Calanoid copepods are integral to aquatic food webs and may drive the bioaccumulation of toxins and heavy metals, spread of infectious diseases, and occurrence of toxic cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwater aquatic systems. However, interrelationships between copepod and cyanobacterial population dynamics and ecophysiology remain unclear. Insights into these relationships are important to aquatic resource management, as they may help guide mitigation efforts. We developed a calanoid copepod qPCR assay to investigate how copepod abundance and physiological status relate to the abundance of cyanobacteria and the concentration of total microcystin in a HAB-prone freshwater multi-use eutrophic lake. Through in silico and in vitro validation of primers and analyses of time series, we demonstrate that our assay can be used as a reliable tool for environmental monitoring. Importantly, copepod RNA:DNA ratios on and shortly after the day when microcystin concentration was at its highest within the lake were not significantly lower (or higher) than before or after this period, suggesting that copepods may have been tolerant of microcystin levels observed and capable of perpetuating bloom events by consuming competitors of toxic cyanobacteria.

Calanoid 桡足类是水生食物网不可或缺的一部分，可能会导致毒素和重金属的生物积累、传染病的传播以及淡水水生系统中有毒蓝藻有害藻华 (HAB) 的发生。然而，桡足类与蓝藻种群动态和生态生理学之间的相互关系仍不清楚。深入了解这些关系对水生资源管理很重要，因为它们可能有助于指导缓解工作。我们开发了一种calanoid 桡足类qPCR 测定，以研究桡足类丰度和生理状态与蓝藻丰度和易发生HAB 的淡水多用途富营养化湖泊中总微囊藻毒素浓度的关系。通过引物的计算机和体外验证和时间序列分析，我们证明我们的测定可以用作环境监测的可靠工具。重要的是，在湖内微囊藻毒素浓度最高的当天和之后不久，桡足类 RNA：DNA 比率并未显着低于（或高于）此期间之前或之后，这表明桡足类动物可能对观察到的微囊藻毒素水平具有耐受性，并且能够通过消耗有毒蓝藻的竞争者来使水华事件持续存在。