In the field of environmental monitoring of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins (WP3), the activities developed by the consortium in Portugal, Morocco, Peru, Egypt, have contributed to increase the understanding of the presence of microbiological and chemical pollution in some important water resources for agriculture and production of drinking water in these countries. In Peru, the consortium has carried out monitoring and field prospecting work. This research allowed to obtain new biological material which has been used for toxicological studies and identification of sources of contamination in reservoirs in the Arequipa region such as the toxic cyanobacterium Dolychosporum. Similar studies are being carried out in Egypt and Morocco.
Concerning WP4, important activities and scientific advances have also been recorded. The diversified scientific studies were carried out and included laboratory and field experiments. The experimental work carried out was important to clarify the susceptibility of plants to different types of toxins and respective exposure doses; and to clarify the functions of the rhizosphere in protecting plants from these water contaminants (works published in 10.3390/toxins13020118 and 10.3390/microorganisms9081747 ).
In the field of bioremediation and control of toxic cyanobacterial blooms (WP6) several lines of work have been developed by the consortium, some considered highly innovative and promising. In this field of research, it stands out the work done on the valorization of compounds/biomolecules produced by microorganisms such as actinobacteria and fungi, but also by macroalgae and terrestrial plants, as alternative materials applied for the control of cyanobacterial blooms. The work of Zerrifi et al (2019, 2020, 2021) (10.1007/s11356-019-04921-9; 10.3390/toxins12080527) revealed for example that compounds extracted from the species Bifurcaria tuberculata, Codium elongatum, and Bornetia secundiflora have very significant anti-algal activity. The authors also reported that extracts of Streptomyces sp isolated from sediment samples collected from Moroccan salt river hold Anti-cyanobacterial activity (10.1007/s11356-020 -10439-2). The consortium is currently working towards the characterization of the various bioactive compounds with a view to developing new products based on these compounds. Other nature-based solutions such as MSL and CW have been the focus of the research of the consortium. The work already concluded allowed to conclude that these technologies have the potential to reduce or eliminate microbiological contamination in water and also the toxins produced by cyanobacteria. CW systems, for example, have shown toxic cyanobacteria clearance rates on the order of 94% and about 99% removal rates of the toxin microcystins (10.3390/w12010010). On the same note, the MSL technology built with alternated permeable layers (pozzolan) and soil mixture layers arranged in a brick-layer-like pattern, operating with a hydraulic loading rate (HLR) of 200 L m−2 day−1 lead also to similar removal rates of microcystins (10.3390/w13101403). Ongoing work tackles the optimization of the technology for the removal of different cyanotoxins, and full characterization of the biological functions underlying the removal and degradation of this kind of water contaminant.
