First report of the potentially toxic marine diatom Pseudo-nitzschia simulans (Bacillariophyceae) from the East Australian Current

Certain species of the marine diatom genus Pseudo‐nitzschia are responsible for the production of the domoic acid (DA), a neurotoxin that can bioaccumulate in the food chain and cause amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) in animals and humans. This study extends our knowledge by reporting on the first observation of the potentially toxic species Pseudo‐nitzschia simulans from this region. One clonal strain of P. simulans was isolated from the East Australian Current and characterized using light and transmission electron microscopy, and phylogenetic analyses based on regions of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and the D1–D3 region of the large subunit (LSU) of the nuclear‐encoded ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA), as well as examined for DA production as measured by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Although this strain was non‐toxic under the defined growth conditions, the results unambiguously confirmed that this isolate is the potentially toxic species P. simulans – the first report of this species from the Southern Hemisphere.

Keyword(s)

domoic acid, East Australian current, harmful algal blooms, phytoplankton, shellfish

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Figure S1 Map showing the location of station CTD49 sampled on 19 September 2016 (27.999 °S, 153.780 °E at 19:26 UTC). Figure compiled with the average highest ...
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Figure S2 Pseudo‐nitzschia spp. MP tree based on LSU D1‐D3 region. MP/ML bootstrap values ≥85% and BI posterior probabilities (PP) ≥ 0.90 are shown. Thick lines represent MP/ML/BI of 100% (bootstrap)
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Ajani Penelope A., Lim Hong Chang, Verma Arjun, Lassudrie Malwenn, McBean Katie, Doblin Martina A., Murray Shauna A. (2020). First report of the potentially toxic marine diatom Pseudo-nitzschia simulans (Bacillariophyceae) from the East Australian Current. Phycological Research. 68 (3). 254-259. https://doi.org/10.1111/pre.12421, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00618/73047/

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