PREDICTING ALTERNATIVE MITIGATION EFFORTS OF CYANOBACTERIA HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS THROUGH THEIR ENCOMPASSING HETEROTROPHIC BACTERIAL COMMUNITY
Cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) occur when a cyanobacterial environment experiences an influx of excess nutrients or aggravating environmental conditions such as eutrophication or seasonal rises in temperatures. This induces the cyanobacteria population to multiply rapidly and generate a bloom, causing environmental damage to biodiversity and aquatic economic ventures. The framework of CyanoHABs involves dominant cyanobacteria species sustained by a community of non-dominant heterotrophic bacteria. The mutualistic or parasitic exchange of resources between the heterotrophic bacteria and cyanobacteria provides the cyanobacteria with nutrients it lacks, causing its population to surge. Five cyanobacteria communal samples were collected in areas where blooming occurred. The samples were then grown on agar plates and their isolated colonies were qualitatively separated by color. 16S Sanger sequencing and BLASTn searching were performed on the DNA of the isolated colonies to verify the matching phylogenetics of their top BLAST matches. MiSeq barcoding analysis was then done to determine the sequences of the samples and establish the species-percentage makeup of each communal sample. We found that large percentages of each sample contained phyla of Cyanobacteria, Bacteriodota, Alphaproteobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria. Furthermore, we were able to determine each sample contained varying abundances of surrounding heterotrophic bacteria. These are the first steps to solving the issue of CyanoHABs by looking at its supporting microbial community. Future steps will involve recognizing a mutualistic or parasitic metabolic exchange between the heterotrophic bacteria and cyanobacteria and then engineering an organism or process that intercepts the exchange in order to inhibit the CyanoHAB.
Hi! My interests involving algae blooms began when I was walking our Florida beaches and saw one, noticing a foul stench and dead fish nearby. I wondered how I can be part of the reduction of such blooms from then on. So, I worked with Dr. Jose Lopez at NSU's Oceanographic Center in order to investigate how to mitigate these blooms from its internal bacterial community.