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Microorganisms
Special Issues
Advances in Research on Cyanobacteria
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Advances in Research on Cyanobacteria

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2025) | Viewed by 8415

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Nada Tokodi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Laboratory of Metabolomics, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30387 Krakow, Poland
2. Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Interests: cyanobacteria; blooms; cyanotoxins; microcystin; health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Nevena Đorđević

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Kragujevac, Radoja Domanovića 12, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia
Interests: algology; cyanobacteria; cyanotoxins; water quality; water pollution; ecological status assessment; ecological potential assessment
Dr. Dijana Lalić

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Interests: cyanobacteria; cyanotoxins; biomarkers; paleoclimate reconstruction; health; blooms; loess

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are a diverse group of photosynthetic microorganisms that play crucial roles in various ecosystems worldwide. This Special Issue of the journal Microorganisms encompasses a wide scope and is intended to address some of the gaps in our knowledge concerning the current research on cyanobacteria. It deals with the occurrence of cyanobacteria and their ecology, description of their physiology and metabolism, their interactions with other organisms, methods to deal with harmful cyanobacterial blooms, fate/impact/health effects of cyanobacterial metabolites, all omics research and potential biotechnological use.

In this Special Issue, original research articles, reviews and perspectives are welcome. Research areas may include various aspects of cyanobacterial research, including, but not limited to:

  • Cyanobacterial Diversity and Ecology: Studies investigating the taxonomic diversity, distribution patterns and ecological roles of cyanobacteria in different habitats, from freshwater lakes and rivers to marine environments and terrestrial ecosystems.
  • Cyanobacterial Physiology and Metabolism: Research focusing on the physiological and biochemical processes underlying cyanobacterial growth, photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation, carbon sequestration and production of secondary metabolites such as toxins and bioactive compounds.
  • Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs): Investigations into the environmental factors driving the formation and dynamics of cyanobacterial HABs, their ecological impacts, and the development of monitoring and management strategies to mitigate their adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems and human health.
  • Cyanobacterial ‘Omics’: Utilization of genomic, metagenomic and comparative genomics approaches to unravel the evolutionary history, genetic diversity and adaptive mechanisms of cyanobacteria in response to changing environmental conditions. Cyanobacterial metabolite diversity and the idenfitication of new metabolites.
  • Cyanobacteria in Loess and Biological Soil Crusts: Cyanobacteria secondary metabolites as biomarkers in Loess research and Paleoclimate reconstruction.
  • Cyanobacterial Biotechnology: Exploration of the biotechnological potential of cyanobacteria for applications in biofuel production, wastewater treatment, carbon capture, bioremediation and the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and other valuable products.
  • Cyanobacteria in Biogeochemical Cycles and Interactions with other Organisms: Studies elucidating the roles of cyanobacteria in biogeochemical cycles, including their contributions to carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and their interactions with other microorganisms and biota.

Dr. Nada Tokodi
Dr. Nevena Đorđević
Dr. Dijana Lalić
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cyanobacteria
  • harmful algal blooms
  • cyanotoxins
  • secondary metabolites
  • cyanobacterial diversity and ecology
  • biotechnological use
  • biological loess crusts
  • health risk
  • environmental sustainability
  • cyanobacterial omics

