title: Monitoring toxic Ostreopsis cf. ovata in recreational waters using a qPCR based assay.
abstract: Ostreopsis sp. is a toxic marine benthic dinoflagellate that causes high biomass blooms, posing a threat to human health, marine biota and aquaculture activities, and negatively impacting coastal seawater quality. Species-specific identification and enumeration is fundamental because it can allow the implementation of all the necessary preventive measures to properly manage Ostreopsis spp. bloom events in recreational waters and aquaculture farms. The aim of this study was to apply a rapid and sensitive qPCR method to quantify Ostreopsis cf. ovata abundance in environmental samples collected from Mediterranean coastal sites and to develop site-specific environmental standard curves. Similar PCR efficiencies of plasmid and environmental standard curves allowed us to estimate the LSU rDNA copy number per cell. Moreover, we assessed the effectiveness of mitochondrial COI and cob genes as alternative molecular markers to ribosomal genes in qPCR assays for Ostreopsis spp. quantification.
authors.affiliation: Section of Environmental Biology, Dep. of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino, Viale Trieste 296, 61121 Pesaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Casabianca
authors.affiliation: Section of Environmental Biology, Dep. of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino, Viale Trieste 296, 61121 Pesaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perini
authors.affiliation: Section of Environmental Biology, Dep. of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino, Viale Trieste 296, 61121 Pesaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casabianca
authors.affiliation: Section of Environmental Biology, Dep. of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino, Viale Trieste 296, 61121 Pesaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Battocchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences, University of Genoa, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Giussani
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences, University of Genoa, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariachiara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chiantore
authors.affiliation: Section of Environmental Biology, Dep. of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino, Viale Trieste 296, 61121 Pesaro, Italy; ISMAR CNR, Largo Fiera della Pesca, 60125 Ancona, Italy. Electronic address: antonella.penna@uniurb.it.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Penna
mesh_terms: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D004141:Dinoflagellida / Q000235:genetics*; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D018628:Gene Dosage; D057097:Harmful Algal Bloom; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D008387:Marine Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D010957:Plasmids; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011998:Recreation; D012623:Seawater / Q000032:analysis* / Q000469:parasitology; D060753:Water Quality
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D008387:Marine Toxins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV
keywords: HABs; Monitoring; Ostreopsis; Recreational waters; Toxic algae; qPCR