The Cyanotoxins Workgroup was charged with the identification and prioritization of research needs associated with: the identification of cyanotoxins; toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics of cyanotoxins; human susceptibility to the toxins; cyanobacterial genetics/omics and factors for inclusion in predictive models of toxin production; and risk reduction from an intentional or accidental release o...

Bloom-forming freshwater cyanobacterial genera pose a major ecological problem due to their ability to produce toxins and other bioactive compounds, which can have important implications in illnesses of humans and livestock. Cyanobacteria such as Microcystis, Anabaena, Oscillatoria, Phormidium, and Aphanizomenon species producing microcystins and anatoxin-a have been predominantly documented fr...

Cyanobacterial blooms in drinking water reservoirs present a major ecosystem functioning and human health issue. The ability to predict reservoir vulnerability to these blooms would provide information critical for decision making, hazard prevention and management. We developed a new, comparative index of vulnerability based on simple measures of reservoir and catchment characteristics, rather ...

Higher water temperatures due to climate change combined with eutrophication of inland waters promote cyanobacterial blooms. Some of the cyanobacteria produce toxins leading to drinking water contamination and fish poisoning on a global scale. Here, we focused on the molecular effects of the cyanobacterial oligopeptide cyanopeptolin CP1020, produced by Microcystis and Planktothrix strains, by m...

occurances of cyanobacterial bloom typically appear in eutrophic lakes which either have been affected by anthropogenic nutrient loading or are naturally rich in nutrients. microcystis blooms have been reported all over the world in freshwater ecosystems mainly due to increased population which results in increased the waste water production. the aim of this study was to recognize the basic re...

Cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater bodies in England are currently monitored reactively, with samples containing more than 20,000 cells/mL of potentially toxin-producing species by light microscopy resulting in action by the water body owner. Whilst significantly reducing the risk of microcystin exposure, there is little data describing the levels of these toxins present in cyanobacterial bloo...

Cyanobacterial toxins have caused human poisoning in the Americas, Europe and Australia. There is accumulating evidence that they are present in treated drinking water supplies when cyanobacterial blooms occur in source waters. With increased population pressure and depleted groundwater reserves, surface water is becoming more used as a raw water source, both from rivers and lakes/reservoirs. A...

Commonly used parameters to assess cyanobacteria blooms are chlorophyll a concentration and cyanobacterial cell counts. Chlorophyll a is contained in all phytoplankton groups and therefore it is not a good estimator when only detection of cyanobacteria is desired. Moreover, laboratory determination of cyanobacterial cell counts is difficult and it requires a well-trained specialist. Instead of ...

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwater ecosystems, especially of cyanobacterial species, are becoming more frequent and expanding geographically, including in Lake Erie in North America. HABs are the result of complex and synergistic environmental factors, though N or P eutrophication is a leading cause. With global mean temperatures expected to increase an additional 2 ̊C 5 ̊C by 2100, cyanob...

Satellite remote sensing can be an effective alternative for mapping cyanobacterial scums and aquatic macrophyte distribution over large areas compared with traditional ship’s site-specific samplings. However, similar optical spectra characteristics between aquatic macrophytes and cyanobacterial scums in red and near infrared (NIR) wavebands create a barrier to their discrimination when they co...