Warming climate is predicted to promote cyanobacterial blooms but the toxicity of cyanobacteria under global warming is less well studied. We tested the hypothesis that raising temperature may lead to increased growth rates but to decreased microcystin (MC) production in tropical Microcystis strains. To this end, six Microcystis strains were isolated from different water bodies in Southern Vietnam. They were grown in triplicate at 27 °C (low), 31 °C (medium), 35 °C (high) and 37 °C (extreme). Chlorophyll-a-, particle- and MC concentrations as well as dry-weights were determined. All strains yielded higher biomass in terms of chlorophyll-a concentration and dry-weight at 31 °C compared to 27 °C and then either stabilised, slightly increased or declined with higher temperature. Five strains easily grew at 37 °C but one could not survive at 37 °C. When temperature was increased from 27 °C to 37 °C total MC concentration decreased by 35% in strains with MC-LR as the dominant variant and by 94% in strains with MC-RR. MC quota expressed per particle, per unit chlorophyll-a and per unit dry-weight significantly declined with higher temperatures. This study shows that warming can prompt the growth of some tropical Microcystis strains but that these strains become less toxic.

Studies on cyanobacteria in Vietnam are limited and mainly restricted to large reservoirs. Cyanobacterial blooms in small water bodies may pose a health risk to local people. We sampled 17 water bodies in the vicinity of urban settlements throughout the Mekong basin and in southeast Vietnam. From these, 40 water samples were taken, 24 cyanobacterial strains were isolated and 129 fish, 68 snail, 7 shrimp, 4 clam, and 4 duck samples were analyzed for microcystins (MCs). MCs were detected up to 11,039 µg/L or to 4033 µg/g DW in water samples. MCs were detected in the viscera of the animals. MC-LR and MC-RR were most frequently detected, while MC-dmLR, MC-LW, and MC-LF were first recorded in Vietnam. Microcystis was the main potential toxin producer and the most common bloom-forming species. A potential health hazard was found in a duck–fish pond located in the catchment of DauTieng reservoir and in the DongNai river where raw water was collected for DongNai waterwork. The whole viscera of fish and snails must be completely removed during food processing. Cyanobacterial monitoring programs should be established to assess and minimize potential public health risks.

The Vietnamese Mekong Delta is predicted to be one of the regions most impacted by climate change, causing increased temperature and salinity in inland waters. We hypothesized that the increase in temperature and salinity may impact the microcystin (MC) production of two Microcystis strains isolated in this region from a freshwater pond (strain MBC) and a brackish water pond (strain MTV). The Microcystis strains were grown at low (27 °C), medium (31 °C), high (35 °C) and extremely high (37 °C) temperature in flat photobioreactors (Algaemist). At each temperature, when cultures reached a stable state, sea salt was added to increase salinity to 4‰, 8‰, 12‰ and 16‰. MC concentrations and cell quota were reduced at high and extremely high temperatures. Salinity, in general, had comparable effects on MC concentrations and quota. At a salinity of 4‰ and 8‰, concentrations of MC per mL of culture and MC cell quota (based on chlorophyll, dry-weight and particle counts) were higher than at 0.5‰, while at the highest salinities (12‰ and 16‰) these were strongly reduced. Strain MBC produced five MC variants of which MC-RR and MC-LR were most abundant, followed by MC-YR and relatively low amounts of demethylated variants dmMC-RR and dmMC-LR. In strain MTV, MC-RR was most abundant, with traces of MC-YR and dmMC-RR only in cultures grown at 16‰ salinity. Overall, higher temperature led to lower MC concentrations and cell quota, low salinity seemed to promote MC production and high salinity reduced MC production. Hence, increased temperature and higher salinity could lead to less toxic Microcystis, but since these conditions might favour Microcystis over other competitors, the overall biomass gain could offset a lower toxicity.

In this study we evaluated the responses of the tropical micro-crustacean, Daphnia lumholtzi, to zinc (Zn). For a more environmentally realistic assessment on the Zn toxicity, water sample collected from Saigon River was used as medium for the daphnids and Zn was spiked into field water for exposures. River water was physically and chemically measured and analyzed, and the sufficient water quality was confirmed prior to be used for the acute and chronic experiments. Metal concentrations in the test water were determined with an inductively coupled plasma/ mass spectrometry (ICP/MS). In the acute test implementation, Zn concentrations were from 67 – 360 µg/L. In the chronic experiments, the animals were incubated in control (filtered field water only) or filtered field water added with Zn (28, 46, and 75 µg/L) over the period of 14 days. The life history traits of daphnids including the survival, maturation, reproduction were daily observed. The results showed that the value of median lethal concentrations (48h-LC₅₀) was 136 µg Zn/L (95% CI = 107 – 165 µg Zn/L). Chronic exposures revealed that Zn caused the survival reduction, delayed maturity age and reproduction decrease. Our study suggested D. lumholtzi as a very good freshwater aquatic zooplankton for assessment on the toxicity of metals in tropics. Besides, the Vietnam guideline values regarding Zn should be re-considered and adjusted for the aquatic ecological protection.