Toxins (Mar 2024)

Microbial Diversity Impacts Non-Protein Amino Acid Production in Cyanobacterial Bloom Cultures Collected from Lake Winnipeg

  • Stephanie L. Bishop,
  • Julia T. Solonenka,
  • Ryland T. Giebelhaus,
  • David T. R. Bakker,
  • Isaac T. S. Li,
  • Susan J. Murch

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins16040169
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 4
p. 169

Abstract

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Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada is heavily impacted by harmful algal blooms that contain non-protein amino acids (NPAAs) produced by cyanobacteria: N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine (AEG), β-aminomethyl-L-alanine (BAMA), β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), and 2,4-diaminobutyric acid (DAB). Our objective was to investigate the impact of microbial diversity on NPAA production by cyanobacteria using semi-purified crude cyanobacterial cultures established from field samples collected by the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium between 2016 and 2021. NPAAs were detected and quantified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) using validated analytical methods, while Shannon and Simpson alpha diversity scores were determined from 16S rRNA metagenomic sequences. Alpha diversity in isolate cultures was significantly decreased compared to crude cyanobacterial cultures (p p p p < 0.05), while DAB concentrations were similar in crude and isolate cultures. These results demonstrate that microbial community complexity impacts NPAA production by cyanobacteria and related organisms.

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