Cyanobacteria News and Research

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Pollution effect: Potentially toxic microbes pose threat to drinking water

Potentially toxic microbes which pose a threat to our drinking water have undergone a dramatic population explosion over the last 200 years as a result of pollution, research involving experts from The University of Nottingham has found.

28 Feb 2015

Restrooms are no more healthy, unhealthy than your home

Microbial succession in a sterilized restroom begins with bacteria from the gut and the vagina, and is followed shortly by microbes from the skin. Restrooms are dominated by a stable community structure of skin and outdoor associated bacteria, with few pathogenic bacteria making them similar to other built environments such as your home.

2 Dec 2014

Researchers pave way for development of new generation of chemotherapy drugs

A new mechanism to inhibit proteasomes, protein complexes that are a target for cancer therapy, is the topic of an article published in the journal Chemistry & Biology.

10 Sep 2014

Researchers learn about the impact invasive zebra mussels have on risk of algae blooms

Researchers at Grand Valley State University's Annis Water Resources Institute are learning more about the impact invasive zebra mussels and native aquatic insect larvae have on the risk of algae blooms in two West Michigan lakes. The results of the research will be published in the journal Oikos.

13 Feb 2014

Microcystins in drinking water

An interview with Rohan Thakur, discussing the prevalence of microcystins in drinking water, and the use of LC-MS to identify cyanotoxins within water samples.

From Bruker Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry 5 Mar 2013

DFG to establish 11 Collaborative Research Centres in Jan 2013

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish eleven Collaborative Research Centres (CRCs) as of 1 January 2013. This was decided by the responsible Grants Committee during its fall session in Bonn.

30 Nov 2012

Microcystin present in Canadian lakes in every province

Nutrient pollution, one of the greatest threats to our freshwater resources, is responsible for the algal blooms that blanket our lakes and waterways in summer months. Large blooms of cyanobacteria ('blue green algae') can cause fish kills, increase the cost of drinking water treatment, devalue shoreline properties, and pose health risks to people, pets, and wildlife. A new paper just published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences shows that microcystin, a toxin produced by cyanobacteria, is present in Canadian lakes in every province.

16 Aug 2012

Global warming may stimulate growth of cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria are among the most primitive living beings, aged over 3,500 million years old. These aquatic microorganisms helped to oxygenate the earth-atmosphere. At present their populations are increasing in size without stopping. It appears that global warming may be behind the rise in their numbers and may also lead toan increase in the amount of toxins produced by some of these populations.

4 Jul 2012

Cyanobacterium produces compounds that could treat chronic inflammatory conditions

A seaweed considered a threat to the healthy growth of coral reefs in Hawaii may possess the ability to produce substances that could one day treat human diseases, a new study led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has revealed.

25 May 2012

Gene function preserved despite structural differences in the DNA

Chloroplasts, the plant cell's green solar power generators, were once living beings in their own right. This changed about one billion years ago, when they were swallowed up but not digested by larger cells. Since then, they have lost much of their autonomy.

16 Apr 2012

BGSU chemist uses supercomputer to help unlock benefits of toxic bacteria

Blue-green algae is causing havoc in Midwestern lakes saturated with agricultural run-off, but researchers in a northwest Ohio lab are using supercomputers to study a closely related strain of the toxic cyanobacteria to harness its beneficial properties.

26 Jan 2012

Increase in human activity threatens natural aquatic ecosystems in Tanzania

An increase in human activity is posing a threat to natural aquatic ecosystems in Tanzania and contributing to environmental damage and ecological changes. Doctoral research carried out by Hezron Emmanuel Nonga shows that agriculture and livestock farming leads to eutrophication in lakes and the proliferation of cyanobacteria which produce microcystins.

29 Dec 2011

Researchers modify toxic chemical of marine cycyanobacteria to treat colon cancer

University of Florida researchers have modified a toxic chemical produced by tiny marine microbes and successfully deployed it against laboratory models of colon cancer.

2 Sep 2011

Scientists decipher genome of tropical marine organism

An international team of researchers led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has deciphered the genome of a tropical marine organism known to produce substances potentially useful against human diseases.

10 May 2011

Researchers find blue-green algae may be responsible for producing estrogen-like compound in water

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, researchers have found that blue-green algae may be responsible for producing an estrogen-like compound in the environment which could disrupt the normal activity of reproductive hormones and adversely affect fish, plants and human health.

17 Feb 2011

Unrecognized substances released by algae blooms may act as endocrine disruptors

Scientists are reporting for the first time that previously unrecognized substances released by algae blooms have the potential to act as endocrine disruptors, which can interfere with the normal activity of reproductive hormones. The effect is not caused by microcystin toxins, long recognized as potentially harmful to humans and aquatic animals, but as yet unidentified substances.

17 Feb 2011

Largazole appears to be an ideal blueprint for developing new drugs against bone diseases

One of Mother Nature's latest gifts to medical science is stirring excitement with the discovery that the substance - obtained from a coral-reef inhabiting cyanobacterium - appears to be an ideal blueprint for developing new drugs for serious fractures, osteoporosis, and other bone diseases.

3 Feb 2011

Earthy or musty odors along with cyanobacteria may indicate presence of harmful cyanotoxins in lakes

Earthy or musty odors, along with visual evidence of blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, may serve as a warning that harmful cyanotoxins are present in lakes or reservoirs. In a newly published USGS study of cyanobacterial blooms in Midwest lakes, taste-and-odor compounds were found almost every time cyanotoxins were found, indicating odor may serve as a warning that harmful toxins are present.

14 Sep 2010

Study on cyanobacteria helps understand anesthetic actions

Experiments in one of the oldest forms of life on Earth are helping to answer basic questions about how general anesthesia works, according to a study in the January issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

23 Dec 2009

Brain's SCN is the master clock that synchronizes other biological clocks in the body

Alexis Webb enters a small room at Washington University in St. Louis with walls, floor and ceiling painted dark green, shuts the door, turns off the lights and bends over a microscope in a black box draped with black cloth. Through the microscope, she can see a single nerve cell on a glass cover slip glowing dimly.

10 Sep 2009