The freshwater cyanobacterium Microcystis is a nuisance species. It forms large blooms on the water surface and overwhelmingly dominates the ecosystem through the formation of colonies from single cells surrounded by mucilage; however, the mechanism of colony formation is poorly understood. Two mechanisms of Microcystis colony formation have been proposed: cell-division, where cells remain attached after binary fission; and cell-adhesion, where single cells stick together. This paper examined the published literature on Microcystis colony formation to clarify the mechanism of colony formation and its relationship to environmental drivers. This meta-analysis showed that in laboratory experiments, colony formation by cell-division was mainly induced by zooplankton filtrate, high Pb²⁺ concentrations, the presence of the cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, heterotrophic bacteria, and low temperature and low light intensities. Alternatively, colony formation by cell-adhesion was mainly induced by zooplankton grazing, high Ca²⁺ concentrations, and microcystins. Therefore, colony formation by cell-division appears to be a slower process and to occur under an environmental stress factor, while cell-adhesion occurs more quickly to an environmental threat. Applying the criteria to the different morphospecies of Microcystis, it was found that under natural conditions M. ichthyoblabe colonies formed predominantly through cell-division, whereas M. wesenbergii colonies formed predominantly through cell-adhesion. This study provides new insights into the mechanisms and environmental drivers of colony formation by Microcystis.

淡水蓝藻微囊藻是令人讨厌的物种。它在水面上形成大花，并通过被粘液包围的单个细胞形成菌落，从而在生态系统中占绝对优势。然而，关于菌落形成的机制了解甚少。已经提出了微囊藻集落形成的两种机制：细胞分裂，其中二元裂变后细胞保持附着；和细胞粘附，单个细胞粘在一起。本文检查了有关微囊藻的已发表文献菌落形成，以阐明菌落形成的机理及其与环境驱动因素的关系。这项荟萃分析表明，在实验室实验中，细胞分裂引起的集落形成主要是由浮游生物滤液，高Pb ²⁺浓度，蓝藻拟蓝藻，异养细菌以及低温和低光照强度诱导的。另外，细胞粘附的集落形成主要是由浮游动物放牧，高Ca ^{2+引起的。}浓度和微囊藻毒素。因此，通过细胞分裂形成的菌落形成似乎是一个较慢的过程，并且是在环境胁迫因素下发生的，而细胞粘附对于环境威胁则发生得更快。将标准应用于微囊藻的不同形态，发现在自然条件下，ichichyoblabe菌落主要通过细胞分裂形成，而wesenbergii菌落主要通过细胞粘附形成。该研究为微囊藻形成菌落的机制和环境驱动力提供了新的见识。