Manual On Aquatic Cyanobacteria

"The international manual covers information required to: understand the importance of cyanobacteria [also known as blue-green algae, blue-green bacteria, or cyanophytes] and the toxins they produce; assess the risks associated with a particular water source; develop a monitoring program and incident management strategies consistent with the WHO Water Safety Planning process; instigate management procedures both in the source water and treatment plants to mitigate the risks posed by the presence of toxic compounds in drinking water." -- p. vi.

Cyanobacteria and their toxins are an increasing global public health menace. Most recently, problems have been experienced in Australia, the United States and, due to drought and increasing water scarcity, pose a severe threat in the U.K. With an international range of contributors, all leading experts in their fields, Toxic Cyanobacteria in Water examines the increasing need to protect drinking water and water resources from the hazards of Cyanobacteria and their impact on health. Written and edited by a World Health Organization working group, Toxic Cyanobacteria in Water is an operational handbook in a practical, assessible style. Toxic Cyanobacteria in Water will be invaluable to environmental health officers, professionals in the fields of water supply, public health, fresh water ecology and education, national and international organizations, special interest groups, post-graduate students and utilities responsible for managing drinking water supplies.

Cyanobacterial toxins are among the hazardous substances most widely found in water. They occur naturally, but concentrations hazardous to human health are usually due to human activity. Therefore, to protect human health, managing lakes, reservoirs and rivers to prevent cyanobacterial blooms is critical. This second edition of Toxic Cyanobacteria in Water presents the current state of knowledge on the occurrence of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins as well as their impacts on health through water-related exposure pathways, chiefly drinking-water and recreational activity. It provides scientific and technical background information to support hazard identification, assessment and prioritisation of the risks posed by cyanotoxins, and it outlines approaches for their management at each step of the water-use system. It sets out key practical considerations for developing management strategies, implementing efficient measures and designing monitoring programmes. This enables stakeholders to evaluate whether there is a health risk from toxic cyanobacteria and to mitigate it with appropriate measures. This book is intended for those working on toxic cyanobacteria with a specific focus on public health protection. It intends to empower professionals from different disciplines to communicate and cooperate for sustainable management of toxic cyanobacteria, including public health workers, ecologists, academics, and catchment and waterbody managers. Ingrid Chorus headed the department for Drinking-Water and Swimming-Pool Hygiene at the German Environment Agency. Martin Welker is a limnologist and microbiologist, currently with bioMérieux in Lyon, France.

Blue-green algae (also known as cyanobacteria) and the toxins they can produce pose serious economic, environmental, and public health problems worldwide. Much of the scientific and public interest in these microorganisms arises from their tendency to undergo explosive population growth and form harmful blooms, which have inflicted damage in industries as diverse as health care, public utilities, agriculture, recreation, real estate, and commercial and sport fishing. Until now, water quality professionals and other individuals tasked with finding and eliminating cyanotoxins have lacked an accessible guide to these potentially deadly microorganisms. Written for nonspecialists in a clear and straightforward style, this guide will help students, landowners, and citizen scientists identify different kinds of cyanobacteria and understand their impact on waterways, from neighborhood lakes and farm ponds to major river systems. The central feature of the book is a detailed key that systematically walks the reader through each step of the identification process. This key is linked to an extensive set of photographs and a companion smartphone app to assist readers in confirming their findings. Authors Mark A. Nienaber and Miriam Steinitz-Kannan include an ample glossary to help newcomers to the subject get up to speed as well as an in-depth and current bibliography to aid advanced readers in further research. They also offer instructions on how to correctly collect and analyze cyanobacteria. Altogether, this accessible yet comprehensive resource makes important, complex material available to a wide range of professionals and laypeople engaged in combating harmful cyanotoxins.

