Marine microalgae play a relevant role in marine ecosystems due to their key position as primary producers and source of organic matter, supporting global biological and geochemical processes in the oceans. In turn, the outburst of noxious species of marine phytoplankton, namely dinoflagellates, can develop into harmful algal blooms (HABs).
HABs are natural phenomena, and their apparent increase in the last decades has been linked with several factors such as global warming and the rise of ocean temperature, eutrophication, larger impact in human activities, and improved monitoring systems. HABs can trigger negative effects for the survival of marine fauna in higher trophic levels, but also affect aquaculture, fisheries, and/or tourism activities causing important socioeconomic losses and public health problems.
Marine biotoxins produced in these events can accumulate in the tissues of marine organisms including mammals, birds, fish, and shellfish. The bioaccumulation of these compounds affects human health through the consumption of contaminated seafood, with toxic syndromes based on their symptoms such as paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP), amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP), and ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP).
This complex and multidisciplinary field poses a series of challenges to overcome which include: phytoplankton identification; biological aspects of harmful algae and toxic events; fish and seafood monitoring; toxin detection, quantitation and extraction methodologies; advances in culture techniques to obtain a larger amount of toxins; identification of new emerging biotoxins and analogs; advances on detection methodologies to minimize the use of biological methods; development of alternative assays such as pharmacological assays, immunoassays, chemical or separation assays to detect marine toxins both in culture and seafood; novel approaches to improve the production of certified reference materials (CRMs); or the use of dinoflagellates as a biotechnological source to develop pharmacological drugs, as well as other potential biological and toxicological applications.
Contributions from various disciplines will be welcomed in this Research Topic, which is open to all the above points, and will cover original research articles and review contributions related to these issues.
Marine microalgae play a relevant role in marine ecosystems due to their key position as primary producers and source of organic matter, supporting global biological and geochemical processes in the oceans. In turn, the outburst of noxious species of marine phytoplankton, namely dinoflagellates, can develop into harmful algal blooms (HABs).
HABs are natural phenomena, and their apparent increase in the last decades has been linked with several factors such as global warming and the rise of ocean temperature, eutrophication, larger impact in human activities, and improved monitoring systems. HABs can trigger negative effects for the survival of marine fauna in higher trophic levels, but also affect aquaculture, fisheries, and/or tourism activities causing important socioeconomic losses and public health problems.
Marine biotoxins produced in these events can accumulate in the tissues of marine organisms including mammals, birds, fish, and shellfish. The bioaccumulation of these compounds affects human health through the consumption of contaminated seafood, with toxic syndromes based on their symptoms such as paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP), amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP), and ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP).
This complex and multidisciplinary field poses a series of challenges to overcome which include: phytoplankton identification; biological aspects of harmful algae and toxic events; fish and seafood monitoring; toxin detection, quantitation and extraction methodologies; advances in culture techniques to obtain a larger amount of toxins; identification of new emerging biotoxins and analogs; advances on detection methodologies to minimize the use of biological methods; development of alternative assays such as pharmacological assays, immunoassays, chemical or separation assays to detect marine toxins both in culture and seafood; novel approaches to improve the production of certified reference materials (CRMs); or the use of dinoflagellates as a biotechnological source to develop pharmacological drugs, as well as other potential biological and toxicological applications.
Contributions from various disciplines will be welcomed in this Research Topic, which is open to all the above points, and will cover original research articles and review contributions related to these issues.