05). Hence, BGA-PC can be utilized as a reliable cyanobacterial biomass indicator for monitoring toxigenic cyanobacterial blooms. This first report on toxigenic cyanobacterial biomass in the reservoir signifies the importance of bloom monitoring and microcystin risk assessment using blue-green algae phycocyanin pigment. © 2024, Thai Society of Higher Eduation Institutes on Environment. All rights reserved. |
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