communities (TCs) mainly comprise Cyanobacteria developing on rock substrates and forming physical structures that are strictly connected to the rock itself. Endolithic and epilithic bacterial communities are important because they contribute to nutrient release within run-off waters flowing on the rock surface. Despite TCs being ubiquitous, little information about their ecology and main characteristics is available.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe UV-vis absorbance spectra, molar extinction coefficients and circular dichroism spectra, as well as NMR and high resolution tandem mass spectrometry spectra were determined for two prominent secondary metabolites from cyanobacteria, namely anabaenopeptin A and anabaenopeptin B. The compounds were extracted from the cyanobacterium CBT929 and purified by flash chromatography and HPLC. Exact amounts of isolated compounds were assessed by quantitative H-NMR with internal calibrant ethyl 4-(dimethylamino)benzoate in DMSO‑ at 298 K with a recycle delay (d1) of 120 s.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCyanobacterial blooms require monitoring, as they pose a threat to ecosystems and human health, especially by the release of toxins. Along with widely reported microcystins, cyanobacteria coproduce other bioactive metabolites; however, information about their dynamics in surface waters is sparse. We investigated dynamics across full bloom successions throughout a five-year lake monitoring campaign (Greifensee, Switzerland) spanning 150 sampling dates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCyanobacterial blooms occur at increasing frequency and intensity, notably in freshwater. This leads to the introduction of complex mixtures of their products, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mass proliferation of cyanobacteria, episodes known as blooms, is a concern worldwide. One of the most critical aspects during these blooms is the production of toxic secondary metabolites that are not limited to the four cyanotoxins recognized by the World Health Organization. These metabolites comprise a wide range of structurally diverse compounds that possess bioactive functions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCyanobacterial blooms affect aquatic ecosystems across the globe and one major concern relates to their toxins such as microcystins (MC). Yet, the ecotoxicological risks, particularly non-lethal effects, associated with other co-produced secondary metabolites remain mostly unknown. Here, we assessed survival, morphological alterations, swimming behaviour and cardiovascular functions of zebrafish (Danio rerio) upon exposure to cyanobacterial extracts of two Brazilian Microcystis strains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Eur
October 2022
Background: The NORMAN Association (https://www.norman-network.com/) initiated the NORMAN Suspect List Exchange (NORMAN-SLE; https://www.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe frequency and intensity of cyanobacterial blooms continue to increase in freshwater systems across the globe. Cyanobacteria can release toxins and several bioactive secondary metabolites and analytical methods are needed to effectively assess their concentrations in surface waters. Since booms can evolve rapidly in parts of a lake, high resolution of spatial and temporal sampling increases the complexity of monitoring efforts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWithin the natural products field there is an increasing emphasis on the study of compounds from microbial sources. This has been fuelled by interest in the central role that microorganisms play in mediating both interspecies interactions and host-microbe relationships. To support the study of natural products chemistry produced by microorganisms we released the Natural Products Atlas, a database of known microbial natural products structures, in 2019.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo assess the risks associated with cyanobacterial blooms, the persistence and fate processes of cyanotoxins and other bioactive cyanobacterial metabolites need to be evaluated. Here, we investigated the reaction with photochemically produced singlet oxygen (O) for 30 cyanopeptides synthesized by , including 9 anabaenopeptins, 18 microcystins, 2 cyanopeptolins, and 1 cyclamide. All compounds were stable in UVA light alone but in the presence of a photosensitizer we observed compound-specific degradation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHarmful cyanobacterial blooms, which frequently contain toxic secondary metabolites, are reported in aquatic environments around the world. More than two thousand cyanobacterial secondary metabolites have been reported from diverse sources over the past fifty years. A comprehensive, publically-accessible database detailing these secondary metabolites would facilitate research into their occurrence, functions and toxicological risks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtracellular enzymes are master recyclers of organic matter, and to predict their functional lifetime, we need to understand their environmental transformation processes. In surface waters, direct and indirect photochemical transformation is a known driver of inactivation. We investigated molecular changes that occur along with inactivation in aminopeptidase, an abundant class of extracellular enzymes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChlorothalonil, a fungicide applied for decades worldwide, has recently been banned in the European Union (EU) and Switzerland due to its carcinogenicity and the presence of potentially toxic transformation products (TPs) in groundwater. The spread and concentration range of chlorothalonil TPs in different drinking water resources was examined (73 groundwater and four surface water samples mainly from Switzerland). The chlorothalonil sulfonic acid TPs (R471811, R419492, R417888) occurred more frequently and at higher concentrations (detected in 65-100% of the samples, ≤2200 ngL) than the phenolic TPs (SYN507900, SYN548580, R611968; detected in 10-30% of the samples, ≤130 ngL).