Occurrence of Harmful Cyanobacteria in Drinking Water from a Severely Drought-Impacted Semi-arid Region

Harmful cyanobacterial blooms have become increasingly common in freshwater ecosystems in recent decades, mainly due to eutrophication and climate change. Water becomes unreliable for human consumption. Here, we report a comprehensive study carried out to investigate the water quality of several Cam...

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Main Authors: Juline M. Walter, Fabyano A. C. Lopes, Mônica Lopes-Ferreira, Lívia M. Vidal, Luciana Leomil, Fabiana Melo, Girlene S. de Azevedo, Rossandra M. S. Oliveira, Alba J. Medeiros, Adriana S. O. Melo, Carlos E. De Rezende, Amilcar Tanuri, Fabiano L. Thompson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-02-01
Series:Frontiers in Microbiology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00176/full
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spelling doaj-a34e1e52aae848ed97ede274587e9fbf2020-11-24T22:15:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2018-02-01910.3389/fmicb.2018.00176318788Occurrence of Harmful Cyanobacteria in Drinking Water from a Severely Drought-Impacted Semi-arid RegionJuline M. Walter0Fabyano A. C. Lopes1Mônica Lopes-Ferreira2Lívia M. Vidal3Luciana Leomil4Fabiana Melo5Girlene S. de Azevedo6Rossandra M. S. Oliveira7Alba J. Medeiros8Adriana S. O. Melo9Carlos E. De Rezende10Amilcar Tanuri11Fabiano L. Thompson12Laboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, and SAGE-COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilLaboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, and SAGE-COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilImmunoregulation Unit, Special Laboratory of Applied Toxinology, Butantan Institute, São Paulo, BrazilLaboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, and SAGE-COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilLaboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, and SAGE-COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilInstituto de Pesquisa Professor Joaquim Amorim Neto, Campina Grande, BrazilInstituto de Pesquisa Professor Joaquim Amorim Neto, Campina Grande, BrazilSecretaria de Saúde de Campina Grande, Campina Grande, BrazilSecretaria de Saúde de Campina Grande, Campina Grande, BrazilInstituto de Pesquisa Professor Joaquim Amorim Neto, Campina Grande, BrazilLaboratory of Environmental Sciences, State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, BrazilLaboratory of Virology, Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilLaboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, and SAGE-COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilHarmful cyanobacterial blooms have become increasingly common in freshwater ecosystems in recent decades, mainly due to eutrophication and climate change. Water becomes unreliable for human consumption. Here, we report a comprehensive study carried out to investigate the water quality of several Campina Grande reservoirs. Our approach included metagenomics, microbial abundance quantification, ELISA test for three cyanotoxins (microcystin, nodularins, and cylindrospermopsin), and in vivo ecotoxicological tests with zebrafish embryos. Cytometry analysis showed high cyanobacterial abundance, while metagenomics identified an average of 10.6% of cyanobacterial sequences, and demonstrated the presence of Microcystis, Cylindrospermopsis, and toxin coding genes in all ponds. Zebrafish embryos reared with pond water had high mortality and diverse malformations. Among the ponds analyzed, Araçagi showed the highest lethality (an average of 62.9 ± 0.8%), followed by Boqueirão (lethality average of 62.5 ± 0.8%). Here, we demonstrate that water from ponds undergoing extremely drought conditions have an abundance of potentially harmful cyanobacteria and their toxins. Our findings are consistent with a scenario in which polluted drinking water poses a great risk to human health.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00176/fullcyanotoxinszebrafishmetagenomicspublic healthyeutrophication
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Juline M. Walter
Fabyano A. C. Lopes
Mônica Lopes-Ferreira
Lívia M. Vidal
Luciana Leomil
Fabiana Melo
Girlene S. de Azevedo
Rossandra M. S. Oliveira
Alba J. Medeiros
Adriana S. O. Melo
Carlos E. De Rezende
Amilcar Tanuri
Fabiano L. Thompson
spellingShingle Juline M. Walter
Fabyano A. C. Lopes
Mônica Lopes-Ferreira
Lívia M. Vidal
Luciana Leomil
Fabiana Melo
Girlene S. de Azevedo
Rossandra M. S. Oliveira
Alba J. Medeiros
Adriana S. O. Melo
Carlos E. De Rezende
Amilcar Tanuri
Fabiano L. Thompson
Occurrence of Harmful Cyanobacteria in Drinking Water from a Severely Drought-Impacted Semi-arid Region
Frontiers in Microbiology
cyanotoxins
zebrafish
metagenomics
public healthy
eutrophication
author_facet Juline M. Walter
Fabyano A. C. Lopes
Mônica Lopes-Ferreira
Lívia M. Vidal
Luciana Leomil
Fabiana Melo
Girlene S. de Azevedo
Rossandra M. S. Oliveira
Alba J. Medeiros
Adriana S. O. Melo
Carlos E. De Rezende
Amilcar Tanuri
Fabiano L. Thompson
author_sort Juline M. Walter
title Occurrence of Harmful Cyanobacteria in Drinking Water from a Severely Drought-Impacted Semi-arid Region
title_short Occurrence of Harmful Cyanobacteria in Drinking Water from a Severely Drought-Impacted Semi-arid Region
title_full Occurrence of Harmful Cyanobacteria in Drinking Water from a Severely Drought-Impacted Semi-arid Region
title_fullStr Occurrence of Harmful Cyanobacteria in Drinking Water from a Severely Drought-Impacted Semi-arid Region
title_full_unstemmed Occurrence of Harmful Cyanobacteria in Drinking Water from a Severely Drought-Impacted Semi-arid Region
title_sort occurrence of harmful cyanobacteria in drinking water from a severely drought-impacted semi-arid region
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Microbiology
issn 1664-302X
publishDate 2018-02-01
description Harmful cyanobacterial blooms have become increasingly common in freshwater ecosystems in recent decades, mainly due to eutrophication and climate change. Water becomes unreliable for human consumption. Here, we report a comprehensive study carried out to investigate the water quality of several Campina Grande reservoirs. Our approach included metagenomics, microbial abundance quantification, ELISA test for three cyanotoxins (microcystin, nodularins, and cylindrospermopsin), and in vivo ecotoxicological tests with zebrafish embryos. Cytometry analysis showed high cyanobacterial abundance, while metagenomics identified an average of 10.6% of cyanobacterial sequences, and demonstrated the presence of Microcystis, Cylindrospermopsis, and toxin coding genes in all ponds. Zebrafish embryos reared with pond water had high mortality and diverse malformations. Among the ponds analyzed, Araçagi showed the highest lethality (an average of 62.9 ± 0.8%), followed by Boqueirão (lethality average of 62.5 ± 0.8%). Here, we demonstrate that water from ponds undergoing extremely drought conditions have an abundance of potentially harmful cyanobacteria and their toxins. Our findings are consistent with a scenario in which polluted drinking water poses a great risk to human health.
topic cyanotoxins
zebrafish
metagenomics
public healthy
eutrophication
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00176/full
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