Globally, algal aquaculture is developing rapidly and is a multi-billion dollar industry employing millions of people. As any friend of Asian cuisine knows, algae are an important and healthy source of food that is growing in popularity, but we use algae also in many other industries. In the chemical and pharmaceutical industries algae serve as fertilizers, soil conditioners and for wastewater treatment. The energy industry has been developing biofuels from both microalgae and seaweeds. Algae are also popular ingredients in the cosmetics industry too. On the other hand, some algae are perceived as a nuisance, for example green tides that develop as a result of pollution. In fact, algae are incredibly diverse, with a huge ecological importance both in marine and freshwater environments.
In order to understand their role in ecosystems, to support their cultivation or to limit their unwanted proliferation, it is important to know what algae need to flourish, and to control their diseases and pests. At present, the single biggest biological challenge to further develop algal aquaculture is to first understand and then control both beneficial and harmful microbes – the microbial flora or algal microbiome. The main aims of ALFF research are to: 1) identify, classify and utilise naturally occurring algal symbionts and pathogens; 2) tackle inter- and intra-species signalling and chemical ecology in aquaculture, the natural environment and simplified systems 3) to harness state of the art genomics, molecular and biochemical techniques to characterise these interactions
The overarching aim of programme is to training 14 PhD students within this multinational consortium whilst bringing a fundamental scientific change in our understanding of these interactions, leading to the development of superior mass algal cultivation and biocontrol strategies. Over the period 2015-2018, ALFF has already resulted in over 20 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals.
