Present and future potential role of toxin-producing Synechococcus in the tropical region

As anthropogenic induced temperature rises and nutrient loadings increase in fresh and brackish environments, the ecological function of the phytoplankton community is expected to favour the picocyanobacteria, of the genus Synechococcus. Synechococcus is already a ubiquitous cyanobacterium found in both freshwater and marine environments, notwithstanding that the toxigenic species still remains unexplored in many freshwaters. Their fast growth rate and their ability to produce toxins make Synechococcus a potential dominant player in harmful algal blooms under climate change scenarios. This study examines the responses of a novel toxin-producing Synechococcus (i.e., one belonging to a freshwater clade; the other belonging to a brackish clade) to environmental changes that reflect climate change effects. We conducted a series of controlled experiments under present and predicted future temperatures, as well as under various N and P nutrients loadings. Our findings highlight how Synechococcus can be altered by the differing reactions to increasing temperature and nutrients, which resulted in considerable variations in cell abundance, growth rate, death rate, cellular stoichiometry and toxin production. Synechococcus had the highest growth observed at 28 °C, and further increases in temperature resulted in a decline for both fresh and brackish waters. Cellular stoichiometry was also altered, where more nitrogen (N) per cell was required, and the plasticity of N:P was more severe for the brackish clade. However, Synechococcus become more toxic under future scenario. Anatoxin-a (ATX) saw the greatest spike when temperature was at 34 °C especially under P-enrichment conditions. In contrast, Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) was promoted at the lowest tested temperature (25 °C) and under N-limitation. Overall, both temperature and external nutrients are the dominant control over Synechococcus toxins production. A model was also created to assess Synechococcus toxicity to zooplankton grazing. Zooplankton grazing was reduced by two folds under nutrient limitation, but temperature accounted for very insignificant change.