β-N-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA) and isomers: Distribution in different food web compartments of Thau lagoon, French Mediterranean Sea

Type Article
Date 2015-09
Language English
Author(s) Reveillon DamienORCID1, Abadie EricORCID2, Sechet VeroniqueORCID1, Masseret Estelle3, Hess PhilippORCID1, Amzil ZouherORCID1
Affiliation(s) 1 : IFREMER, Lab Phycotoxines, F-44311 Nantes, France.
2 : Univ Montpellier, IFREMER, UMR MARBEC, Lab Environm Ressources Languedoc Roussillon,IRD, Sete 3, France.
3 : Univ Montpellier, IFREMER, CNRS, UMR MARBEC,IRD, F-34095 Montpellier 5, France.
Source Marine Environmental Research (0141-1136) (Elsevier Sci Ltd), 2015-09 , Vol. 110 , P. 8-18
DOI 10.1016/j.marenvres.2015.07.015
WOS© Times Cited 68
Keyword(s) BMAA, Diatoms, Chaetoceros sp., Seston, Mytilus galloprovincialis, HILIC-MS/MS
Abstract The neurotoxin BMAA (β-N-methylamino-l-alanine) and its isomer DAB (2,4-diaminobutyric acid) have been detected in seafood worldwide, including in Thau lagoon (French Mediterranean Sea). A cluster of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease associated with BMAA, has also been observed in this region. Mussels, periphyton (i.e. biofilms attached to mussels) and plankton were sampled between July 2013 and October 2014, and analyzed using HILIC-MS/MS. BMAA, DAB and AEG (N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine) were found in almost all the samples of the lagoon. BMAA and DAB were present at 0.58 and 0.83, 2.6 and 3.3, 4.0 and 7.2 μg g−1 dry weight in plankton collected with nets, periphyton and mussels, respectively. Synechococcus sp., Ostreococcus tauri, Alexandrium catenella and eight species of diatoms were cultured and screened for BMAA and analogs. While Synechococcus sp., O. tauri and A. catenella did not produce BMAA under our culture conditions, four diatoms species contained both BMAA and DAB. Hence, diatoms may be a source of BMAA for mussels. Unlike other toxins produced by microalgae, BMAA and DAB were detected in significant amounts in tissues other than digestive glands in mussels.
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