Journal of Applied Phycology 15: 95–96, 2003. © 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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Preface

This issue of the Journal of Applied Phycology hosts a selection of papers from the more than two hundred contributions presented at the 9th International Conference on Applied Algology. This conference was also the 1st Congress of the International Society of Applied Phycology (ISAP). This society was constituted formally in 1999, during the 8th International Conference on Applied Algology held at Montecatini Terme, Italy, and was consolidated in Almería by not only the papers of this 1st congress, but also formal acceptance of the statutes by its members, the conformation of Prof. M. R. Tredici as President and the election of Prof. M.A. Borowitzka as President-elect for the following three-year period. During the conference two ISAP awards were instituted to honour particularly relevant contributions to applied phycology, one for a young phycologist and another as a tribute for a life devoted to research in the field. The Conference, with its special title of ‘Algal Biotechnology: A Sea of Opportunities’, was held in Aguadulce, a village close to the city of Almería, in the south of Spain, starting on 26 May and closing on 30 May 2002. This sea of opportunities was navigated by more than three hundred participants from five continents, and its relevance can be summarized by saying that more than 240 communications were presented, over 190 as posters, and 52 orally in different sessions, while more than ten organizations and companies participated as sponsors and/or exhibitors. As a result of the increasing interest in products derived from microalgae among the medical and pharmaceutical communities, the Conference led on to a Symposium entitled ‘Microalgae and Health’ funded by the ‘Ramon Areces’ Foundation. This took place during 30 and 31 May and provided an opportunity to analyze the importance and practical applications of microalgae in human health. The conference was opened with a talk by Prof. W.J. Oswald, who provided a splendid condensation of the experience of a lifetime working in many areas of microalgal technology, from ecology to life

support systems, including bioremediation, pharmaceutical and medical applications, to name a few. As we had expected, nothing could have provided a better introduction to the changes and expansion of microalgal technology and to the various papers and posters presented by the participants in the following days. After this opening, the conference was organized into sessions dealing with ‘Physiology of algal cultures’, ‘Bioactive molecules and recovering processes’, ‘Photobioreactors’, ‘Genetics and genetic engineering’, ‘Biodiversity and ecology’, ‘Bioremediation’, ‘Algae in aquaculture’, ‘Macroalgae and seaweeds’, ‘Advances and constraints in algal biotechnology’, ‘Nutrition and health’ and a final session devoted to ‘Commercial development’. Each comprised oral and poster presentations and was complemented by plenary lectures that tried to summarize and present general views of the hottest topics. As in previous conferences in the series, the topics that received the most attention were centred on the technologies for microalgal biomass production and its possible use as a source of chemicals and biomolecules, and those for the growing field of aquaculture. Among these, the topic which received greater attention was ‘Physiology of algal cultures’ to which 46 contributions were presented, covering aspects of the environmental influence on the productivity of the cultures and analyzing alternatives to increase this efficiency, including the feasibility of heterotrophic and mixotrophic cultures. This was closely followed by the session devoted to ‘Chemicals, bioactive molecules and recovery processes’ with 43 presentations revealing the wide applicability of algae-produced substances ranging from long-known pigments to 13 C labelled products. In this same group the session devoted to ‘Photobioreactors’ had 23 presentations covering various aspects of design and operation and made clear the maturity of the technology of closed systems and the degree of control and performance currently attained in closed tubular reactors. Finally, ‘Algae in aquaculture’, with 15 contributions, gave

96 the latest developments in the use of microalgae for aquaculture factories and for goldfish and golden carp. However, probably the most remarkable and differential feature of the conference was the interest in topics related to environmental preservation and ecology. The contributions in these sessions showed the potential that microalgal technology holds for prevention and management of pollution and for the remediation of contaminated soils and water bodies and the unique capacity of algae to remove harmful substances, as well as CO2 . The session on ‘Bioremediation’ had 50 contributions. The brisk interest in this topic led to a wide consideration of the many applications of microalgal technology to bioremediation, from the management of wastes to the removal of heavy metals and including, of course, CO2 fixation. The sessions devoted to ‘Biodiversity and ecology’ and ‘Culture of macroalgae and seaweeds’, with 18 and 21 contributions, delved further into ecology and bioremediation. To extend the range of possible applications was also the object of ‘Genetics and Genetic engineering’, which succeeded in showing the importance and benefits of a well-targeted microorganism for the development of a feasible process. The session on ‘Algae in nutrition and health’ and its 11 contributions merits special mention, together with the lectures in the ‘Microalgae and Health’ Symposium after the conference. These conveyed the interest, and even expectation, that microalgal products have for human health. Finally, the sessions of

‘Advances and constraints in algal biotechnology’, and ‘Commercial developments’, helped to focus attention on the key problems for the development of microalgal technology, and how scientists can help to solve practical problems affecting microalgal biotechnology companies. Consideration of commercial possibilities was an underlying theme throughout the whole conference. Commercial development has become a substantial part of research. This is the clearest proof that microalgal technology is really ‘A Sea of Opportunities’. The organizers of the 1st ISAP meeting and 9th Conference on Applied Algology wish to thank institutions and companies that sponsored the conference. We had special support from Ayuntamiento de Roquetas de Mar, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Junta de Andalucía, Diputación Provincial de Almería. Among the many companies interested some provided financial support and we wish to mention Unicaja, DSM Deretil, DICSA, Dainippon Chemicals, Puleva Biotech, and Sartorius. However, we especially want to thank all the participants for their contribution to the advancement of Applied Phycology. Thanks go to the authors who submitted papers and to the many reviewers of these papers for their careful work and detailed replies. Their collaboration made it possible to publish this issue. We hope to meet you in Kunming 2005.

E MILIO M OLINA G RIMA J OSÉ A NTONIO S ÁNCHEZ P ÉREZ F RANCISCO G ABRIEL ACIÉN F ERNÁNDEZ J OSÉ M ARÍA F ERNÁNDEZ S EVILLA Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad de Almería, Ctra. Sacramento s.n., 04120, Almería, Spain