Ostreopsis cf. ovata Bloom in Currais, Brazil: Phylogeny, Toxin Profile and Contamination of Mussels and Marine Plastic Litter

Ostreopsis cf. ovata is a toxic marine benthic dinoflagellate responsible for harmful blooms affecting ecosystem and human health, mostly in the Mediterranean Sea. In this study we report the occurrence of a summer O. cf. ovata bloom in Currais, a coastal archipelago located on the subtropical Brazilian coast (~25° S). This bloom was very similar to Mediterranean episodes in many aspects: (a) field-sampled and cultivated O. cf. ovata cells aligned phylogenetically (ITS and LSU regions) along with Mediterranean strains; (b) the bloom occurred at increasing temperature and irradiance, and decreasing wind speed; (c) cell densities reached up to 8.0 × 104 cell cm−2 on fiberglass screen and 5.6 × 105 cell g−1 fresh weight on seaweeds; (d) and toxin profiles were composed mostly of ovatoxin-a (58%) and ovatoxin-b (32%), up to 35.5 pg PLTX-eq. cell−1 in total. Mussels were contaminated during the bloom with unsafe toxin levels (up to 131 µg PLTX-eq. kg−1). Ostreopsis cells attached to different plastic litter, indicating an alternate route for toxin transfer to marine fauna via ingestion of biofilm-coated plastic debris

Keyword(s)

Harmful algal bloom, benthic microalgae, toxic dinoflagellates, ovatoxin, toxin transfer, seafood safety, marine pollution, plastic litter, biofilm formation

Full Text

FilePagesSizeAccess
Publisher's official version
224 Mo
How to cite
Tibiriçá Carlos Eduardo J. A., Leite Isabel P., Batista Talita V. V., Fernandes Luciano F., Chomérat Nicolas, Herve Fabienne, Hess Philipp, Mafra Luiz (2019). Ostreopsis cf. ovata Bloom in Currais, Brazil: Phylogeny, Toxin Profile and Contamination of Mussels and Marine Plastic Litter. Toxins. 11 (8). 446 (22p.). https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins11080446, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00509/62037/

Copy this text