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Diatom blooms and their effects on human health by Kyle Scotese* Humans have long benefited from algae in many ways; from breathing the oxygen released during photosynthesis or consuming algae and organisms that feed on algae, to using their components and extracts in everything from foods to fuels, medicines and cosmetics. However, as Paracelsus wisely said, "All things are poison, and nothing is without poison, the dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison". While algae are not a problem per se, too many algae can be an issue, just like too much sugar in our diet may negatively impact our health. Many types of algae, including cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates and diatoms, can generate massive populations with densities greater than 15,000,000 cells per liter, stretching for hundreds or even thousands of square kilometers in water bodies (Bates, Garrison, Horner, 1998) . These blooms can proliferate and dieback in a matter of days or return seasona...

In this first 2019 Diatom of the Month post , Chetan Chandrakant Gaonkar *  present us the marine diatom planktonic family Chaetocerotaceae and how to unravel its complex diversity by using up-to-date molecular techniques The family  Chaetocerotaceae   is arguably among the most diverse among planktonic diatoms. Species are particularly common in coastal waters and  upwelling zones   where they are responsible for a substantial part of the primary productivity 1-3 . The hallmark of this family constitutes hollow siliceous tubular structures, called the setae, emerging from the corner of the valves. The family includes two extant genera,  Bacteriastrum  Shadbolt and  Chaetoceros  Ehrenberg 4 , the latter being way more diverse. Within the genus  Chaetoceros  two subgenera are commonly recognized,  Chaetoceros  (a.k.a.  Phaeoceros), which is characterized by exhibiting plastids in the  setae , and  Hyalo...