The golden alga is a microalga called Prymnesium parvum. It forms toxic blooms all over the world and causes serious economic losses by killing farmed fish. The toxin of golden algae is released into the water and damages cells in the gills of fish, which causes them to suffocate and die. The algae bloom in brackish water, often in areas heavily polluted by discharges. It is its ability to produce toxins and to live on both organic and inorganic nutrients which makes the golden alga so successful and competitive. It becomes more toxic when stressed, for example when there is a shortage of a nutrient such as nitrogen.
In her thesis, Elin Lindehoff, Kalmar University College, also shows that the uptake of nitrogen from dissolved organic compounds can reduce the stress and toxicity of the alga. Stable, non-radioactive isotopes of nitrogen and carbon reveal what the alga has used as the type of nutrient for its growth. All according to the principle "you are what you eat".
Elin Lindehoff's research shows that more stringent measures to reduce discharges of organic matter from rivers, rainwater, effluents and surface water are very important.