A monitorização da qualidade da água para consumo humano relativamente à presença de cianobactérias é uma das atribuições do Departamento de Saúde Ambiental do Instituto Nacional de Saúde. A proliferação massiva de cianobactérias (bloom) em reservatórios de água doce superficial tem impactos no ecossistema aquático, nos procedimentos operativos das estações de tratamento de água e acarreta riscos para a saúde h...
The morphological plasticity of cyanobacteria and their widespread ecological dominance in a wide range of habitats highlights the need for in-depth taxonomic studies. This work focused on the taxonomical revision of Leptolyngbya (Cyanophyceae) strains deposited in the ESSACC culture collection and their metabolomic characterization. Although the studied ESSACC strains were morphologically identified as Leptoly...
As cianobactérias são organismos procariotas fotoautotróficos, presentes numa variedade de habitats, designadamente nas águas doces superficiais. Sendo produtores primários, são essenciais nos ecossistemas, uma vez que estão na base da cadeia trófica e são uma das principais fontes de oxigénio. No entanto, produzem compostos tóxicos (cianotoxinas) que constituem um risco para a saúde pública, sendo a principal ...
Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the microbial biodiversity and naturally occurring antibiotic resistance (AR)-encoding genes background load along the food/feed chain in an open-air agricultural testing catchment (HOAL). Methods: Samples were collected in two time points during the year 2020 from various – but interconnected – environmental compartments of the food/feed chain within an HOAL catchmen...
Os perigos associados aos blooms de cianobactérias são conhecidos e percecionados, mas algumas lacunas analíticas e no conhecimento científico impedem, ainda, a devida avaliação do risco de exposição humana a toxinas de cianobactérias e, consequentemente, a adoção das medidas preventivas e de remediação mais adequadas. As cianotoxinas também induzem efeitos nocivos e mortandade em peixes, aves e mamíferos, pelo...
In the summer of 2015, an intense cyanobacterial bloom producing geosmin/2- methylisoborneol (MIB) occurred in the Roxo freshwater reservoir in Alentejo, Portugal. The drinking water supplied from the Roxo water treatment plant (WTP) exhibited an unpleasant odor/taste and a significant cyanobacteria density was detected in the finished water at the exit of the WTP. Cyanobacteria were not evaluated downstream of...
Antioxidant compounds from cyanobacteria may constitute a natural alternative to current synthetic antioxidants, which contain preservatives and suspected toxicity. In this work, we evaluate the antioxidant potential of cyanobacterial strains of distinct species/genus isolated from freshwater (n = 6), soil (n = 1) and wastewater (n = 1) environments. Lyophilized biomass obtained from in-vitro cultures of those ...
This work presents the successful establishment of Cylindrospermosis raciborskii cultures isolated from water samples collected at the exit point of Water Treatment Plant (WTP). An intense bloom dominated by filamentous cyanobacteria (Aphanizomenon spp., Planktothrix spp., Cylindrospermosis raciborskii, Anabaena spp.) occurred in the summer of 2015 in Roxo reservoir (south Portugal). Several cyanotoxins (microc...
Suspeita de hepatoxicidade provocada por cianotoxinas, num surto de morte súbita em 25 bovinos numa exploração com 54 vacas de carne em Almodôvar, Alentejo.
Saxitoxins (STX) are a group of carbamate alkaloids known to inhibit the axons sodium ion channels, thus affecting the nervous system in vertebrates. These neurotoxins cause paralysis and respiratory failure, ultimately ending in death. They are produced by organisms belonging to two different kingdoms: marine eukaryotic dinoflagellates and freshwater prokaryotic cyanobacteria. The unique biosynthetic pathway, ...