In order to illustrate the effects of released algal organic matter in cyanobacteria blooms on raw water quality and water treatment process, intracellular organic matter (IOM) of Microcystis aeruginosa, which is the dominant species in cyanobacteria blooms, was chosen as a precursor and characterized. In addition, the transformation of IOM and the formation of disinfection byproducts were evaluated at different pH of 6.5, 7.1 and 8.4 after chlorination or bromination, with subsequent correlation analysis. The results indicated that IOM was primarily composed of macromolecular matter, i. e. , the species with relative molecular weight of > 30 x 10(3), constituting 68.8% of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix indicated that IOM was mainly composed of aromatic protein-like matter with an intensity of 92.6 AU x L x mg(-1). After reaction with chlorine or bromine, the intensity of aromatic protein-like peaks decreased sharply by 76.6% - 93.3%, and its reduction correlated well with the formation of trihalomethane (THMs, R2 = 0.81) and haloacetic acid (HAAs, R2 = 0.77). The formation of THMs and HAAs increased with the increase in pH. Compared with chlorine, bromine formed more THMs and HAAs, and tended to form highly halogenated HAAs. However, with increasing pH, the reactivity with IOM between chlorine and bromine was closer, i.e, k(OBr-IOM)/k(OCl-(IOM) < k(HOBr-IOM/k(HOCl-IOM).