Scientific Highlights of the 18th Inter national Conference on Harmful Algae Plenary talks and Yasumoto awards Each morning and afternoon session began with plenary speakers who covered a number of topics including: climate change impacts on inland and coastal eutrophication (Anna M. Michalek), chemical studies on toxic cyanobacteria (William Gerwick), 21st century alternative methods for 21st century safety sciences (Thomas Hartung), parasites to control HABs (Laure Guillou), trait based frameworks for understanding and predicting HABs (Elena Lichtman), cyanobacteria in Danish and Florida lakes and their response to nutrient loading reduction, biomanipulation and climate warming (Erik Jeppesen) and ciguatera risk assessment and management (Mireille Chinain). The two 2016 Yasumoto award presentations, An emerging chemical ecology paradigm (Allan Cembella) and The evolution of algal toxin measurement science (Mike Quillam) were presented on the last day. from Japanese waters. Among the 244 strains, which all were found to be diarrhetic shellfish toxin producers, two new species were recorded and a very high genetic diversity was observed within P. lima. Carlos Eduardo Tibrica reported on the evolution of a semiautomated imaged-based identification program for Gambierdiscus. Sirje Sildeveer and Haifeng Gu presented detailed studies expanding current knowledge on thegenetic diversity of Alexandrium ostenfeldii and Azadinium poporum, respectively. Advances in understanding the confusing taxonomy of Ostreopsis were presented by Helena David and Olga Carnicer. Ostreopsis cf. siamensis was suggested to be renamed O. rinoi, and the true O. siamensis was suggested to belong to an unnamed clade comprising strains from the Thai type locality. Furthermore, two taxa of Ostreopsis were reported from Galapagos waters for the first time. Taxonomy Ecology Taxonomy presentations covered a range of topics. The discovery of two classes of non-photosynthetic cyanobacteria, Melainabacteria and Sericytochromatia, using genomic data (Nico Salmaso) suggests a later evolution of photosynthetic cyanobacteria than previously considered. Efforts to establish a classification of photosynthetic cyanobacteria based of genomic data (Muriel Gugger) suggest changes to the present classification, e.g the presence of only one Microcystis species. Cécile Bernard reported on the diversity of cyanobacteria from an extreme environment analogous to marine paleoenvironments. A new exciting dinoflagellate belonging to the Kareniaceae was described, with differing pigment composition and containing an eyespot which is mainly seen in freshwater dinoflagellates (Kazuya Takahashi). A major fish kill in Malaysia in 2016 was studied by Chui Pin Leaw, who found it to be caused by a hitherto undescribed Chattonella species differing genetically from Chattonella species already recorded. Masao Adachi found considerable diversity in Prorocentrum Presentations covered the impact of herbivorous predation on domoic acid production in Pseudo-nitzschia (Nina Lundholm) and interspecific variability was demonstrated by the different migratory behaviour of Dinophysis in the Ria de Vigo (Beatriz Reguera). A trait based approach was applied to metabarcoding data to investigate protist functional diversity across size-fractionated coastal planktonic communities (Pierre Ramond). New investigative approaches to address ecological questions were presented. The Within Outlying Mean index (WitOMI) approach was used to investigate the niches of harmful algae using the REPHY monitoring data from France (Karasiewicz), while a Gaussian mixture was used to investigate the phenology of phytoplankton blooms in the Southern Bight of the North Sea (Lefebvre). Alexis Fisher presented information from a study in Massachusetts on how dormancy length in Alexandrium catenella cysts is modulated by temperature, with dormancy shorter with 4 colder treatments. Dormancy of cysts at 6oC, the average bottom water temperature of the Gulf of Maine, was a full year. Raffaele Siano used metabolomic analyses to investigate differences in phosphate utilization on cysts germinated from sediments up to 20 years old and compared with those from present day. The results of this study suggest an intra-specific variability of the phosphate utilization between phenotypes of dinoflagellate of different ages in Brittany. Leonardo Guzmán showed that the exceptional blooms of Alexandrium catenella in Chile during summer 2018 were highly influenced by a particular suite of coastal hydrographic conditions, which led to southeast winds induced northwards physical transport of cells from northern Aysén to the southeast of Chiloé Island and their export off the fjords. These particular coastal oceanographic conditions were influenced by large scale climatic patterns. Omics The polyketide synthase (PKS) pathway in dinoflagellates was investigated (Allen Place) showing them to have two parallel pathways for making fatty acids and polyketides. Results showed the presence of a transcript does not predict formation of the protein, and homology to a model system homolog does not provide a lot of information about whether the toxin will be present in dinoflagellates. Shaun McKinnie, John Brunson and Sara Hardardóttir presented studies investigating the synthesis pathway of domoic acid (DA). Benjamin Kramer looked at transcriptome and physiology of Dolichospermum in response to N and P addition. Sylke Wohlrab investigated Alexandrium ostenfeldii populations in two different locations, the established population from the Baltic Sea, and a small creek in the Netherlands where the population is recently established. Results showed traits under stabilizing selection are enriched in genes that have adaptive evolution. Neutral traits show lower adaptation/evolution in genes. Trait variability in the Baltic Sea is driven by gene variants, while plasticity is more common in the Netherlands. The different adaptation strategies between the populations could potentially be due to evolutionary age. HARMFUL ALGAE NEWS NO. 62 / 2019 Harmful Algae News An IOC Newsletter on Toxic Algae and Algal Blooms No. 62 - June 2019 www.ioc-unesco.org/hab The 18th International Conference for Harmful Algae Twenty five years after the 6th International Conference on Toxic Marine Phytoplankton (6th ICHA, 1993), experts on harmful algal bloom Fig. 2. Ice-breaking at La Cité, Nantes, during the 18th ICHA, 2018 SHA society members were kept very busy, fully engaged with the evaluation of student presentations to choose the candidates for the Maureen Keller awards, the election of Yasumoto lifetime achievement awards, voting for future con Scientific and social scenes from participants during the 18th ICHA, Nantes, 2018. HARMFUL ALGAE NEWS NO. 62 / 2019 3 Scientific Highlights of the 18th Inter national Conference on Harmful Algae Plenary talks and Yasumoto awards Each morning and afternoon session began with plenary speakers who covered a number of topics including: climate change impacts on inland and coastal eutrophication (Anna M. Michalek), chem Maria Immacolata Ferrante investigated the Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata sexual cycle and found the gene that determines the mating type in this pennate diatom. Pseudo-nitzschia is found globally in the Tara Oceans dataset and the genes expressed during the sexual phase can track this important but Fig. 2. Extracellular vesicles in Alexandrium minutum. From left to right: Vegetative cell under light microscopy; epifluorescence microscopy showing the cell chloroplasts in red; vesicles in green due to lipid stain PKH67, and composite of the epifluorescence images, theca of the cell is in blue, Fig. 3. Co-evolutionary arms race. Diatoms sense presence of copepods via presence of chemical cues (copepodamides), and respond by producing domoic acid which then affect the copepods (reduced escape response). Photo courtesy of Nina Lundholm. War (Pat Tester) the socio economics session was as di Fig. 5. IAEA Technical Cooperation project: the Caribbean team having a coordination meeting with the boss. produced by Alexandrium minutum and demonstrated that these EVs were produced in laboratory cultures and in situ bloom conditions. The EVs appeared adhered to the cell surface of A. minutum c Global HABs, Global HAB Status Reporting, and Climate Change HABs and climate change attracted a record of 139 abstracts at the Nantes Conference. Research towards predicting the impact of climate change has progressed from single factor growth experiments (e.g. temperature, pCO2) with limited HAB s Barcodes and long term changes in HAB distributions Thal-ass-ee-oh-CY-ra, Key-TOSS-er-us,Pro -toe-pear-a-DIN-ee-um, Sir-A-she-um... this might be a parody of a (very short) genetic barcode or it might be gibberish. It is in fact a sample from a list of phytoplankton genera on flashcards designed to of a highly dynamic biogeographical boundary. Taxonomic uncertainties exist in Chilean waters too, and more recently (2006) PSP was detected as far north as Bahía Mejillones in 23 S. Pre-instrumental proxies indicate climate trends on secular and longer time scales. Luminescent bands in Porites cora Unprecedented bloom of the cyano bacteria Aphanizomenon in a coastal bay of El Salvador Cyanobacteria bloom in marine, freshwater and estuarine ecosystems [1]. It is widely recognized that increased nutrient inputs in waterbodies may enhance cyanobacterial growth, resulting in harmful algal blooms [ Fig. 2. Aphanizomenon fascicles found in Bahía de Jiquilisco observed using an inverted microscope. providing video material, the Secretary of Scientific Research from the University of El Salvador for logistic support, and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) for providing wate Dinoflagellate toxins recorded during an extensive coastal bloom in northern Chile Harmful algal blooms (HABs), commonly known as red tides, are primarily caused by the accelerated growth of phytoplankton due to a variety of oceanographic factors. Dinoflagellates and diatoms are often the phytoplank Table 1. Toxin concentration per sample. Toxins screened included PTX1 (pectenotoxin-1), PTX2 (pectenotoxin-2) and YTX (yessotoxin). DA (domoic acid), SPX1 (spirolide-1), GYM (gymnodimine), OA (okadaic acid), DTX1 (dinophysistoxin-1), DTX2 (dinophysistoxin-2), AZA1 (azaspiracid-1), AZA2 (azaspiracid HABs in Paradise revisited Fig. 1. Map of Rangitāhua/Kermadec Islands. Over 700 kilometres to the northeast of New Zealand are the largely uninhabited Rangitāhua/Kermadec Islands (Fig. 1). The islands fall within New Zealands exclusive economic zone and several recent expeditions have resulted in Table 1. Dinoflagellate species identified in epiphytic samples collected from Rangitāhua/Kermadec Islands, 2013-2018. Species Amphidinium carterae A.cf. massartii Coolia malayensis Gambierdiscus australes* G. honu G. polynesiensis Ostreopsis sp. 3 Prorocentrum cf. emarginatum P. hoffmanianum P Epiphytic dinoflagellates from Niue, South Pacific Ocean cal Assistance to Travellers (IAMAT) [6] suggests avoidance of reef fish over 2.7 kg and avoidance of the liver, intestine, head and roe of smaller reef fish. Gambierdiscus sp. was reported in Niue in 2008, although no molecular confirmation Fig. 2. Sampling site at Avatele Beach (left) and coastal view (right), Niue. The ICMSS is an initiative of researchers from various international institutions, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), related to the safety of molluscan shellfish. It seeks to be The ICES-IOC Working Group on Harmful Algal Bloom Dynamics 2019 Meeting The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) - Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) Working Group on Harmful Algal Bloom Dynamics (WGHABD) met from the 2nd 4th April 2019. The meeting wa Intergovernmental Panel convenes to set priorities for international cooperation on mitigating the effects of Harmful Algae The Fourteenth Session of the IOC Intergovernmental Panel on Harmful Algal Blooms (IPHAB) was held at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, from 24th to 26th April 2019. The Panel review GlobalHAB and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) GlobalHAB webpage (www.globalhab.info) On 1st January 2016, the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic U GlobalHAB APPLICATION FORM FOR ENDORSEMENT OF ACTIVITIES To be completed in English and send to the Chair of the GlobalHAB SSC. For further guidance consult the Chair and/or Vicechair of the GlobalHAB SSC. Date: 1. PROJECT TITLE: Planned duration of activity, from : 2. APPLICANT(S): Name and tit GlobalHAB International Coordi nated Activities Some international coordinated activities listed in the Science and Implementation Plan are being led by the GlobalHAB SSC because their implementation depends on international coordination and funding. The SSC has assumed this responsibility for their Scientists interested in the topic can contact Leonardo Guzmán (leonardo. guzman@ifop.cl) and Henrik Enevoldsen (h.enevoldsen@bio.ku.dk). May 2020 Planning is underway for a workshop on Modelling and prediction of harmful algal blooms, from event response to multi-decadal projections to be held in ISSHAs Corner The International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae (ISSHA) convened the 18th International Conference on Harmful Algae (ICHA 18), held in Nantes, France, from 21th to 26th October 2018. The ISSHA Council had two opportunistic meetings: the first before the conference on Sunday 21 Esther Garcés (Spain) Ian Jenkinson (China, France) Ingrid Sassenhagen (France, Germany) Keith Davidson (United Kingdom) Henrik Enevoldsen (Denmark) Luis Mafra (Brazil) Shauna Murray (Australia) Marta Estrada (Spain) Philipp Hess (France) Ichiro Imai (Japan) Dedmer B. Van de Wall (Netherlands) Steff logic interactions, chemical ecology and microalgal physiology. Marc Long (Best Oral Presentation) Northeast Fisheries Science Center, United States) in Milford Connecticut, studying phytoplankton physiology with Dr. Gary H. Wikfors. The work presented at ICHA2018 was part of his Ph.D. research, r She continued her research in toxicology with a thesis project on the development of new cell models of the intestinal barrier (tri-culture and co-culture with epithelial cells, goblet cells and glial enteric cells), a tool for a best evaluation of toxicity of 6 phycotoxins. This thesis is supervise Anna Godhe - In Memoriam Anna Godhe passed away on April 4th 2019 after a strenuous fight with cancer. Her untimely passing represents a big loss for the scientific community. We all remember her true passion for research, her important contributions to marine phytoplankton ecology and her open mind Forthcoming events ICHA 2020 19th ICHA October 11-16, 2020. La Paz, B.C.S. Mexico Registration will open during 2019. ISSHA members can register at special rates! Participants wishing to receive the ISSHA member rate for conference registration must join ISSHA or renew their memberships prior to t Eds-in-chief Beatriz Reguera, IEO, Vigo, Spain Eilen Bresnan, MARLAB, Marine Scotland Science, UK Regional Editors Caribbean: Ernesto Mancera jemancerap@unal.edu.co Europe: Philip Hess Philipp.Hess@ifremer.fr Mediterranean Sea: Adriana Zingone zingone@szn.it India: K.B. Padmakumar kbpadmakumar@g