Glucose triggers the cytotoxicity of Citrobacter sp. R1 against Microcystis aeruginosa.

Algicidal bacteria offer a promising option for killing Microcystis aeruginosa, one notorious cyanobacteria causing harmful algal blooms. In this study, Citrobacter sp. R1 presented high algicidal activity (81.6±2.2%, 72h) against M. aeruginosa when cultured using glucose, while it showed no algicidal activity (0±3.4%) when cultured using wheat bran, suggesting that appropriate carbon source is crucial for algicidal bacteria in killing M. aeruginosa. The underlying algicidal mechanism of strain R1 was explored by studying the effect of different carbon sources (glucose and wheat bran) on its key algicidal gene expression and total protein translation. While the glycogen synthase gene (glgA), cloned from strain R1 via transposon mutagenesis, was for the first time related to algicidal activity, its transcriptional level was not positively correlated with the algicidal activity of strain R1. We found that, the translation of total protein of strain R1 was relatively less when cultured with glucose, compared to growth with wheat bran. This indicated that the functional algicidal gene of strain R1 exerts its algicidal activity at protein translational level. These findings not only reveal the importance of appropriate carbon source for strain R1 for controlling M. aeruginosa, but also bring insights into its underlying algicidal mechanism.