Evaluation for gas vesicles of sonicated cyanobacteria using polarized light scattering

Cyanobacterial blooms have become a global water environment problem. Sonication as a means of cyanobacterial blooms control has been under investigation for the past decade. However, it is difficult to evaluate the treatment effect. In this study, the lab-cultured Microcystis aeruginosa and wild type strain of Microcystis were used as samples to observe the changes within 72 h after sonication by polarized light scattering. The results indicated that the polarization parameters can characterize the process of the collapse and regeneration of gas vesicles after sonication, showing the potential of polarized light scattering to describe the process of cyanobacterial blooms control using sonication. This method provides a non-contact, unlabeled and rapid in-situ evaluation way for the study of cyanobacterial sonication and monitoring of cyanobacterial blooms control.