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntensified cyanobacterial bloom events are of increasing global concern because of adverse effects associated with the release of bioactive compounds, including toxic cyanopeptides. Cyanobacteria can produce a variety of cyanopeptides, yet our knowledge about their abundance and co-production remains limited. We applied a suspect-screening approach, including 700 structurally known cyanopeptides, and identified 11 cyanopeptides in and 17 in .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHarmful cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater ecosystems produce bioactive secondary metabolites including cyanopeptides that pose ecological and human health risks. Only adverse effects of one class of cyanopeptides, microcystins, have been studied extensively and have consequently been included in water quality assessments. Inhibition is a commonly observed effect for enzymes exposed to cyanopeptides and has mostly been investigated for human biologically relevant model enzymes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are increasingly important as a last resort against multi-drug resistant bacteria due to resistance formation towards conventional antibiotics. However, many AMPs were introduced to the market before environmental risk assessment was required, e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCyanobacterial bloom events that produce natural toxins occur in freshwaters across the globe, yet the potential risk of many cyanobacterial metabolites remains mostly unknown. Only microcystins, one class of cyanopeptides, have been studied intensively and the wealth of evidence regarding exposure concentrations and toxicity led to their inclusion in risk management frameworks for water quality. However, cyanobacteria produce an incredible diversity of hundreds of cyanopeptides beyond the class of microcystins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Technol
September 2018
The kinetic solvent isotope effect (KSIE) is typically utilized in environmental photochemistry to elucidate whether a compound is susceptible to photooxidation by singlet oxygen (O), due to its known difference in lifetime in water (HO) versus heavy water (DO). Here, the overall indirect photodegradation rates of diarylamines in the presence of dissolved organic matter (DOM) were enhanced in DO to a greater extent than expected based on their reactivity with O. For each diarylamine, the relative contribution of reaction with O to the observed KSIE was determined from high resolution data of O lifetimes by time-resolved infrared luminescence spectroscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtracellular enzymes are major drivers of biogeochemical nutrient and carbon cycling in surface water. While photoinactivation is regarded as a major inactivation process of these enzymes, the underlying molecular changes have received little attention. This study demonstrates how light exposure leads to a rapid loss of phosphatase, aminopeptidase, and glucosidase activities of biofilm samples and model enzymes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA central question in microbial ecology is whether microbial interactions are predominantly cooperative or competitive. The secretion of siderophores, microbial iron chelators, is a model system for cooperative interactions. However, siderophores have also been shown to mediate competition by sequestering available iron and making it unavailable to competitors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Process Impacts
May 2017
Fenamates are a class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that are not fully removed during wastewater treatment and can be released to surface waters. Here, near-surface photochemical half-lives were evaluated to range from minutes to hours of four fenamates and the closely related diclofenac. While quantum yields for direct photochemical reactions at the water surface vary widely from 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmino acids, peptides and proteins are central building blocks of life and of key importance in the biogeochemistry of aquatic ecosystems. In sunlit surface waters, amino acid-based molecules at different levels of structural organization are susceptible to transformation by both direct photochemical reactions and indirect processes caused by photochemically produced reactive oxygen species (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Process Impacts
May 2015
Benzotriazole corrosion inhibitors are not completely removed during wastewater treatment and are frequently detected in surface waters. Here, the photochemical kinetics of benzotriazoles and structurally related compounds were assessed for natural aqueous environments. The direct photochemical half-lives during exposure to simulated sunlight ranged from 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlkaline phosphatases are ubiquitous extracellular enzymes in aquatic systems and play a central role in the biogeochemical cycling of phosphorus. Yet, the photochemical stability of phosphatase and effects of natural organic matter (DOM) are not completely understood. We demonstrate that phosphatase activity in natural biofilm samples decreased during sunlight exposure similar to well-defined bacterial phosphatase solutions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe photooxidation processes of tryptophan (Trp) in the presence of dissolved organic matter (DOM) were identified and quantified by steady-state photolysis experiments, laser spectroscopy and kinetic modeling. In sunlight, Trp photooxidation is dominated by the reaction with excited triplet DOM ((3)DOM), accounting for approximately 50-70% of the total degradation, depending on the DOM concentration and source. Reaction with singlet oxygen and direct photolysis are secondary processes that are both still more important than the reaction with hydroxyl radical.
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