Growth and toxin production in the ciguatera-causing dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus polynesiensis (Dinophyceae) in culture

Evidence of the bioaccumulation of ciguatoxins in giant clams (Tridacna maxima) exposed to Gambierdiscus spp. cells

“…These findings are consistent with the toxin profile previously characterized for TB92 strain by Chinain et al (2010b), except that although the same P-CTXs congeners were observed, their distribution differed significantly in the present study, especially regarding P-CTX-3C which was among the minor P-CTX congeners found in TB92 cells used to contaminate giant clams. Such a discrepancy can be easily explained by the fact that, in in vitro conditions, Gambierdiscus strains are known to exhibit substantial variations in CTXs production according to growth stages (Chinain et al, 2010b) but also culture conditions (medium composition, temperature, salinity, irradiance) (Morton et al, 1992;Sperr and Doucette, 1996). Furthermore, LC-MS/MS data also indicated that P-CTX-3B was the only CTX congener retained in the flesh of giant clams following their exposure to TB92 toxic cells.…”

“…Two reference strains obtained from the algal collection of Louis Malardé Institute were used for the ex situ contamination experiments: Gambierdiscus polynesiensis -TB92 (Tubuai, Australes archipelago, French Polynesia) and G. toxicus -HIT0 (Tahiti, Society archipelago, French Polynesia) (Chinain et al, 1999(Chinain et al, , 2010b. Their toxic potencies were quantified using CBA-N2a prior to the contamination experiments (Section 3.1, Fig.…”

Monitoring of dissolved ciguatoxin and maitotoxin using solid-phase adsorption toxin tracking devices: Application to Gambierdiscus pacificus in culture

“…We also estimated a division rate of 0.526 AE 0.011 divisions day À1 for another strain of G. pacificus from Malaysia (strain GDSA01) cultured under the same experimental conditions (data not shown). Division rates for G. pacificus from Malaysia were comparable with division rates previously reported in the literature for the genus Gambierdiscus (Bomber et al, 1988;Chinain et al, 2010a;Lartigue et al, 2009;Morton et al, 1992Morton et al, , 1993Sperr and Doucette, 1996) which varied between 0.08 (Morton et al, 1993) and 0.50 divisions day À1 (Bomber et al, 1988;Morton et al, 1992) according to the species, strain, geographical origin and experimental condition of the culture (Bomber et al, 1988;Chinain et al, 2010a;Durand-Clement, 1986;Lartigue et al, 2009;Morton et al, 1992Morton et al, , 1993Sperr and Doucette, 1996). According to the range of division rates within the genus, G. pacificus from Malaysia may be characterized by rather high division rates under the experimental conditions tested.…”

“…These results confirmed previously reported studies that suggested a negative correlation between toxin biosynthesis and active cell divisions (Anderson et al, 1990;Chinain et al, 2010a;Durand-Clement, 1986;Lartigue et al, 2009;Tomas and Baden, 1993). It has been hypothesized that the increase in toxicity in aged cells may reflect an increase in toxin content as cells are no longer dividing and transferring its toxin content to daughter cells (Anderson et al, 1990).…”

Harmful Algal Blooms in Benthic Systems: Recent Progress and Future Research

“…Some preliminary data about species-specific Gambierdiscus toxicity have been obtained by a new, rapid extraction procedure, which facilitates the simultaneous detection of the lipid-soluble CTX and the water-soluble maitotoxin (MTX) fractions obtained from Gambierdiscus extracts and validated by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC/MS) and functional bioassay (Lewis et al, 2016). Based on the combination of these and other methods, CTX and MTX have been clearly detected in G. polynesiensis and G. scabrosus in the Pacific, and G. excentricus in the Caribbean/Atlantic; these species would likely pose the main concerns for toxin transfer into the marine food webs where detected (Chinain et al, 2010a;Fraga et al, 2011;Nishimura et al, 2014;Rhodes et al, 2014).…”