The increasingly frequent algal blooms in freshwater have become a major environmental problem in the world. In recent years, algae removal by the biological method is receiving more attention for its eco-friendly characteristics. In this study, we examined the effects of Bellamya aeruginosa, a common macrobenthic snail in eutrophic lakes in China, on the growth and photosynthesis activities of the common algae occurred in freshwater blooms, including cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa, coupled with green algae Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus obliquus. The main aims were to clarify the interactive relationships between B. aeruginosa and algae, and to verify feasibility of using B. aeruginosa as an algal-removing organism. The results showed that B. aeruginosa could feed a large amount of algae cells in a short period after inoculation, and reached the maximal removal rate of toxic and non-toxic M. aeruginosa as well as S. obliquus within 12 hours, which were 73.7%, 73.2%, and 51.1%, respectively. Furthermore, its feeding on C. vulgaris was stronger than on other algae, with the removal rate reaching 99.2% by the end of the experiment. The microcystins produced by the toxic M. aeruginosa accumulated in the body of B. aeruginosa induced the histopathological changes in the liver tissue, and thereby hindered the feeding of B. aeruginosa. In the late stage of the experiment, the photosynthetic activities of the algal cells under each treatment were significantly lower than that in the control, indicating that the feeding of B. aeruginosa damaged algal cells and inhibited their proliferation. In addition, in the mixture of non-toxic M. aeruginosa and S. obliquus, the selective feeding of B. aeruginosa caused the dominance of non-toxic M. aeruginosa to be replaced by S. obliquus. Therefore, B. aeruginosa could inhibit the photosynthesis and reduce the biomass of algae through feeding, and thus would eliminate or mitigate the formation of algal blooms.
藻类水华频发已成为全球性的水环境问题,近年来,生物控藻法因具有环境友好的特点而备受关注。本研究以我国富营养化湖泊中常见大型底栖动物铜锈环棱螺为操纵生物,通过室内培养试验,研究了其对水华水体中常见蓝藻铜绿微囊藻、绿藻普通小球藻和斜生栅藻生长及光合活性的影响,以期阐明螺-藻间相互作用关系,探究铜锈环棱螺作为生物操纵物种的可行性。结果表明: 铜锈环棱螺能在短时间内大量摄食藻细胞,其对铜绿微囊藻产毒株和不产毒株以及斜生栅藻的去除率均在12 h内达到最大值,分别为73.7%、73.2%和51.1%;其对普通小球藻的摄食强于其他藻类,至试验结束时去除率达到99.2%。产毒铜绿微囊藻产生的微囊藻毒素会在铜锈环棱螺体内累积并促发其肝脏病理学变化,进而阻碍铜锈环棱螺的摄食。试验后期各处理组藻细胞光合活性均显著低于对照组,表明铜锈环棱螺的摄食作用对藻细胞造成了损伤,抑制了其大量增殖。此外,当不产毒铜绿微囊藻与斜生栅藻混合时,铜锈环棱螺的选择摄食性导致微囊藻的优势地位被斜生栅藻所取代。因此,铜锈环棱螺可以通过摄食作用抑制藻类的光合活性并降低其生物量,从而在一定程度上抑制或减缓水华的形成。.
Keywords: Bellamya aeruginosa; Chlorella vulgaris; Microcystis aeruginosa; Scenedesmus obliquus; photosynthesis activity.