title: Are known cyanotoxins involved in the toxicity of picoplanktonic and filamentous North Atlantic marine cyanobacteria?
abstract: Eight marine cyanobacteria strains of the genera Cyanobium, Leptolyngbya, Oscillatoria, Phormidium, and Synechococcus were isolated from rocky beaches along the Atlantic Portuguese central coast and tested for ecotoxicity. Strains were identified by morphological characteristics and by the amplification and sequentiation of the 16S rDNA. Bioactivity of dichloromethane, methanol and aqueous extracts was assessed by the Artemia salina bioassay. Peptide toxin production was screened by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. Molecular analysis of the genes involved in the production of known cyanotoxins such as microcystins, nodularins and cylindrospermopsin was also performed. Strains were toxic to the brine shrimp A. salina nauplii with aqueous extracts being more toxic than the organic ones. Although mass spectrometry analysis did not reveal the production of microcystins or other known toxic peptides, a positive result for the presence of mcyE gene was found in one Leptolyngbya strain and one Oscillatoria strain. The extensive brine shrimp mortality points to the involvement of other unknown toxins, and the presence of a fragment of genes involved in the cyanotoxin production highlight the potential risk of cyanobacteria occurrence on the Atlantic coast.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. bmfrazao@gmail.com
authors.forename: Bárbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Frazão
authors.forename: Rosário
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: Vitor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vasconcelos
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids; D000818:Animals; D001156:Artemia / Q000187:drug effects; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity*; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D000087522:Cyanobacteria Toxins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D008387:Marine Toxins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity*; D052998:Microcystins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011174:Portugal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D014498:Uracil / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D000087522:Cyanobacteria Toxins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008387:Marine Toxins; D052998:Microcystins; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; C063998:nodularin; C089595:cylindrospermopsin; D014498:Uracil