Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

3.16 - Integrating Genomics, Metabolomics, and Control Strategies to Address Harmful Algal and Cyanobacterial Blooms

Description

Keywords: Environmental Chemistry, OMICs, Toxins

The global proliferation of harmful algal and cyanobacterial blooms (HABs) in both freshwater and marine systems presents a growing challenge for environmental scientists, regulators, and water resource managers. While traditional management has focused on planktonic blooms and well-characterized toxins, an unknown risk remains in a largely unexplored realm: the vast, bioactive metabolome of aquatic microorganisms and the under-monitored toxicity of benthic ecosystems. This session addresses this emerging frontier, moving beyond conventional monitoring and control approaches toward a more integrative and predictive framework.
Recent advances in genomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics are revolutionizing our ability to identify thousands of previously unknown metabolites and link them to the organisms and biosynthetic gene clusters responsible for their production. These tools are beginning to fill critical knowledge gaps regarding toxin biosynthesis, bloom dynamics, and organismal responses to environmental drivers and management interventions. Equally important, they are revealing the fate, persistence, and bioavailability of both primary toxins and their transformation products, which are essential for accurate risk assessment.
In parallel, new control strategies are being tested and deployed. However, many of these approaches lack mechanistic understanding needed to determine feasibility. This session will also explore next-generation control approaches, including targeted biocontrol, gene-level interventions, and valorization of harmful biomass to support circular economy goals.
We invite presentations that bridge molecular discovery with environmental relevance, linking ‘omics data to bloom formation, toxicity, mitigation, and ecosystem response. Contributions using AI-integrated models to predict bloom onset and toxicity based on multi-source environmental and molecular data are especially encouraged.
By convening toxicologists, molecular biologists, ecologists, analytical chemists, engineers, and environmental modelers, this session aims to define the state-of-the-science and chart a path toward predictive, integrative, and sustainable HAB management.

Chairs

Petra Visser University of Amsterdam Netherlands
Tri Kaloudis Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company - EYDAP SA Greece
Sissy Hiskia Demokritos Greece
Dail Laughinghouse University of Florida Netherlands