Periphyton: a primary source of widespread and severe taste and odour.

ABSTRACT

In the last decade, a late summer-fall taste and odour problem has been a prolonged and annual event in the St Lawrence River (SLR). Earlier work identified the earthy/musty compounds geosmin and particularly, 2-methylisoborneol (GM-MIB), and ruled out Lake Ontario as a major source, but did not identify the biological origins. In 2000, we investigated the source(s) and underlying causes. We sampled littoral sites in the SLR near Cornwall, ON, and found that macrophytes (or associated biofilms) may be primary GM sources. Zebra mussel homogenate yielded low GM-MIB levels, but several associated actinomycetes generated high in vitro amounts. Periphyton from rocks showed significant yields, with cell-bound GM-MIB up to one hundred times the levels in overlying water. In 2001, we followed seasonal changes at some of these sites. Periphyton GM-MIB showed intriguing spatial and temporal patterns. Several cyanobacteria in these biofilms were identified as potential odour sources, notably Oscillatoriales. We conclude i) periphyton is a major odour source in the SLR; ii) other biota such as macrophytes and mussels may also contribute; iii) seasonality in GM-MIB production and ratios indicate changes in cell production and/or taxa in response to environment. These results may account for the recent onset of the problematic odour events, which represent chemical signals of the increased water transparency and littoral surface area following the widespread dreissenid mussel invasion to the Great Lakes. Our data raise key questions about the processes that trigger the tremendous variability in biota and GM-MIB production in the SLR, the subject of our continued research.