title: The sxt Gene and Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning Toxins as Markers for the Monitoring of Toxic Alexandrium Species Blooms.
abstract: Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is a serious human illness caused by the ingestion of seafood contaminated with saxitoxin and its derivatives (STXs). These toxins are produced by some species of marine dinoflagellates within the genus Alexandrium. In the Mediterranean Sea, toxic Alexandrium spp. blooms, especially of A. minutum, are frequent and intense with negative impact to coastal ecosystem, aquaculture practices and other economic activities. We conducted a large scale study on the sxt gene and toxin distribution and content in toxic dinoflagellate A. minutum of the Mediterranean Sea using both quantitative PCR (qPCR) and HILIC-HRMS techniques. We developed a new qPCR assay for the estimation of the sxtA1 gene copy number in seawater samples during a bloom event in Syracuse Bay (Mediterranean Sea) with an analytical sensitivity of 2.0 × 10° sxtA1 gene copy number per reaction. The linear correlation between sxtA1 gene copy number and microalgal abundance and between the sxtA1 gene and STX content allowed us to rapidly determine the STX-producing cell concentrations of two Alexandrium species in environmental samples. In these samples, the amount of sxtA1 gene was in the range of 1.38 × 10(5) - 2.55 × 10(8) copies/L and the STX concentrations ranged from 41-201 nmol/L. This study described a potential PSP scenario in the Mediterranean Sea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino , Pesaro, Italy.|Institute of Marine Sciences, ISMAR - CNR , Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Penna
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino , Pesaro, Italy.|Institute of Marine Sciences, ISMAR - CNR , Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perini
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of Federico II , Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Carmela
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dell'Aversano
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino , Pesaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Samuela
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Capellacci
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of Federico II , Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tartaglione
authors.affiliation: Institute for Coastal Marine Environment, IAMC - CNR , Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Grazia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Giacobbe
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino , Pesaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Casabianca
authors.affiliation: Centro Oceanografico de Vigo, Instituto Espanol de Oceanografıa (IEO) , Vigo, Spain.
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fraga
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of Federico II , Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ciminiello
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Tor Vergata , Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scardi
mesh_terms: D004141:Dinoflagellida / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006801:Humans; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D058086:Microalgae / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012530:Saxitoxin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000633:toxicity; D012623:Seawater / Q000469:parasitology; D057096:Shellfish Poisoning / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; D012530:Saxitoxin