Editorial

Abstract

To protect themselves from the photodamage of ultraviolet radiation in surface water, many phytoplankton species synthesize UV-absorbing mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs). The featured article in this issue of Scientia Marina, “Effect of vertical mixing on short-term mycosporine- like amino acid synthesis in the Antarctic diatom, Thalasiossira sp.” written by M.P. Hernando, J.I. Carreto, M. Carignan and G.A. Ferreyra, studies the synthesis of MAAs by the typical Antarctic bloom–forming diatom Thalassiosira sp. under surface and vertical mixing conditions with a solar simulator.