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The ESTTAL Project is a research project supported by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme. It contributes to the specific Programme "Global Change and Ecosystems" with the contract number GOCE-CT-511154.
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a phenomenon caused by the local proliferation of algae, with deleterious consequences, particularly in coastal waters throughout the world.
The negative environmental effects include
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toxicity to human consumers of seafood contaminated by potent phycotoxins,
marine faunal mortalities or morbidity, for example the death of marine animals like fish,
habitat damage in coastal ecosystems,
disruption of marine food web dynamics and
economic losses to the fishing, aquaculture, and tourist industries.
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In Europe, the social and economic implications, and the risk to human health have necessitated a comprehensive surveillance programme for harmful microalgae and their toxins. Among the several dozen species of harmful microalgae and cyanobacteria present in European marine and brackish waters, many produce potent neurotoxins, non-specific ichthyotoxins or hepatotoxins. Although the structural elucidation of many of these groups of toxins has been essentially completed and there have been many recent advances in analytical and diagnostic technologies for toxin detection, much less is known about biosynthetic pathways and gene regulation in these toxigenic species.
Disclaimer:
This website is solely under the responsibility of the ESTTAL consortium and its coordinator, Prof. Allan Cembella. It does not represent the opinion of the European Community and the EC is not responsible for any use that might be made of data appearing therein.
Contact: Dr. Uwe John, ujohn@awi-bremerhaven.de
Impressum
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