Assessing the fate and biodegradation of cyanobacterial metabolites in Australian waters

With the exception of the saxitoxins, the cyanobacterial metabolites studied were shown to be biodegradable in two South Australian waters with the rate of biodegradation of the metabolites influenced by temperature and to a lesser extent, seasonal variations. The order of ease of biodegradability followed the trend: microcystin-LR > cylindrospermopsin > geosmin > 2-methylisoborneol > saxitoxins. Pseudo-first-order rate constants for the biodegradation of the metabolites ranged from 9.6 × 10⁻⁴ to 2.6 × 10⁻² h⁻¹.