The freshwater cyanobacterium Lyngbya aerugineo‐coerulea produces compounds toxic to mice and to mammalian and fish cells

Abstract

Despite a growing awareness of the presence of cyanobacterial toxins, knowledge about the ability of specific species to produce toxic compounds is still rather limited. It was the overall goal of the current work to investigate if probes derived from the freshwater species Lyngbya aerugineo-coerulea (Kutz.) Gomont, a cyanobacterium frequently found in southern Europe and not previously investigated for the presence of bioactive compounds, were capable of eliciting in vivo and in vitro toxicity. The cyanobacterial extract revealed signs of neuro- as well as hepatotoxicity in mice, although these signs could not be explained by the well-known respective cyanobacterial neuro- and hepatotoxins saxitoxin and microcystin. Cytotoxicity was elicited by the cyanobacterial extract in all mammalian cell lines tested. As well, the rainbow trout liver cell line, RTL-W1, was found to be susceptible to the cytotoxic effects of the extract, although the cytotoxicity was dependent on temperature. In contrast, the cyanobacterial growth medium elicited cytotoxicity independent of temperature, leading to morphological changes indicative of alterations to the cytoskeleton. Overall, the results suggest that Lyngbya aerugineo-coerulea is an important cyanobacterium to be considered for its potential to cause health risks on environmental exposure of it to mammals and fish. Applying a combination of mammalian and piscine cell line bioassays is a unique approach that, combined with chemical analysis, could be used in the future to identify the structure and cellular mechanisms of the as-yet-unknown toxic Lyngbya aerugineo-coerulea metabolites in particular and to screen cyanobacterial extracts for their toxicity in general.

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“…They found that the sulphonate moiety in quinovose was important in inhibiting the polymerase activity 11 . However, the cyanobacteria Microcystis, Phormidium, and Lyngbya also produce a wide variety of toxins implicated in animal and human poisoning incidents 30,31 . To date, attention has focused on the cyanobacteria Spirulina which has been widely used as a protein source and food supplement and cultivated for mass production in several countries including Thailand.…”

In vitro and in vivo toxicity evaluation of the freshwater cyanobacterium Heteroleiblenia kuetzingii

“…Primary cell cultures from mouse kidney and mouse skin fibroblasts were prepared as previously described [22]. In addition, two commercially available mammalian cell lines were used for the in vitro tests: A549 (human lung carcinoma, ATCC CCL-185) and 3T3 (mouse embryonic fibroblasts, ATCC CCL-92).…”

“…L. aerugineo-coerulea has been also defined as a potential producer of extracellular and intracellular toxic substances [22].…”

Investigation of the toxicology and public health aspects of the marine cyanobacterium, Lyngbya majuscula

“…Anecdotal evidence suggest some toxicity remains once L. majuscula has been dried, as witnessed by fishers reporting eye and respiratory irritation when removing cyanobacteria from nets (Dermison and Abal, 1999). Lyngbya aeruginosa-coerulea has been found to release substantial amounts of cytotoxic compounds into the surrounding medium, and these were probably not due to cell lysis as cytotoxic effects differed between cells and medium (Treneva et al, 2003).…”

“…Similarly, microcystins have been found in Microcystis, Anabaena, Oscillatoria, and Nostoc species. Recently another member of the genus, Lyngbya aeruginosa-coerulea has been found to be both neuro-and hepato-toxic, although no microcystins or saxitoxins were present (Treneva et al, 2003). Presence of LA in L. wollei will possibly have public health implications with large numbers of freshwater bodies in Florida as well as other states in the USA have this organism present.…”