title: Toxin production in cyanobacterial mats from ponds on the McMurdo ice shelf, Antarctica.
abstract: Cyanobacteria are known to produce hepatotoxic substances, the functional and ecological role of these toxins, however, remains largely unclear. Toxic properties of cyanobacteria collected in Antarctica were investigated to determine whether toxin-producing species can also be found under these environmental conditions. Samples were collected from meltwater ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica in the summers of 1997 to 1999. These ponds are colonized by benthic algae and cyanobacterial mats. Oscillatoriales, Nodularia sp., and Nostoc sp. constituted the major taxa in freshwater ponds, while Nostoc sp. was missing from brackish and saline ponds. Samples were taken from either floating, submerged or benthic mats, and extracted for in vitro toxicity testing. The presence of toxins was determined by the phosphatase-inhibition assay and by high performance liquid chromatography. The cytotoxic properties of the extracts were investigated in hepatocytes determining 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide metabolism and trypan blue dye exclusion. The results show that all cyanobacterial extracts display phosphatase-inhibiting activity, of which approximately half had significantly greater than 50% inhibiting activity. The presence of nodularin and microcystin-LR was established by high performance liquid chromatography. Cytotoxic properties, independent of the phosphatase inhibiting activity, were also detected. Toxic strains of cyanobacteria can therefore also be found in Antarctica and this finding may lead to further insight into potential ecological roles of cyanobacterial phosphatase inhibiting toxins.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Toxicology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany. Bettina.Hitzfeld@uni-konstanz.de
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Hitzfeld
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lampert
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Spaeth
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mountfort
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaspar
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Dietrich
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D018533:Biomass; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D005618:Fresh Water; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008387:Marine Toxins; D052998:Microcystins; D017686:Oncorhynchus mykiss; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000032:analysis; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D013778:Tetrazolium Salts; D013844:Thiazoles; D014343:Trypan Blue / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D008387:Marine Toxins; D052998:Microcystins; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; D013778:Tetrazolium Salts; D013844:Thiazoles; C063998:nodularin; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases; C057862:cyanoginosin LR; C022616:thiazolyl blue; D014343:Trypan Blue