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The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of environmental pollution reduction of sugar beet processing factory wastewater by the biorefinery approach and integration of microalgae biomass production. In the present study, Chlorella vulgaris was cultivated in wastewater collected from a sugar beet processing factory at the beginning and at the end of a sugar plant campaign in an aerobic bioreactor on a laboratory scale under controlled conditions, with an air flow of 0.4 L/min, a temperature of 26 °C, and pH = 8. Microalgae showed effective nutrient remediation from wastewater. During wastewater treatment, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD) removal efficiency was 93.7% and 98.1%, respectively; total organic carbon (TOC) content decreased by 95.7%. Nitrites and nitrates decreased by 96%, while the biggest decrease in metal ions was achieved for Ca and Mn (82.7% and 97.6%, respectively). The findings of this study suggest that coupling microalgae cultivation and wastewater treatment has a lot of potential for reducing contamination through biosorption, while also providing environmental advantages.

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Cyanobacteria are a diverse group of organisms known for producing highly potent cyanotoxins that pose a threat to human, animal, and environmental health. These toxins have varying chemical structures and toxicity mechanisms and several toxin classes can be present simultaneously, making it difficult to assess their toxic effects using physico-chemical methods, even when the producing organism and its abundance are identified. To address these challenges, alternative organisms among aquatic vertebrates and invertebrates are being explored as more assays evolve and diverge from the initially established and routinely used mouse bioassay. However, detecting cyanotoxins in complex environmental samples and characterizing their toxic modes of action remain major challenges. This review provides a systematic overview of the use of some of these alternative models and their responses to harmful cyanobacterial metabolites. It also assesses the general usefulness, sensitivity, and efficiency of these models in investigating the mechanisms of cyanotoxicity expressed at different levels of biological organization. From the reported findings, it is clear that cyanotoxin testing requires a multi-level approach. While studying changes at the whole-organism level is essential, as the complexities of whole organisms are still beyond the reach of in vitro methodologies, understanding cyanotoxicity at the molecular and biochemical levels is necessary for meaningful toxicity evaluations. Further research is needed to refine and optimize bioassays for cyanotoxicity testing, which includes developing standardized protocols and identifying novel model organisms for improved understanding of the mechanisms with fewer ethical concerns. In vitro models and computational modeling can complement vertebrate bioassays and reduce animal use, leading to better risk assessment and characterization of cyanotoxins.

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