Morphological and biochemical changes of Microcystis aeruginosa and Anabaenaflos-aquae by low frequency ultrasonic

In this study, laboratory-scale ultrasonication (20 to 200 kHz) was conducted on Microcystis aeruginosa and Anabaena flos-aquae to investigate the effect of this procedure on algal cell structure, apoptosis and necrosis of cells, release of microcystin and ultrasonication efficiency. The morphological changes were observed using a transmission electron microscope. Cell status was examined using flow cytometry. After ultrasonication, changes in cell organelles included ribosome and thylakoid disorganization, cytoplasmic vacuolation, nucleoplasm diffusion and plasmolysis. Moreover, the increased apoptosis was determined to be related to the ultrasonication of the cells. © 2013 Asian Network for Scientific Information.