A valuable handbook containing reviews, practical methods and standard operating procedures. A valuable and practical working handbook containing introductory and specialist content that tackles a major and growing field of environmental, microbiological and ecotoxicological monitoring and analysis Includes introductory reviews, practical analytical chapters and a comprehensive listing of almost thirty Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) For use in the laboratory, in academic and government institutions and industrial settings Those readers will appreciate the research that validates and updates cyanotoxin monitoring and analysis plus adding to approaches for setting standard methods that can be applied worldwide. Wayne Carmichael, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (2018).

This protocol book provides detailed procedures for the isolation of cyanobacteria, extraction, quantification, and detection of cyanotoxins. It illustrates the sampling and processing of toxin-producing cyanobacteria in water and aquatic animal samples, detection of cyanotoxins from Anabaena, Anabaenopsis, Cylindrospermopsis, Microsystis, Microcystis, Nodularia, Nostoc, Schizotrix, Lyngbya, Raphidiopsis, Oscillatoria, Planktothrix in aquatic resources. It also covers toxicity analysis by various bioassay protocols, and in vitro and insilico analysis methods. The book also reviews the methods for cyanotoxin extraction, detection, and quantification by various tools including LC-MS/MS, HPLC, NMR, PCR, and HESI-MS/MS. A separate section is dedicated to the advanced methods in Cyanotoxin analysis including the Molecular Imprinting Method (MIM), Cellular signaling biosensor, Electrochemical sensor, Nanosensors, and screening of Polyketide synthase gene. The analysis of various toxin-producing genes like sxtA and mcy is also accounted for in this book. In a nutshell, the book gives comprehensive procedures about the basics and preliminary processes that are involved in sample collection to advanced methods incorporated into the well-explored and unexplored Cyanobacterial toxin. Consequently, this manual is useful for both beginners and advanced researchers, including postgraduate students, academicians, researchers, and scientists in the field of Cyanobacterial research. ​

This outstanding volume provides an up-to-date overview of the advances in our knowledge of harmful cyanobacteria. An essential reference for all scientists and environmental professionals interested in cyanobacterial ecology and water management.

The cyanobacteria inhabit every illuminated environment on Earth, from polar lakes to desert crusts and through their phototrophic metabolism play essential roles in global geochemical cycles. With the discovery of marine Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus almost 30 years ago, cyanobacteria have now earned their place as dominant primary producers contributing over 25 percent of global photosynthesis. Their global abundance is now explained from the coexistence of ecotypes that occupy different niches along spatial and temporal gradients. New ecotypes of Synechococcus have been identified as abundant components of microbial communities in freshwater environments and marginal seas. Extensive comparative genomics of marine and freshwater picocyanobacteria have begun to unmask adaptations to light and nutrient (N, P, Fe) limitation that these diverse environments present. Novel types of cyanobacterial diazotrophy input new N and structure microbial communities in the open sea. Current challenges include the understanding of the interactions between marine cyanobacteria and other microbes in their immediate community. In contrast, mesotrophic and eutrophic environments such as the Laurentian Great Lakes have been increasingly affected by nuisance and toxic cyanobacterial blooms that have yielded severe declines in water quality. Factors promoting bloom formation and the functional roles of toxins are important issues being addressed today.

Cyanobacterial blooms are a water quality problem that is widely acknowledged to have detrimental ecological and economic effects in drinking and recreational water supplies and fisheries. There is increasing evidence that cyanobacterial blooms have increased globally and are likely to expand in water resources as a result of climate change. Of most concern are cyanotoxins, along with the mechanisms that induce their release and determine their fate in the aquatic environment. These secondary metabolites pose a potential hazard to human health and agricultural and aquaculture products that are intended for animal and human consumption; therefore, strict and reliable control of cyanotoxins is crucial for assessing risk. In this direction, a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that determine cyanobacterial bloom structure and toxin production has become the target of management practices. This Special Issue, entitled “Advancing Knowledge on Cyanobacterial Blooms in Freshwaters”, aims to bring together recent multi- and interdisciplinary research, from the field to the laboratory and back again, driven by working hypotheses based on any aspect of mitigating cyanobacterial blooms, from ecological theory to applied research.