This volume of the Algological Studies contains 8 articles of the 17th Symposium of the International Association for Cyanophyte Research (IAC), Mérida, Yucatán (México). The symposium covered a wide range of topics related to the morphological and molecular diversity, the ecology and physiology of Cyanobacteria (Cyanophyta). The main topics of the event were the combined morphological and molecular approaches to natural populations, and the temperate and tropical cyanobacterial floras.

The first article is a summary of the round table “Nomenclature of Cyanobacteria (Cyanophycae). What had happened since IAC Luxembourg?”, which was held to update the discussion on the Botanical and Bacteriological Codes. Recommendations to the authorities of both Codes for unifying nomenclatural rules are discussed in the paper.

The article of Šmarda (Šmarda, J.: Cell ultrastructure changes accompanying the annual life cycle of the cyanobacterium (Microcystis aeruginosa)) follows the annual life cycle of the cell ultrastructure of Microcystis aeruginosa, comparing the features of the benthic vegetation and the pelagic one. The results reveal the fundamental importance of aerotopes in the transition of the pelagic to the benthic populations.

There are two papers about the bioactive peptides produced by cyanobacteria (Aboal, M. and Puig, M. A.: Microcystin production in Rivularia colonies of calcareous streams from Mediterranean Spanish basins; Codd, G. A. et al.: Extractions of cyanostatins and their analysis, with microcystins and anabaenopoetin A, in a 21-year archive of cyanobacterial bloom samples). The novelty of the previous one, that natural, benthonic populations were investigated, which is rather scarce in the literature. The latter article deals with the methodical approaches of the extraction of cyanostatins, and examines the relationship between these non-microcystin peptides and cyanobacterial blooms based on an archive of samples.

Changes in cyanobacterial communities in oil polluted sediments is presented in “Selection of oil-tolerant cyanobacteria on oil polluted sediments” by Abed and Golubic. Both applied methods (direct microscopy and DGGE) showed that thin, filamentous, opportunistic cynobacteria types overtake other types when the habitat is perturbed, or environmental conditions change.

In the rest three article, diversity, taxonomy and ecology of cyanobacterial communities of different part of the world are described from various point of views (Addico et al.: Cyanobacterial diversity and biomass in relation to nutrient regime of four freshwater reservoirs sourced for the production of drinking water in Ghana; Ionescu et al.: The cyanobacterial community of the Zerka Ma’in hot spring, Jordan: morphological and molecular diversity and nitrogen fixation; John et al.: Cyanobacteria in benthic communities in coastal salt lakes in Western Australia).

Overall, the volume has a logical structure, and it is nicely edited. It contributes to the extension of our knowledge about the Cyanobacteria/Cyanophyta group, and can be warmly recommended to all researchers of the field.

B. BOLLA

Acta Botanica Hungarica 53(1–2), pp. 211–212, 2011