Diversity of heterocystous filamentous cyanobacteria (Blue-Green Algae) from rice paddy fields and their differential susceptibility to ten fungicides used in Korea

Cyanobacteria are present abundantly in rice fields and are important in helping to maintain rice fields fertility through nitrogen fixation. Many rice fields soil contain a high density of cyanobactera, and over 50% of cyanobacterial genera that are in existence in rice paddy fields are heterocystous filamentous forms. A total of 142 isolates of heterocystous filamentous cyanobacteria were screened from 100 soil samples taken from rice paddy fields in 10 different locations across Korea, classified according to their morphological characteristics under light microscopy, and their susceptibly to fungicides examined. The collected blue-green alga were classified into a total of 14 genera, including seven genera of filamentous cyanobacteria and seven genera of nonfilamentous cyanobacteria. In particular, 142 heterocystous filamentous cyanobacteria were isolated and classified into six genera, including Anabaena, Nostoc, Calothrix, Cylindrospermum, Nodularia, Scytomena, and Tolypotrix. Yet, over 90% of the heterocystous filamentous cyanobacteria isolated from the rice paddy fields belonged to two genera: Anabaena and Nostoc. The response of 129 N₂-fixing cyanobacterial isolates, 53 Anabaena and 76 Nostoc, to 10 fungicides was then investigated. The results showed that the Nostoc spp. were more tolerant of the ten tested fungicides than the Anabaena spp., and among the ten tested fungicides, benomyl showed the highest acute toxicity to Anabaena spp. and Nostoc spp. In conclusion, although benomyl is a very useful agent to control phytopathogenic fungi, the application of this fungicide to rice fields should be considered because of its toxicity to the heterocystous filamentous cyanobacteria.