Benthic Mats in Western US Rivers: Strain Diversity, Toxin Risk, Alerts (2025 Watershed Symposium)

Presented at the 19th Annual Salt Lake County Watershed Symposium, November 19-20, 2025. Benthic mats in freshwater streams produce anatoxin, posing a significant global public health risk. We surveyed the multiple Western US rivers to investigate why these mats proliferate in streams, using 16S rRNA profiling, metagenomics, and gene expression to quantify strain-level dominance and function. Presented by: Ramesh Goel, The University of Utah Abeer Sohrab, The University of Utah A B S T R A C T S https://watershedsymposium2025.sched.... F U L L P L A Y L I S T    • Watershed Symposium 2025 | Presentations   L E A R N M O R E https://saltlakecounty.gov/watershed/...