VILA , Magda

Ostreopsis spp. blooms have been occurring in the last two decades in the Mediterranean Sea in association with a variety of biotic and abiotic substrata (macroalgae, seagrasses, benthic invertebrates, sand, pebbles and rocks). Cells proliferate attached to the surfaces through mucilaginous trichocysts, which lump together microalgal cells, and...

Harmful benthic microalgae blooms represent an emergent phenomenon in temperate zones, causing health, ecological and economic concern. The main goal of this work is to compile records of Ostreopsis at large temporal and spatial scales, in order to study the relationship between cell abundances, the periodicity and intensity of the blooms and...

Harmful benthic microalgae blooms represent an emergent phenomenon in temperate zones, causing health, ecological and economic concern. The main goal of this work is to compile records of Ostreopsis at large temporal and spatial scales, in order to study the relationship between cell abundances, the periodicity and intensity of the blooms and...

This paper describes the adoption and validation of two innovative methods for the automated count of Ostreopsis spp. concentration in sea water: a molecular assay based on RT-qPCR and an opto-electronic device implementing automatic recognition algorithms. The proposed approaches were tested on samples coming from different locations along the...