Algal Toxins: Nature, Occurrence, Effect and Detection. Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Sensor Systems for Biological Threats: The Algal Toxins Case, Pisa, Italy, 30 September - 11 October 2007. Publ. 2008. (NATO Science for Peace and Security Series A: Chemistry and Biology). 399 p. gr8vo. Hardcover.

The first part of this book deals with a general overview of the toxins and toxicity related to the algal world. The first part includes an introduction on the main algal features written by our group; then, the diversity of the cyanobacteria, the algal division that possesses more toxic species, in relation to the environment is described; an overview on the fresh water and marine algal toxins follows; and the allelopathy phenomenon, i.e. any influence on the growth and development of natural systems produced by the algae metabolites is described. The first part ends with the description of toxic algal blooms in several European geographical areas. The second part deals with the review of sensor organisms, the use of biochemical methods and laser Doppler techniques for toxin determination; the use of nucleic acid sensor sensors for identification of toxic species; the use of immunological ELISA analyses combined with various electrochemical detection systems to quantify algal toxins; a review on sensors based on electrochemical methods, and a gene-engineered yeast usable as biochemical instrument for toxin assessment.