• Environmental Engineering Research
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.397-403
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• 2019

Microcystis sp. is one of the most common harmful cyanobacteria that release toxic substances. Counting algal cells is often used for effective control of harmful algal blooms. However, Microcystis sp. is commonly observed as a colony, so counting individual cells is challenging, as it requires significant time and labor. It is urgent to develop an accurate, simple, and rapid method for counting algal cells for regulatory purposes, estimating the status of blooms, and practicing proper management of water resources. The flow cytometer and microscope (FlowCAM), which is a dynamic imaging particle analyzer, can provide a promising alternative for rapid and simple cell counting. However, there is no accurate method for counting individual cells within a Microcystis colony. Furthermore, cell counting based on two-dimensional images may yield inaccurate results and underestimate the number of algal cells in a colony. In this study, a three-dimensional cell counting approach using a novel model algorithm was developed for counting individual cells in a Microcystis colony using a FlowCAM. The developed model algorithm showed satisfactory performance for Microcystis sp. cell counting in water samples collected from two rivers, and can be used for algal management in fresh water systems.

• ALGAE
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.149-151
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• 2004

Freshwater algae make up a very important portion of the autotrophic component of the aquatic food web. Therefore, the study of freshwater algal structure and biomass is central to aquatic ecosystem studies. Due to variations in cell shape and size for each species (or taxon) and survey site, cell abundance (or cell numbers per chosen volume) often leads to misrepresentation of the true importance of some species because of the great differences in size of various algae. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the freshwater algal species of a site in order to calculate the cell volume. Although direct cell counting, species volume measurement, as well as biomass calculation are time-consuming and requiring specialists in taxonomy.

• ALGAE
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• 제37권4호
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• pp.281-291
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• 2022

Quantifying the abundance of Chattonella species is necessary to effectively manage the threats from ichthyotoxic raphidophytes, which can cause large-scale mortality of aquacultured fish in temperate waters. The identification and cell counting of Chattonella species have been conducted primarily on living cells without fixation by light microscopy because routine fixatives do not retain their morphological features. Species belonging to the Chattonella marina complex, including C. marina and C. marina var. ovata, had high genetic similarities and the lack of clear morphological delimitations between the species. To estimate the abundance of C. marina complex in marine plankton samples, we developed a protocol based on the droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) assay, with C. marina complex-specific primers targeting the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA. Cell abundance of the C. marina complex can be determined using the ITS copy number per cell, ranging from 25 ± 1 for C. marina to 112 ± 7 for C. marina var. ovata. There were no significant differences in ITS copies estimated by the ddPCR assay between environmental DNA samples from various localities spiked with the same number of cells of culture strains. This approach can be employed to improve the monitoring efficiency of various marine protists and to support the implementation of management for harmful algal blooms, which are difficult to analyze using microscopy alone.

• 한국물환경학회지
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• 제34권2호
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• pp.210-215
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• 2018

It is difficult to count colonial cyanobacteria Microcystis cells since the thickness of colonies is constrained by amorphous mucilage, making it impossible to estimate the number of cells. Disaggregation of Microcystis colonies into single cell is needed to improve the accuracy and precision of cell density estimation of naturally collected samples. Uultrasonic treatment method is commonly used owing to the simplicity and immediacy of the procedure. However, amplitude, frequency, and duration of ultrasonic treatment also cause cell loss during the experiment. Optimal ultrasonic treatment has not been standardized yet. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate optimal ultrasonic treatment by analyzing cell density and colony numbers. We collected colonial Microcystis from Changnyeong-Haman weir area in Nakdong River during harmful algal boom period from September to October in 2017. Ultrasonic treatment method was applied to disrupt colonies into single cells to enumerate cell density. Among treatment conditions, results from continuously treated for 100 seconds were found to be the optimum to reduce colonies to a suspension of single cell without cell losses under high and low density of Microcystis cells. Lugol iodine fixed cells followed by sonication showed less negative impact of cell damage within the optimal treatment time (100 seconds). Furthermore, disaggregated cells treated by sonication enables microscopic observation more easily since gas vacuoles were collapsed to facilitate sedimentation of cells under the counting chamber for quantitative enumeration of buoyant Microcystis cells.

• 생태와환경
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• 제47권4호
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• pp.350-357
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• 2014

국내 상수원을 대상으로 시행하고 있는 조류경보제는 남조류 발생 현황을 취 정수장 등 물관리 기관에 전파하여 대응조치를 유도하는 제도로 신속하고 정확한 남조류 계수를 필요로 한다. 따라서 조류경보제 발령 기준 대상 남조류인 Anabaena, Aphanizomenon, Microcystis, Oscillatoria 속의 군체 크기와 세포수의 상관관계를 조사하고 회귀식을 도출하여 군체 크기로 세포수를 계산할 수 있는 방법을 알아보고자 하였다. 2013년 8월부터 10월까지 남조류가 과다증식한 시기에 한강(팔당호), 낙동강(달성보, 창녕함안보) 및 금강(고복저수지)의 대표지점에서 남조류 시료를 채집하였으며, 조류경보제 발령 기준 대상 남조류 속의 종별 군체 크기와 세포수의 상관 관계를 조사하여 종 및 속별 회귀식을 산정하였다. 남조류의 속별 상관분석 결과는 사상형인 Anabaena와 Aphanizomenon의 $r^2$값이 0.93 이상으로 높은 상관성을 보였으며 구형의 Microcystis는 0.76의 상관계수 값을 나타냈다. 종 별 상관분석 결과 사상형 남조류 Anabaena crassa, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, A. issatschenkoi, Oscillatoria curviceps, O. mougeotii는 $r^2$값이 0.89~0.96의 범위로 높은 상관성을 나타냈으며, 구형인 Microcystis aeruginosa, M. wessenbergii, M. viridis는 0.76~0.88의 상관계수 값을 나타냈다. 다른 속에 비해 상대적으로 Microcystis의 상관성이 낮게 나타난 이유는 동일한 종, 동일한 크기의 군체라도 Microcystis strain에 따라 점액질 내의 세포 밀집 정도와 세포 크기에 차이가 있기 때문이다. 본 연구 결과 도출한 회귀식을 이용하여 군체 크기 측정값을 세포수로 환산하는 방법이 기존의 세포 계수법과 비교할 때 신속하고 간편할 것으로 보인다. 향후 남조류 종별 더 정확한 회귀식을 도출하기 위해서는 많은 시료수 확보와 더불어 다른 종들에 대한 조사 연구가 진행되어야 할 것이다.