20.500.12556/DiRROS-25699 Microalgal communities in mucilage aggregates (Northern Adriatic Sea, summer 2024) based on microscopy and metabarcoding The mucilage phenomenon consists of the appearance of large gelatinous aggregates floating in the water column. In summer 2024, this event has reappeared in the Northern Adriatic Sea (NAS) on a large scale. This study provides an integrated characterization of the microalgal community within mucilage aggregates and surrounding waters in two NAS areas (Gulf of Trieste and Conero Riviera) using light microscopy (LM), metabarcoding (MB) based on ribosomal 18S V4 and V9 markers, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for selected taxa identification. Mucilage aggregates acted as dynamic microbial hotspots, hosting a rich diatom community, with abundances 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than in the surrounding water. Dominant diatom species were Cylindrotheca closterium, Nitzschia spp., Nitzschia gobbii, and Thalassionema nitzschioides. Some phytoflagellates (e.g., Tetraselmis spp.) and dinoflagellates (e.g., Karlodinium veneficum, Pseliodinium fusus, and Wangodinium sinense) were detected exclusively by MB, while LM and SEM revealed species missed by other approaches. Gonyaulax fragilis, one of the species indicated as an important mucus producer, was present at the onset and throughout the phenomenon, as detected by LM and MB. The integrated approach improves knowledge of microalgal communities in NAS mucilage. mucilage Northern Adriatic Sea phytoplankton microalgae metabarcoding microscopy Gonyaulax fragilis Harmful Algal Blooms sluz fitoplankton metabarkodiranje mikroskopija severno Jadransko morje true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Neznano 2026-01-27 13:53:42 2026-01-27 13:53:43 2026-01-28 04:15:10 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 Nasl. z nasl. zaslona; Opis vira z dne 8. 1. 2026; Soavtorji: Francesca Neri, Giorgia Montali, Tiziana Romagnoli, Aurora Tomasini, Federica Cerino, Timotej Turk Dermastia, Patricijia Mozetič, Janja Francé, Camilla Spoto, Stefano Accoroni, Cecilia Totti; str. 1-24 iss. 1, [article no.] 5 Vol. 6 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2026-01-01 574.5 2673-9410 10.3390/phycology6010005 264016387 https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9410/6/1/5 1 370371e9-fb7f-11f0-a15d-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=39010 phycology-06-00005-s001.zip phycology-06-00005-s001.zip 1 485C9E4860B6C4BC78FD7916948ADB84 299c6cc158ba5f417f6801abd5536570438fcee20ecd4ddb05832dbf0803ab06 452d179c-fb7f-11f0-a15d-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=39011 RAZ_Ubaldi_Marika_2026.pdf RAZ_Ubaldi_Marika_2026.pdf 1 99A9594162CB6F4D01289DF9E080CED3 16194907c9c239e76ab78c4b0f3b30977ecdbf57b5ffddd1b5d946d66ae2aa6f c427d915-fb7f-11f0-a15d-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=39012 Nacionalni inštitut za biologijo 0 0 0