Current genetic tools available for monitoring and identifying cyanobacterial HABs focus on the DNA sequences of particular genes in the cyanobacterial genomes. The surest way to deduce toxigenicity is to look for the presence of toxin biosynthetic genes, and exciting advances in recent years have made this possible for each of the major toxins (microcystin, anatoxin-a, cylindrospermopsin, saxitoxin).