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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9 pages, 2180 KiB  
Communication
Virus Infection of a Freshwater Cyanobacterium Contributes Significantly to the Release of Toxins Through Cell Lysis
by Victoria Lee, Isaac Meza-Padilla and Jozef I. Nissimov
Microorganisms 2025, 13(3), 486; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13030486 - 22 Feb 2025
Viewed by 841
Abstract
Toxic algal-bloom-forming cyanobacteria are a persistent problem globally for many aquatic environments. Their occurrence is attributed to eutrophication and rising temperatures due to climate change. The result of these blooms is often the loss of biodiversity, economic impacts on tourism and fisheries, and [...] Read more.
Toxic algal-bloom-forming cyanobacteria are a persistent problem globally for many aquatic environments. Their occurrence is attributed to eutrophication and rising temperatures due to climate change. The result of these blooms is often the loss of biodiversity, economic impacts on tourism and fisheries, and risks to human and animal health. Of emerging interest is the poorly understood interplay between viruses and toxic species that form blooms. This is because recent studies have suggested that viruses may exacerbate the harmful effects of these blooms by contributing to the release of toxins into a dissolved phase upon cell lysis. However, to date, there is no experimental evidence that explicitly implicates viruses in microcystin release. Here, we show experimentally that a virus infection of the toxin-producing, harmful, algal-bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa results in a 4-fold increase in the toxin microcystin-LR two days post-infection (dpi). We also show that the concentrations of microcystin remain high after culture discoloration and host cell lysis. Collectively, our results directly implicate viruses as major contributors to microcystin release from cyanobacteria and emphasize the importance of taking viruses into account in predictive models and in the assessment of water quality and safety. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Research on Cyanobacteria)
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13 pages, 3123 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Genotoxic and Hemolytic Effects of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and Microcystis aeruginosa Biomass Extracts on Human Blood Cells In Vitro
by Nevena B. Đorđević, Jovana Tubić Vukajlović, Olivera Milošević-Đorđević, Vladimir B. Mihailović, Nikola Z. Srećković, Aleksandra B. Rakonjac and Snežana B. Simić
Microorganisms 2024, 12(11), 2208; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12112208 - 31 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1332
Abstract
This study explores the in vitro effects of cyanotoxins from the methanolic extract of the cyanobacteria Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and Microcystis aeruginosa on human blood cells, with samples drawn from the Gruža reservoir in Serbia. These cyanobacteria, which made up 98.5% of the reservoir’s [...] Read more.
This study explores the in vitro effects of cyanotoxins from the methanolic extract of the cyanobacteria Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and Microcystis aeruginosa on human blood cells, with samples drawn from the Gruža reservoir in Serbia. These cyanobacteria, which made up 98.5% of the reservoir’s phytoplankton, reached densities of 4,656,450 cells mL−1, with A. flos aquae (3,105,120 cells mL−1) as the dominant species, followed by M. aeruginosa (1,480,130 cells mL−1). A cyanotoxin analysis of biomass detected anatoxin-a (3.56 µg g−1), cylindrospermopsin (6.86 µg g−1), microcystin LR (0.87 µg g−1), and microcystin RR (2.47 µg g−1). This study assessed the genotoxic potential of the methanolic extract of the cyanobacterial biomass by evaluating the DNA damage and the Genetic Damage Index (GDI) in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) from healthy donors. The results showed a dose-dependent increase in the DNA damage, from 35.67 ± 4.93% at 10 µg mL−1 to 95.67 ± 1.53% at 100 µg mL−1, with a corresponding rise in the GDI from 0.61 ± 0.02 to 2.39 ± 0.07. The extract also caused the concentration-dependent hemolysis of red blood cells, with 5.63% hemolysis at the highest concentration (200 µg mL−1). These findings underscore the significant genotoxic risks posed by cyanotoxins from biomass extracts of A. flos aquae and M. aeruginosa, particularly in water sources used for human consumption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Research on Cyanobacteria)
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15 pages, 9330 KiB  
Article
Changing Patterns and Driving Factors of Plankton Coupling Relationships in Lakes around the Yangtze River, China
by Chenhao Dong, Xinchao Guo, Haiyan Liu, Zhaosheng Chu and Tianhao Wu
Microorganisms 2024, 12(8), 1698; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12081698 - 17 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1016
Abstract
In recent decades, cyanobacterial blooms have intensified in many lakes in China. Algal blooms are closely linked to the predation pressure on phytoplankton, but the changes in the relationship between phytoplankton and their primary predators, zooplankton, remain unclear. To investigate the changing patterns [...] Read more.
In recent decades, cyanobacterial blooms have intensified in many lakes in China. Algal blooms are closely linked to the predation pressure on phytoplankton, but the changes in the relationship between phytoplankton and their primary predators, zooplankton, remain unclear. To investigate the changing patterns and driving factors of the relationship between plankton, the historical data of plankton from 14 typical freshwater lakes around the Yangtze River were collected from multiple databases. By comparing the structure of plankton communities in typical lakes between the 1990s and the 2010s, it was found that the phytoplankton density was elevated in 79% of all the lakes; on average, it had increased to 3156 times higher than it had been. In contrast, the zooplankton density was elevated in only 57% of these lakes, and this value was only two times higher than it had been. In 11 out of the 14 lakes, the zooplankton density growth rate was lower than that of the phytoplankton. The percentage of cyanobacteria in these lakes increased from 53% to 62%, and the changes in cyanobacteria were significantly negatively correlated with the changes in zooplankton. Eutrophication caused this significant increase in phytoplankton, especially cyanobacteria. Cyanobacterialization, changes in fish community structures, biological invasion, and river–lake relationships impede zooplankton survival. This combination of factors hinders plankton coupling in many lakes. This study attempts to provide new insights for lake ecological management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Research on Cyanobacteria)
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Review

Jump to: Research

24 pages, 771 KiB  
Review
Application of Cyanobacteria as Chassis Cells in Synthetic Biology
by Xueli Liu, Kaixin Tang and Jinlu Hu
Microorganisms 2024, 12(7), 1375; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12071375 - 5 Jul 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2949
Abstract
Synthetic biology is an exciting new area of research that combines science and engineering to design and build new biological functions and systems. Predictably, with the development of synthetic biology, more efficient and economical photosynthetic microalgae chassis will be successfully constructed, making it [...] Read more.
Synthetic biology is an exciting new area of research that combines science and engineering to design and build new biological functions and systems. Predictably, with the development of synthetic biology, more efficient and economical photosynthetic microalgae chassis will be successfully constructed, making it possible to break through laboratory research into large-scale industrial applications. The synthesis of a range of biochemicals has been demonstrated in cyanobacteria; however, low product titers are the biggest barrier to the commercialization of cyanobacterial biotechnology. This review summarizes the applied improvement strategies from the perspectives of cyanobacteria chassis cells and synthetic biology. The harvest advantages of cyanobacterial products and the latest progress in improving production strategies are discussed according to the product status. As cyanobacteria synthetic biology is still in its infancy, apart from the achievements made, the difficulties and challenges in the application and development of cyanobacteria genetic tool kits in biochemical synthesis, environmental monitoring, and remediation were assessed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Research on Cyanobacteria)
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