Cyanobacterial biofilms serve as food and shelter for benthic invertebrates, such as juvenile insects. Chironomids are often the most widely distributed and abundant insect larvae in freshwater ecosystems. As a consequence of high grazing pressure, effective defence mechanisms can be expected in biofilm-forming organisms. The presence of chemical defence was studied in 12 axenic and monoxenic cyanobacterial species. Flakes of cyanobacterial biofilms were offered to Chironomus riparius (Meigen) over a period of 8 days. Mortality and body-length of the surviving animals were used as indicators for the toxicity of the cyanobacteria and their suitability as food. Toxicity and inhibition of larval growth were found for several cyanobacteria tested. Fischerella sp. (ATCC 43239) was the most active and caused 100% mortality in Chironomus larvae within 24 h. Mortality was also high (87%) for larvae fed with Aphanothece sp. Moderate toxicity (40–60% mortality) was found for Calothrix sp. (PCC 7507), C. braunii Bornet et Flahault, C. thermalis (Schwabe) Hansgirg and a cyanobacterium of the LPP group designated JU 5. Mortality of 7–33% was observed for Calothrix parietina (Nägeli) Thuret, Oscillatoria brevis (Kützing) Gomont, Cylindrospermum sp., Nostoc sp., Calothrix anomala Mitra and a cyanobacterium of the LPP group designated 5 KB. Differences depending on the cyanobacterial food offered were also seen in the lengths of surviving larvae. Fischerella sp. (ATCC 43239) was studied in more detail to chemically characterise the observed insecticidal activity. The insecticidal activity could be extracted with 60% aq. methanol from the fresh biomass and caused 100% mortality in Chironomus. A literature survey was performed on the bioactive compounds so far isolated and characterised from Fischerella and related Stigonematales. It is noticeable that no insecticidal activity has been shown for any of these compounds yet. The newly found insecticidal property of Fischerella may lead to the identification of bioactive compounds which may be important as chemical defence against insect grazers.
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