We are proud to announce that Cyanolab Ph.D. student Manthos Panou won the 2nd prize for the best oral presentation in the 39th Annual Meeting of the European Culture Collections’ Organisation (ECCO XXXIX). His presentation was dealing with "Unravelling unknown cyanobacteria diversity linked with HCN production in the TAU-MAC collection", which is part of his Ph. D. thesis.

We are proud to announce that CyanoLab's culture collection (TAU-MAC) is the newest member of European Culture Collections' Organisation (ECCO). The addition of CyanoLab as member of ECCO was decided in ECCO's annual grant meeting in Turin. TAU-MAC culture collection can be accessed through ECCO here.

Pilot cultivation of locally isolated Dunaliella strains for the production of β-carotene (PILOUS). Click the link for information on PILOUS in English.

Το cyanolab είναι στην ευχάριστη θέση να ανακοινώσει την επικείμενη έναρξη υλοποίησης του έργου PILOUS «Απομόνωση και πιλοτική καλλιέργεια τοπικών στελεχών Dunaliella προς παραγωγή β-καροτένιου» το οποίο χρηματοδοτείται από την ΓΓΕΤ στο πλαίσιο της Δράσης Εθνικής Εμβέλειας: “Ειδικές Δράσεις «ΥΔΑΤΟΚΑΛΛΙΕΡΓΕΙΕΣ» - «ΒΙΟΜΗΧΑΝΙΚΑ ΥΛΙΚΑ» - «ΑΝΟΙΧΤΗ ΚΑΙΝΟΤΟΜΙΑ ΣΤΟΝ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΟ»” του Επιχειρησιακού Προγράμματος “Ανταγωνιστικότητα, Επιχειρηματικότητα και Καινοτομία” (ΕΠΑνΕΚ).

Αντικείμενο και Στόχοι του Έργου

Στο πλαίσιο της ανάπτυξης του τομέα της γαλάζιας βιοτεχνολογίας στην Ελλάδα, το έργο PILOUS αποσκοπεί στην εφαρμογή ενός καινοτόμου, βιώσιμου και ολιστικού μοντέλου δράσεων εφαρμοσμένης έρευνας και τεχνολογικής ανάπτυξης προς παραγωγή βιοτεχνολογικών προϊόντων υψηλής προστιθεμένης αξίας προερχόμενων από βιομάζα τοπικών ειδών του μικροφύκους Dunaliella. Το γένος Dunaliella παρουσιάζει κοσμοπολίτικη εξάπλωση και διαβιεί σε υδατικά οικοσυστήματα με υψηλές τιμές αλατότητας, μεταξύ των οποίων συγκαταλέγονται και οι αλυκές της Ελλάδας. Τα μαστιγοφόρα κύτταρα του χλωροφύκους Dunaliella salina, αποτελούν την πλουσιότερη φυσική πηγή της χρωστικής β-καροτένιο, ουσίας που παρουσιάζει αυξανόμενη ζήτηση σε παγκόσμια κλίμακα και μεγάλο εύρος εφαρμογών. Επιπρόσθετα, το β-καροτένιο, απομονωμένο από βιομάζα στελεχών Dunaliella, αποτελεί μια από τις λίγες ουσίες μικροφυκών που έχει λάβει έγκριση χρήσης από την Ευρωπαϊκή Αρχή για την Ασφάλεια των Τροφίμων (EFSA) ως συστατικό τροφίμων.

Dear Colleagues,

Cyanobacteria are an ancient lineage of oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria found in a broad range of habitats, from soil to oceans, where they play important roles in the global nitrogen and carbon cycles. They are known for the toxic blooms they form in fresh water bodies around the world and the production of toxins, posing a threat to human and environmental health. Despite the tremendous effort to understand the biosynthesis, toxicity, and occurrence of cyanobacteria secondary metabolites, the biological role of these compounds still remains relatively unknown.  Various hypotheses in this regard have been put forward, encompassing both intracellular effects such as nutrient storage, light adaptation, and protection against oxidative stress, and extracellular functions including quorum sensing, allelopathic interactions, nutrient acquisition, colony formation, and grazing defense. The existing evidence on the potential role of cyanotoxins is mostly based on experimental studies and require further confirmation by in-field observations.

toxins-logo

This Special Issue is destined to gather reviews, original experimental papers, and short notes reporting findings on experimental and in-field observations that aim to advance our understanding of the biological role of cyanotoxins.  

For more information and instructions on how to submit your paper please click here

Check out our project in ResearchGate

We look forward to receive your high quality contributions on this exciting topic! 

Dr. Spyros Gkelis
Dr. Piotr Rzymski
Guest Editors

Our new publication "A Greek Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii strain: Missing link in tropic invader's phylogeography tale" is now published in Harmful Algae. The paper is dealing with C. raciborskii phylogeography with data derived by 64 C. raciborskii strains, including a Greek one. Analysis of different phylogenetic markers revealed that the strains originating from the Mediterranean region share a common ancestor with strains from the American continent, whereas strains from Central Europe and Portugal, Asia, and Australia may have their origin in Africa continent. We also pose further questions on the toxic capacity of this species concerning it ability to produce microcystins (MCs). Share PDF Link (valid until 04 December 2018):

The 2nd EUAlgae workshop for algal bioproducts successfully took place in Thessaloniki, Greece. Early Career Investigators and PhD   students from countries participating in the EUALGAE COST Action presented their projects on microalgae bioproducts. We would to thank all the participants for their participation and exchanging new ideas during the Workshop hosted by Cyanolab AUTH. We look forward to meeting you again in Thessaloniki.

The 2nd EUAlgae workshop for algal bioproducts will take place in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The workshop is for Early   Career   Investigators (prioritized)   and   PhD   students   from   countries participating in the COST Action EUALGAE Only those candidates selected for oral  presentation will be reimbursed. The workshop will take place in the Aristotle University Dissemination Center on March 6th, 2018.

Aristotle University Dissemination Center

Thessaloniki city view. Photo: John Triantafyllopoulos.

Limnological Review (abbr. Limnol. Rev.) is a scientific journal published by the Polish Limnological Society. The journal publishes original research papers, short communications and review articles. Limnological Review is devoted, but not limited to, the study of inland, both natural and manmade, water bodies. The scope of the journal covers all aspects of freshwater environment studies, from lakes and rivers to wetlands, from physical and chemical to biological limnology. The journal is peer-reviewed and is published quarterly in paper and electronic versions. The language of the journal is English.

The journal publishes original and review papers with Open Access FREE OF ANY CHARGES. 

Dr. Spyros Gkelis is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board. 

The new book "Microalgae-Based Biofuels and Bioproducts: From Feedstock cultivation to end products" edited by Cristina Gonzalez-Fernandez and Raul Muñoz and written through the EU Algae Network is now published by Elsevier.  Dr. Spyros Gkelis together with colleagues from Universities of Porto and Minho in Portugal, contributed with the chapter "Cyanobacterial toxins as a high value-added product".