The content of different Microcystis biochemical components, including total polysaccharides (TPS), proteins, and RNA, were analyzed at different growth rates obtained under varying light intensities, temperatures, and nutrient concentrations. Higher light intensity and temperature yielded a higher specific growth rate of Microcystis, but the 2 different culture media did not significantly affect growth of Microcystis in the current study. The differences in the cellular content of TPS, protein, and RNA at different temperatures (20 and 25 °C) were significant under both light intensities. The differences under different light intensities (30 and 60 μmol photons m-2 s-1) were significant at 25 °C but negligible at 20 °C. These phenomena suggested that temperature would be the limiting factor influencing the cellular processes when temperature was 20 °C; however, when temperature was 25 °C, the limiting factor was observed to be light intensity. The results also demonstrated that the content of TPS and RNA decreased, but the value of proteins increased with an increase in specific growth rate. © International Society of Limnology 2014.