Use of PCR based technologies for risk assessment of a winter cyanobacterial bloom in Lake Midmar, South Africa

dc.contributor.authorOberholster, Paul Johan
dc.contributor.authorBotha, Anna-Maria
dc.date.accessioned2008-05-16T11:53:26Z
dc.date.available2008-05-16T11:53:26Z
dc.date.issued2007-08
dc.description.abstractToxic freshwater cyanobacterial blooms are potential health hazards in water supply reservoirs and therefore predicting bloom events is an important goal of monitoring fresh water programmes. The recent identification of the mcy genes in the production of microcystin synthetase for the first time provides an avenue to study microcystin production at a genetic level. This paper reports analysis of a winter cyanobacterial bloom by use of quantitative real-time PCR, ELISA and PP2A methods for detection of strains present and determination of their toxigenicity in Lake Midmar South Africa. We further investigated the taxonomic composition of phytoplankton at different sampling sites and the physical and chemical changes caused in the surface water of Lake Midmar by waterfowl. Our study clearly demonstrates that the interaction between low surface water temperatures and productivity was overshadowed by the response to nutrients and nutrient availability. We also confirmed the presence of the toxic cyanobacterial strains through the use of molecular markers that detect the presence of some of the mcy genes in the mcy gene cluster that is able to synthesize microcystin toxins in Microcystis spp.en
dc.format.extent461436 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.citationOberholster, PJ & Botha, AM 2007, 'Use of PCR based technologies for risk assessment of a winter cyanobacterial bloom in Lake Midmar, South Africa', African Journal of Biotechnology, vol. 6, no. 15, pp. 1794-1805. [http://www.academicjournals.org/AJB/]en
dc.identifier.issn1684–5315
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/5301
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherAcademic Journalsen
dc.rightsAcademic Journalsen
dc.subjectWinter cyanobacterial bloomen
dc.subjectWaterfowlen
dc.subjectTN:TP ratioen
dc.subjectMcy gene clusteren
dc.subjectQuantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR)en
dc.subjectLake Midmaren
dc.subject.lcshCyanobacterial blooms -- Monitoringen
dc.subject.lcshPolymerase chain reactionen
dc.subject.lcshBacterial pollution of wateren
dc.titleUse of PCR based technologies for risk assessment of a winter cyanobacterial bloom in Lake Midmar, South Africaen
dc.typeArticleen

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