Abundance of select cyanobacteria in six piedmont North Carolina lakes

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Meghan Ariel Spurrier (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Parke Rublee

Abstract: The abundance of eleven cyanobacteria operational taxonomic units (OTUs) was assessed in six Piedmont North Carolina Lakes using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reactions (qPCR). Lakes (including five drinking water reservoirs) were sampled 18 times from June 2011 to October 2012. OTUs were present in varying abundance and followed expected seasonal trends with peak abundance occurring in warmer months. Based on available environmental data in three drinking water supply reservoirs, OTU abundance was found to be correlated with one or more environmental (temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, phycocyanins, chlorophyll a, and turbidity) or nutrient parameters (total phosphorus, total organic carbon, and total Kjeldahl nitrogen) in each lake, although most parameters did not show significant correlations. Temperature was consistently correlated with OTU abundance. The results suggest that qPCR has potential for monitoring cyanobacteria and can contribute to understanding and management of cyanobacteria in North Carolina lakes. However, improved cyanobacteria taxonomy and better development of primers and standards used in qPCR are necessary for this approach to become practical.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2014
Keywords
16S rDNA, Correlations, Cyanobacteria, Drinking Water Reservoirs, OTUs, Real-time qPCR
Subjects
Cyanobacteria $x Monitoring $z North Carolina
Drinking water $x Microbiology $z North Carolina
Polymerase chain reaction

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