Abstract
The toxin profiles of three isolates and natural populations of the PSP agentAlexandrium minutum from several Galician rías (NW Spain) was obtained by HPLC. The toxin content of cultures ofA. minutum is dominated by GTX4 (80–90%) and GTX4 (10–15%) with small amounts of GTX3 and GTX2 (less than 3% of each); similar results were obtained for natural populations ofAlexandrium from three different Galician rías, where a mixture ofA. lusitanicum Balech andA. minutum can occur. Important quantitative differences were found between the three isolates, one being highly and two weakly toxic. The results obtained from these isolates and natural populations ofAlexandrium were very similar to those obtained from HPLC analyses of mussels intoxicated during a PSP outbreak in Ría de Ares (Rías Altas) in 1984, confirming thatA. minutum (previously identified asGonyaulax tamarensis Lebour andAlexandrium lusitanicum) was the PSP agent during the toxic outbreak in May 1984. Toxin profiles obtained from natural populations during different PSP outbreaks in different rías and from cultures are fairly consistent and suggest that at least from the toxin point of view,A. lusitanicum andA. minutum are identical, and that the toxin profile ofA. minutum from Galicia can be used as a biochemical marker.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson DM, Kulis DM, Sullivan JJ, Hall S, Lee C (1990) Dynamics and physiology of saxitoxin production by the dinoflagellatesAlexandrium spp. Mar. Biol. 104: 511–524.
Balech E (1985) The genusAlexandrium orGonyaulax of thetamarensis group. In Anderson DM, White AW, Baden DG (eds), Toxic Dinoflagellates Blooms. Elsevier, New York: 33–38.
Balech E (1989) Redescription ofAlexandrium minutum Halim (Dinophyceae) type species of the genusAlexandrium. Phycologia 28 (2): 206–211.
Blanco J, Mariño J, Campos MJ (1985) The first toxic bloom ofGonyaulax tamarensis detected in Spain. In Anderson DM, White AW, Baden DG (eds), Toxic Dinoflagellates Blooms. Elsevier, New York: 8–12.
Casais C (1990) Toxin analysis of two low toxicity species of dinoflagellateAlexandrium. Envir. Technol. 11: 883–889
Erard-Le Denn E, (1991)Alexandrium minutum (Dinophycées). In Sournia A, Belin C, Berlan B, Erard-Le Denn E, Gentien P, Grzebyk D, Marcaillou-Le Baut C, Lassus P, Partensky F (eds), Le Phytoplancton Nuisible des Côtes de France: de la Biologie a la Prévention. IFREMER, 83–90
Estrada M, Sánchez FJ, Fraga S (1984)Gymnodinium catenatum (Graham) en las Rías Gallegas (NO de España). Inv. Pesq. 48 (1): 31–40.
Franco JM, Fernández P (1993) Separation of paralytic shellfish toxins by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography with postcolumn reaction and fluorimetric detection. Chromatographia 35 (9–12): 613–620.
Hallegraeff GM, Bolch CJ, Blackburn SI, Oshima Y (1991) Species of the toxigenic dinoflagellateAlexandrium in southeastern Australian waters. Bot. mar. 34: 575–587.
Honsell G (1993) First report ofAlexandrium minutum in Northern Adriatic waters (Mediterranean Sea). In Smayda T, Shimizu Y (eds), Toxic Phytoplankton Blooms in the Sea. Elsevier, Amsterdam: 127–132.
Keller MD, Guillard RRL (1985) Factors significant to marine dinoflagellate cultures. In Anderson DM, White AW, Baden DG (eds), Toxic Dinoflagellates Blooms. Elsevier, New York: 113–116.
Le Doux M, Bardouil M, Nezan E, Erard E (1991) Field and experimental studies of shellfish contaminated by anAlexandrium minutum strain. In Frémy JM (ed.), Proceedings of Symposium on Marine Biotoxins. Editions C.N.E.V.A., Paris: 43–52.
Lüthy J (1979) Epidemic paralytic shellfish poisoning in Western Europe. In Taylor DL, Seliger HH (eds), Toxic Dinoflagellate Blooms. Elsevier, North Holland: 15–22.
Ogata T, Kodama M, Ishimaru T (1987) Toxin production in the dinoflagellateProtogonyaulax tamarensis. Toxicon 25 (9): 923–928.
Oshima Y, Hirota M, Yasumoto T, Hallegraeff GM, Blackburn SI, Steffensen DA (1989b) Production of paralytic shellfish toxins by the dinoflagellateAlexandrium minutum Halim from Australia. Bull. Jap. Soc. sci. Fish. 55: 925.
Oshima Y, Itakura H, Lee K, Yasumoto T, Blackburn S, Hallegraeff G (1993) Toxin production by the dinoflagellateGymnodinium catenatum. In Smayda T, Shimizu Y (eds), Toxic Phytoplankton Blooms in the Sea. Elsevier, Amsterdam: 907–912.
Rodríguez JA, Martínez AG, Oshima Y, Sugino K, Lee JS, Yasumoto T (1989) Analysis of toxins in mussels from the Atlantic coast of Spain. In Natori S, Hashimoto K, Ueno Y (eds), Mycotoxins and Phycotoxins '88. Elsevier, Amsterdam: 367–375.
Sako Y, Kim C-H, Ishida Y (1992) Mendelian inheritance of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning Toxin in the marine dinoflagellateAlexandrium catenella. Biosc. Biotech. Biochem. 56: 692–694
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Franco, J.M., Fernández, P. & Reguera, B. Toxin profiles of natural populations and cultures ofAlexandrium minutum Halim from Galician (Spain) coastal waters. J Appl Phycol 6, 275–279 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02181938
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02181938