Prof. LIU Yongding gave a keynote speech at the ICTC10 held at the East Lake International Conference Center in Wuhan during Oct. 23 and 27, 2016.

The 10th International Conference on Toxic Cyanobacteria (ICTC10), organized by Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IHB) and the State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, was held at the East Lake International Conference Center in Wuhan during Oct. 23 and 27, 2016. More than 250 experts and scholars from 35 countries and regions including China, the United States, Britain, and France attended the conference and discussed topics related to the studies and control of cyanobacterial bloom and cyanotoxins. The chairman of the local organizing committee is Prof. ZHAO Jindong (CAS academician) who is the director of IHB and the co-chairman is Prof. SONG Lirong from IHB. This is the first time that the ICTC has been held in Asia.    

At the opening ceremony, Prof. XU Xudong, deputy director of IHB, gave a welcome speech. Prof. LIU Yongding gave a keynote speech with the title of “Cyanobacterial bloom, toxic cyanobacterial studies in China: past, present and future”.    

The theme for the ICTC10 is “cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins: from research to risk management”. 84 oral presentations as well as 89 posters were made at the conference where 11 topics were featured: cyanobacteria detection; cyanotoxin analysis; toxicology and toxicity assessment; cell physiology and molecular biology of cyanobacteria; secondary metabolites production and functions: biosynthesis, regulation, biological functions; ecology and cyanobacterial bloom dynamics: environmental controls; cyanotoxin compartmentation and persistence; interactions between cyanobacteria and other organisms; risk management of cyanobacterial blooms and cyanotoxins at scales of catchment, inlake and water treatment; remote sensing of blooms; regular environment and compliance.    

As the tradition, there were no parallel sessions during the conference so that all the attendees could interact with each other at a larger and deeper scale. Besides, a special session with the title of “mitigating cyanobacterial bloom: from scientific understanding to mass application” and a round table discussion session were arranged for the attendees to focus on the specific issues regarding cyanobacterial bloom.   

IHB Profs. LI Renhui and Li Tao, Associate Prof. CAO Xiuyun and Ph.D. student WEI Nian gave oral presentations respectively at the conference. IHB Associate Prof. LI Lin presented his research with poster.    

Cyanobacteria bloom issues are affecting people across the world. It has caused great influence both on people’s health and the economic development. Since the first conference in 1995, there have been nine ICTCs, attracting participants from all around the world to discuss progress of their state of the art research. The ICTC is held every three years. With an ever increasing awareness of the need fro safe drinking and recreational water quality, and healthier freshwater ecosystems, the scope of ICTC is becoming wider. The ICTC10 was significant in promoting active scientific exchange and communication between scientists and students focusing on the study of cyanotoxins and toxic cyanobacteria.    

After the conference, many delegates visited the Museum for Aquatic Organisms, China Zebrafish Resource Center and Freshwater Algae Culture Collection at IHB and interacted with some relevant labs.  

The poster session at the ICTC10 held at the East Lake International Conference Center in Wuhan during Oct. 23 and 27, 2016.

A group photo of all the attendees