Picocyanobacteria are small cyanobacteria, being about 0.8–1.5 µm in size. They are present in freshwater environments all over the world and are known to cause harmful algal blooms, although their effects are not well understood. Algal blooms are important to manage because they threaten freshwater resources, with potentially severe effects on ecological and human health. There is also increased urgency due to urbanization and climate change trends which are expected to exacerbate these bloom dynamics. These changes are expected to especially favour picocyanobacteria groups, emphasizing the need for better characterization of their effects in the environment. In this study, we report the discovery that Synechococcus sp. could produce cylindrospermopsin (CYN) and anatoxin-a (ATX). This ability had never been previously reported for this species. Their toxin genes were also partial compared to other major producers such as Raphidiopsis sp. and Anabaena sp., demonstrating potentially unique synthesis pathways that provides insight into the various mechanisms of genetic variation that drives toxin synthesis. The Synechococcus sp. strains were found to produce about 9.0 × 10⁻⁵–6.8 × 10⁻⁴ fg CYN cell⁻¹ and 4.7 × 10⁻⁴–1.5 × 10⁻² fg ATX cell⁻¹. The potential for Synechococcus sp. to be toxic highlights a global concern due to its widespread distribution, and through environmental trends that increasingly favour its productivity within freshwater systems around the world.

蓝细菌是小型蓝细菌，大小约为0.8-1.5 µm。它们存在于世界各地的淡水环境中，尽管其作用尚不清楚，但已知会引起有害的藻华。藻华对于管理淡水很重要，因为它们威胁着淡水资源，可能对生态和人类健康造成严重影响。由于城市化和气候变化趋势的出现，紧迫性也有所增加，预计这些趋势将加剧这些开花动态。预计这些变化将特别有利于蓝藻细菌群，强调需要更好地表征其在环境中的作用。在这项研究中，我们报告了球菌的发现sp。可以产生cylindrosperpsoppsin（CYN）和anatoxin-a（ATX）。这种能力以前从未报道过。与其他主要生产者（如Raphidiopsis sp。）相比，它们的毒素基因也部分存在。和Anabaena sp。，展示了潜在的独特合成途径，可洞悉驱动毒素合成的各种遗传变异机制。在聚球藻。发现菌株产生约9.0×10 ^-5 –6.8×10 ^-4 fg CYN细胞^-1和4.7×10 ^-4 –1.5×10 ^-2 fg ATX细胞^-1。球菌的潜力sp。由于其广泛的分布以及日益趋于有利于其在全球淡水系统中生产率的环境趋势，有毒成为全球关注的焦点。