At the Faculty of Science, University of Split, on October 8, 2025, Tina Tomašević successfully defended the topic of her doctoral thesis entitled: “Toxicity and Growth Dynamics of Pseudo-nitzschia Species in the Central Adriatic Sea”. The candidate successfully presented and defended her research before the committee, marking an important milestone in her doctoral studies.
As part of the PhD students’ gathering at the Faculty of Science in Split, on July 10th, 2025, a presentation titled “Toxicity and Growth of Pseudo-nitzschia Species in the Central Adriatic” was held. The presentation was delivered by PhD student Tina Tomašević, who presented research results on the growth and potential toxicity of these species in the Central Adriatic.
The results of a two-year study on the diversity of the Pseudo-nitzschia genus in the central Adriatic Sea have been published in the journal Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. Pseudo-nitzschia species were frequently occuring and significant spatial and seasonal variations has been recorded across the study areas. Eight species have been morphologically identified using FE-SEM/STEM. The Velebit Channel was characterised by higher frequency and contribution of P. calliantha and P. mannii, while in the other areas P.
The research article “Growth Dynamics and Toxin Production of Pseudo-nitzschia Species Isolated from the Central Adriatic Sea” was published in Toxins in 2025. The first author of the paper is PhD student Tina Tomašević, who, together with colleagues, presented new insights into the growth and toxicity of these species in the Adriatic Sea.
On May 5, 2025, PhD student Tina Bonačić, had a public defense of her doctoral thesis topic entitled „Species composition of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia in the coastal waters of the central Adriatic, molecular and morphological characterisation“. The presentation took place at the Faculty of Science, University of Split.
PhD student Tina Bonačić published a paper in the journal Plants, presenting the results of two years studing (February 2022 – February 2024) Pseudo-nitzschia species dievrsity in the Central and Southeastern Adriatic Sea. By the end of the study period, 184 Pseudo-nitzschia cell cultures had successfully been isolated and further analysed morphologically and moleculary by using at least two genetic markers. Eight Pseudo-nitzschia species were identified. This integrating approach demonstrated the importance of combining these two methods (electron microscopy, FE/SEM-STEM, and molecular analysis using three gene markers: ITS, LSU, and rbcL) for reliable identification of cryptic and pseudo-cryptic species.
On June 3, 2024, PhD student Tina Bonačić participated in the Scientific Gathering in Split, organized by the Croatian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. During the event, Tina presented the main objectives and the accomplished results of the PSEUDOTOX project.
The 15th EDM took place from May 7 th – 9 th , 2024 in the town of Ohrid (North Macedonia). Tina Bonačić and Jasna Arapov presented their posters on the second day of the conference. The presented results included: 1. molecular data based on three markers: ITS, LSU, and rbcL, accompanied by phylogeny analyses and morphological data of established Pseudo-nitzschia cultures (T. Bonačić); 2. the phytoplankton community and Pseudo-nitzschia genus diversity during a two-year field study (J.
The results of the morphological analyses were presented at the 2nd Croatian Microscopy Symposium in Split (November 24-25, 2023). In this study, the application of STEM (scanning transmission electron microscopy) in phytoplankton taxonomy is presented. STEM combines some of the advantages of SEM and TEM methods for easier observation of ultrafine structural features of phytoplankton frustules. In this study, STEM is used to image and morphologically identify the marine diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia from the central and southern Adriatic Sea using the Tescan FE-SEM /STEM MIRA3 microscope at nanoscale resolution.
The first results were presented at the 8th European Phycological Congress in Brest, France (August 20-26, 2023). On the third day of the congress, Tina Bonačić and Jasna Arapov presented their posters with the preliminary results. During our stay, we visited the Roscoff Biological Station, one of the oldest marine biology laboratories in the world, founded in 1872.
The first results of a comprehensive study on the diversity of Pseudo-nitzschia, combining morphological and molecular analyses, were published in the journal JMSE. The integrated approach resulted in the confirmation of P. brasiliana, P. hasleana, P. galaxiae and P. linea. The findings of P. brasiliana and P. hasleana represent the first confirmation for the Adriatic Sea, while P. galaxiae and P. linea have not yet been previously reported along the eastern Adriatic coast.
On the 26th and 27th of January 2023 PhD. student Tina Bonačić was attending personalized (individual) workshop in BIOCentre about optimising PCR reaction based on products, analysing gel electoforesis, discusing about electrophotograms and data editing, measuring DNA concentration on NanoDrop sprectrophotometer, and also about design of DNA primers. The workshop included both, lectures and practical work on own samples. Here is a link.
Project objectives and some preliminary results were presented in oral presentation at the scientific conference „Croatian Naturalist 31- contribution of naturalists to the development of science in the Split-Dalmatia Country“ in Split on 25-26th November 2022. Here is a link.
On October 14, the doctoral student, Tina Tomašević, gave a lecture to second and third grade students about the ecology and toxicity of species of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia in the coastal waters of the central and southern Adriatic. After the introduction about the HRZZ PSEUDOTOX project, the students had the opportunity, with our help, to determine the species of the genus Pseudo-nitzchia cells photographed on a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
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