Low levels of contaminants stimulate harmful algal organisms and enrich their toxins
Agathokleous, Evgenios (Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology)
Peñuelas, Josep (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Azevedo, Ricardo A. (Universida de São Paolo. Departamento de Genética)
Rillig, Matthias (Freie Universität Berlin. Institut of Biology)
Sun, Haoyu (Shanghai University. School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering)
Calabrese, Edward J. (University of Massachusetts. Department of Environmental Health Sciences)

Date:	2022
Abstract:	A widespread increase in intense phytoplankton blooms has been noted in lakes worldwide since the 1980s, with the summertime peak intensity amplifying in most lakes. Such blooms cause annual economic losses of multibillion USD and present a major challenge, affecting 11 out of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Here, we evaluate recent scientific evidence for hormetic effects of emerging contaminants and regulated pollutants on Microcystis sp. , the most notorious cyanobacteria forming harmful algal blooms and releasing phycotoxins in eutrophic freshwater systems. This new evidence leads to the conclusion that pollution is linked to algal bloom intensification. Concentrations of contaminants that are considerably smaller than the threshold for toxicity enhance the formation of harmful colonies, increase the production of phycotoxins and their release into the environment, and lower the efficacy of algaecides to control algal blooms. The low-dose enhancement of microcystins is attributed to the up-regulation of a protein controlling microcystin release (McyH) and various microcystin synthetases in tandem with the global nitrogen regulator Ycf28, nonribosomal peptide synthetases, and several ATP-binding cassette transport proteins. Given that colony formation and phycotoxin production and release are enhanced by contaminant concentrations smaller than the toxicological threshold and are widely occurring in the environment, the effect of contaminants on harmful algal blooms is more prevalent than previously thought. Climate change and nutrient enrichment, known mechanisms underpinning algal blooms, are thus joined by low-level pollutants as another causal mechanism.
Grants:	Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2020PANDE00117 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-1005
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Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Biphasic response ; Cyanobacteria ; Dose-response relationship ; Emerging contaminants ; Harmful microalgal bloom ; Hormetic effect
Published in:	Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 56, issue 17 (September 2022) , p. 11909-12784, ISSN 1520-5851

DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c02763

Postprint 33 p, 1.4 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles