Nonribosomal oligopeptides were used as qualitative and quantitative markers to test whether populations of the toxic freshwater cyanobacterium Planktothrix comprise subpopulations with dissimilar ecological traits. A field program was conducted in Lake Steinsfjorden (Norway), where Planktothrix has dominated the phytoplankton community for decades, allowing the present study to disregard other potential producers of nonribosomal oligopeptides. Four chemotypes with distinct cellular oligopeptide patterns were found in the lake. The chemotypes occurred largely unaltered throughout a period of up to 33 yr and differed with respect to seasonal dynamics, depth distribution, and participation in loss processes. Changes in the relative abundance of chemotypes occurred almost constantly and could not be explained with fluctuations in light, temperature, or concentration of macronutrients but might have been due to differences among chemotypes in depth regulation or interaction with grazers or pathogens. Chemotypes correlated weakly with taxonomic groups and genotypes defined on the basis of phycocyanin operon deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences. Our findings suggest that first, oligopeptide chemotypes can have dissimilar ecological traits and therefore interact differently with their environment; second, populations of toxic freshwater cyanobacteria can comprise multiple ecologically distinct subpopulations; and, third, the relative abundance of these may vary, causing a high variability in wholepopulation properties. The latter was demonstrated for the microcystin-related toxicity of Planktothrix. The consequences of the present findings for the taxonomy of Planktothrix are discussed.

Nitrate-and phosphate-limited conditions had no effect on toxin production by Microcystis aeruginosa. In contrast, iron-limited conditions influenced toxin production by M. aeruginosa, and iron uptake was light dependent. A model for production of toxin by M. aeruginosa is proposed.

A dysregulated metal homeostasis is associated with both Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's (PD) diseases; AD patients have decreased cortex and elevated serum copper levels along with extracellular amyloid-beta plaques containing copper, iron, and zinc. For AD, a putative hepcidin-mediated lowering of cortex copper mechanism is suggested. An age-related mild chronic inflammation and/or elevated intracellular iron can trigger hepcidin production followed by its binding to ferroportin which is the only neuronal iron exporter, thereby subjecting it to lysosomal degradation. Subsequently raised neuronal iron levels can induce translation of the ferroportin assisting and copper binding amyloid precursor protein (APP); constitutive APP transmembrane passage lowers the copper pool which is important for many enzymes. Using in silico gene expression analyses, we here show significantly decreased expression of copper-dependent enzymes in AD brain and metallothioneins were upregulated in both diseases. Although few AD exposure risk factors are known, AD-related tauopathies can result from cyanobacterial microcystin and β-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) intake. Several environmental exposures may represent risk factors for PD; for this disease neurodegeneration is likely to involve mitochondrial dysfunction, microglial activation, and neuroinflammation. Administration of metal chelators and anti-inflammatory agents could affect disease outcomes.

Interactions between different phytoplankton taxa and heterotrophic bacterial communities within aquatic environments can differentially support growth of various heterotrophic bacterial species. In this study, phytoplankton diversity was studied using traditional microscopic techniques and the bacterial communities associated with phytoplankton bloom were studied using High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) analysis of 16S rRNA gene amplicons from the V1-V3 and V3-V4 hypervariable regions. Samples were collected from Lake Akersvannet, a eutrophic lake in South Norway, during the growth season from June to August 2013. Microscopic examination revealed that the phytoplankton community was mostly represented by Cyanobacteria and the dinoflagellate Ceratium hirundinella. The HTS results revealed that Proteobacteria (Alpha, Beta, and Gamma), Bacteriodetes, Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia dominated the bacterial community, with varying relative abundances throughout the sampling season. Species level identification of Cyanobacteria showed a mixed population of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, Microcystis aeruginosa and Woronichinia naegeliana. A significant proportion of the microbial community was composed of unclassified taxa which might represent locally adapted freshwater bacterial groups. Comparison of cyanobacterial species composition from HTS and microscopy revealed quantitative discrepancies, indicating a need for cross validation of results. To our knowledge, this is the first study that uses HTS methods for studying the bacterial community associated with phytoplankton blooms in a Norwegian lake. The study demonstrates the value of considering results from multiple methods when studying bacterial communities.

The comparability of current microcystin analysis methods has been evaluated in an international intercomparison exercise. The focus was on the analysis of microcystins by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultraviolet or photodiode-array detection (HPLC-PDA/UV), currently the most widespread method for microcystin analysis, but the exercise was open for other methods such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), protein phosphatase inhibition assay (PPA) and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS).Thirty-one laboratories from 13 countries participated in the study. For a microcystin-LR (MC-LR) standard solution (S1) of undisclosed quantity, and for a field sample (S3) from a natural cyanobacterial bloom, repeatabilities between 4 and 15% and reproducibilities between 24 and 49% were obtained. No significant differences between single methods were found for S1 and S3, except for a significantly higher repeatability value of ELISA for S1. However, the analysis of microcystins in the field sample (S3) by HPLC-PDA/UV was significantly more variable than for the standard solution (S1). Both the extraction and the analysis of the microcystins appeared to contribute to this variability. It is concluded that standard MC-LR (S1) can be measured with adequate precision by all participating laboratories independently of the method used. With respect to the different methods used the results for the field sample can also be regarded as satisfactory, but clearly showed the need for improvement by standardisation between laboratories. Furthermore, quantification with in-house standards compared to quantification using the supplied MC-LR standard indicated that routine microcystin analysis in laboratories may be also influenced by the variability of available standards, emphasising the need for the production of certified reference materials (CRM).