Advances in Research on Cyanobacteria and Cyanotoxins
A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cyanobacteria are oxygen-producing bacteria, originating around 3 billion years ago. Cyanobacteria can form dense blooms in freshwater, with the most common bloom-forming genera including Microcystis, Aphanizomenon, Cylindrospermopsis, Dolichospermum, Nodularia, Planktothrix. Cyanobacterial blooms can cause major problems for water quality, producing undesirable metabolites, such as taste and odour compounds, cyanotoxins, and algal organic matter. They therefore interfere with the recreational functions of lakes and the use of reservoirs for drinking water. Cyanotoxins can cause liver, digestive, and neurological diseases when ingested by birds, mammals, and humans. Among these cyanotoxins, microcystin is the most commonly reported, and World Health Organization has set a lifetime guideline value of 1 μg/L for microcystin-LR in drinking water. Global warming and eutrophication lead to frequent outbreaks of toxic cyanobacterial blooms, and the threat they pose to water safety and human health cannot be ignored. Despite increasing research in this field, a better understanding of the diversity, physiology, ecology, and toxicology of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins and innovative strategies and techniques to combat them is still urgently needed. This Special Issue aims to bring together scientists to share their scientific findings about cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins and their impact worldwide.
Dr. Xi Li
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- cyanobacteria
- cyanotoxins
- water safety
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