Reassessing the ichthyotoxin profile of cultured Prymnesium parvum (golden algae) and comparing it to samples collected from recent freshwater bloom and fish kill events in North America

Effects of Harmful Algal Blooms on Fish: Insights from Prymnesium parvum

“…At the time of the experiment, the proposed toxins (the prymnesins [38]), were unquantifiable [39,40]. Whether prymnesins are the sole toxins in a P. parvum bloom is debatable, so controlling for prymnesin content might confound the effects of other unknown toxins [7,8,[40][41][42][43]. Significant variations in toxicity have been reported when exposing fish externally to P. parvum culture [8,40].…”

Transcriptomic response of the toxic prymnesiophyte Prymnesium parvum (N. Carter) to phosphorus and nitrogen starvation

“…The allelopathic capacity or extracellular toxicity of P. parvum against different organisms, including the brine shrimp Artemia salina (Graneli and Johansson, 2003;Larsen and Bryant, 1998;Larsen et al, 1993;Meldahl et al, 1995), the cryptomonad Rhodomonas baltica/salina: (Barreiro et al, 2005;Skovgaard and Hansen, 2003), and fish (Pimemphales promelas) (Baker et al, 2007;Henrikson et al, 2010;Schug et al, 2010;Valenti et al, 2010) has been monitored in many studies. In a consistent pattern, the extraand intracellular toxicity of P-starved cells has been elevated in comparison to P-replete cells (Graneli and Johansson, 2003;Johansson and Grané li, 1999;Uronen et al, 2005).…”

“…However, a mixture of highly potent ichthyotoxic fatty acids has recently been obtained from cultured P. parvum cells (Henrikson et al, 2010). Moreover, these authors could not detect prymnesins in either cultured P. parvum cells, nor in field collected water samples during a bloom with high P. parvum cell concentrations accompanied by fish mortalities (Henrikson et al, 2010). They therefore concluded that uncharacterized compounds are responsible for the toxic effect of P. parvum rather than the polyketides prymnesin 1 or 2.…”

“…Igarashi et al (1999) first isolated two polycyclic ether compounds (prymnesin 1and 2) from P. parvum, both of which showed potent hemolytic activity (Igarashi et al, 1999). However, a mixture of highly potent ichthyotoxic fatty acids has recently been obtained from cultured P. parvum cells (Henrikson et al, 2010). Moreover, these authors could not detect prymnesins in either cultured P. parvum cells, nor in field collected water samples during a bloom with high P. parvum cell concentrations accompanied by fish mortalities (Henrikson et al, 2010).…”

An experimental analysis of harmful algae–zooplankton interactions and the ultimate defense

“…), and the phytoplankter Prymnesium parvum Carter (Haptophyta, Prymnesiophyceae, Prymnesiaceae; [Granéli and Turner 2006;Hambright et al 2010]). A unique situation arises in the case of P. parvum because it is a microbial organism, and as such, may not be limited by dispersal, as is common for macrobial organisms (Finlay et al 1999), and, like many other phytoplankton, it produces a series of very potent toxins (Henrikson et al 2010) that affect not only competitors and prey, but also multiple nontarget organisms, such as mussels and fish (Edvardsen and Imai 2006). P. parvum is a toxigenic, unicellular eukaryote of marine origin that has caused nuisance monospecific blooms in brackish freshwater ecosystems around the world (Edvardsen and Paasche 1998; Manning and La Claire 2010) and has been characterized as a harmful algal bloom (HAB) species by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Moestrup 2009).…”