Microalgae are one of the most prominent sources of ingredients for the cosmetic industry not only due to their diversity but, importantly, due to the low environmental impact in production and extraction. A sustainable extraction process requires the use of effective and environmentally friendly solvents that guarantee an extract with a relevant content and in high yields. In this work, Chlorella vulgaris, Nan...
Cyanobacteria are a well-known source of bioproducts which renders culturable strains a valuable resource for biotechnology purposes. We describe here the establishment of a cyanobacterial culture collection (CC) and present the first version of the strain catalog and its online database (http://lege.ciimar.up.pt/). The LEGE CC holds 386 strains, mainly collected in coastal (48%), estuarine (11%), and fresh (34...
Blooms of toxic cyanobacteria are becoming increasingly frequent, mainly due to water quality degradation. This work applied qPCR as a tool for early warning of microcystin(MC)-producer cyanobacteria and risk assessment of water supplies. Specific marker genes for cyanobacteria, Microcystis and MC-producing Microcystis, were quantified to determine the genotypic composition of the natural Microcystis population...
Cyanobacteria are prokaryotic photosynthetic microorganisms that pose a serious threat to aquatic environments because they are able to form blooms under eutrophic conditions and produce toxins. Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii is a planktonic heterocystous filamentous cyanobacterium initially assigned to the tropics but currently being found in more temperate regions such as Portugal, the southernmost record for...