Suppressing Cyanobacteria with Hydrogen Peroxide Is More Effective at High Light Intensities

Hydrogen peroxide (H O ) can be used as an emergency method to selectively suppress cyanobacterial blooms in lakes and drinking water reservoirs. However, it is largely unknown how environmental parameters alter the effectiveness of H O treatments. In this study, the toxic cyanobacterial strain PCC 7806 was treated with a range of H O concentrations (0 to 10 mg/L), while being exposed to different light intensities and light colors. H O treatments caused a stronger decline of the photosynthetic yield in high light than in low light or in the dark, and also a stronger decline in orange than in blue light. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that H O causes major damage at photosystem II (PSII) and interferes with PSII repair, which makes cells more sensitive to photoinhibition. Furthermore, H O treatments caused a decrease in cell size and an increase in extracellular microcystin concentrations, indicative of leakage from disrupted cells. Our findings imply that even low H O concentrations of 1-2 mg/L can be highly effective, if cyanobacteria are exposed to high light intensities. We therefore recommend performing lake treatments during sunny days, when a low H O dosage is sufficient to suppress cyanobacteria, and may help to minimize impacts on non-target organisms.