Abstract
The Estela Sousa e Silva Algal Culture Collection (ESSACC) is the legacy of nearly 40 years of the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA) scientific and public activity in marine and freshwater phytoplankton biology and toxicology. The living isolates maintained in the ESSACC are mostly represented by marine dinoflagellates and freshwater cyanobacteria strains isolated from bloom occurrences in Portugal. More than 170 isolates comprising the most frequently found species have been obtained from environmental samples and are successfully cultured at INSA facilities. Moreover, new isolates are continuously being added to the collection, following new detection of natural blooms. Although not intended to represent the entire range of taxonomical different species occurring in Portuguese environments, the ESSACC includes a wide array of geographical, morphological, physiological, and ecological relevant isolates. So far, laboratory up-scaled culturing has been put in place for several purposes, including the production of secondary metabolites, purification of toxins, detection of toxin producing strains by molecular methods, screening for cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of purified compounds, testing for antialgal activity of organic compounds, and evaluating the combining effects of environmental factors on biomass and toxin production. We are disseminating information about this collection since it is an important wide source of readily available and easy to manipulate biological material for research purposes within the scientific community.
References
Alverca, E., M. Andrade, E. Dias, F. Sam-Bento, M. C. C. Batoréu, P. Jordan, M. J. Silva & P. Pereira, 2009. Morphological and ultrastructural effects of microcystin-LR from Microcystis aeruginosa extract on a kidney cell line. Toxicon 54: 283–294.
Churro, C., E. Alverca, F. Sam-Bento, S. Paulino, V. C. Figueira, A. J. Bento, S. Prabhakar, A. M. Lobo, A. J. Calado & P. Pereira, 2009. Effects of bacillamide and newly synthesized derivatives on the growth of cyanobacteria and microalgae cultures. Journal of Applied Phycology 21: 429–442.
Correia, F. S., 1946. Um caso raro de intoxicação alimentar colectiva. Boletim do Instituto Superior de Higiene Dr. Ricardo Jorge 3: 216–221.
Dias, E., P. Pereira & S. Franca, 2002. Production of paralytic shellfish toxins in Aphanizomenon sp. LMECYA31 (cyanobacteria). Journal of Phycology 38: 1–9.
Dias, E., M. Andrade, E. Alverca, P. Pereira, M. C. C. Batoréu, P. Jordan & M. J. Silva, 2009. Comparative study of the cytotoxic effect of microcistin-LR and purified extracts from Microcystis aeruginosa on a kidney cell line. Toxicon 53: 487–495.
Nogueira, I. C. G., P. Pereira, E. Dias, S. Pflugmacher, C. Wiegand, S. Franca & V. Vasconcelos, 2004. Accumulation of paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) from the cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon issatschenkoi by the cladoceran Daphnia magna. Toxicon 44: 773–780.
Paulino, S., E. Valério, N. Faria, J. Fastner, M. Welker, R. Tenreiro & P. Pereira, 2009. Detection of Planktothrix rubescens (Cyanobacteria) associated with microcystin production in a freshwater reservoir. Hydrobiologia 621: 207–211.
Pereira, P., R. Li, W. Carmichael, E. Dias & S. Franca, 2004a. Taxonomy and production of paralytic shellfish toxins by freshwater cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon gracile LMECYA40. European Journal of Phycology 39: 361–368.
Pereira, P., E. Dias, S. Franca, E. Pereira, M. Carolino & V. Vasconcelos, 2004b. Accumulation and depuration of cyanobacterial paralytic shellfish toxins by the freshwater mussel Anodonta cygnea. Aquatic Toxicology 68: 339–350.
Pinto, J. S. & E. S. Silva, 1956. The toxicity of Cardium edule L. and its possible relation to the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum micans Ehr. Notas e Estudos do Instituto de Biologia Marítima 12: 1–21.
Silva, E. S., 1952. Estudos de pâncton na lagoa de Óbidos. I. diatomáceas e dinoflagelados. Revista da Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa 2C(2): 5–44.
Silva, E. S., 1959. Some observations on marine dinoflagellate cultures. I. Prorocentrum micans Ehr. and Gyrodinium sp. Notas e Estudos do Instituto de Biologia Marinha 21: 1–20.
Silva, E. S., 1962a. Some observations on marine dinoflagellates cultures. II. Glenodinium foliaceum Stein and Goniaulax diacantha (Meun.) Schiller. Botanica Marina 2: 75–100.
Silva, E. S., 1962b. Some observations on marine dinoflagellates cultures. III Goniaulax spinifera (Clap. And Lach.) Dies., Goniaulax tamarensis Leb. and Peridinium trochoideum (Stein) Lemm. Notas e Estudos do Instituto de Biologia Marinha 26: 1–21.
Silva, E. S., 1967. Cochlodinium heterolobatum n. sp.: structure and some cytophysiological aspects. Journal of Protozoology 14(4): 745–754.
Silva, E. S., 1978. Endonuclear bacteria in two species of dinoflagellates. Protistologica 14(2): 113–119.
Silva, E. S., 1981. Experimental work on the dinoflagellate toxin production. Arquivos do Instituto Nacional de Saúde 6: 381–387.
Vale, P., M. J. Botelho, S. M. Rodrigues, S. S. Gomes & M. A. M. Sampayo, 2008. Two decades of marine biotoxin monitoring in bivalves from Portugal (1986–2006): a review of exposure assessment. Harmful Algae 7: 11–25.
Valério, E., L. Chambel, S. Paulino, N. Faria, P. Pereira & R. Tenreiro, 2009a. Molecular identification, typing and traceability of cyanobacteria from freshwater reservoirs. Microbiology 155: 642–656.
Valério E., L. Chambel, S. Paulino, N. Faria, P. Pereira & R. Tenreiro, 2009b. Multiplex PCR for detection of microcystins-producing cyanobacteria from freshwater samples. Environmental Toxicology. doi 10.1002/tox.20502.
Vasconcelos, V. M., 2001. Freshwater cyanobacteria and their toxins in Portugal. In Chorus, I. (ed.), Cyanotoxins: Occurrence, Causes, Consequences. Springer, New York: 62–67.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Handling editor: J. Padisak
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Paulino, S., Sam-Bento, F., Churro, C. et al. The Estela Sousa e Silva Algal Culture Collection: a resource of biological and toxicological interest. Hydrobiologia 636, 489–492 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-009-9977-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-009-9977-4