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Cause of mussel poisoning identified
March 25, 2009The origin of the neurotoxin azaspiracid has finally been identified after a search for more than a decade. The azaspiracid toxin group can cause severe poisoning in human consumers of mussels after being enriched in the shellfish tissues. The scientific periodical European Journal of Phycology reports in its current issue (Vol. 44/1: p. 63-79) that a tiny algal species, the dinoflagellate Azadinium spinosum, is responsible. Researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association have isolated and described the hitherto unknown organism as a new genus and species of dinoflagellate. They successfully isolated the organism and multiplied it in pure laboratory cultures, subsequently identifying it as the producer of azaspiracid toxin.
Eating mussels is a special treat for many people, although it is not completely without danger. It has been known for a long time that consumption of mussels and other bivalve shellfish can cause poisoning in humans, with symptoms ranging from diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting to neurotoxicological effects, including paralysis and even death in extreme cases. Although "shellfish poisoning" can also be caused by pathogenic viruses and bacteria, many cases are due to gastrointestinal toxins and/or neurotoxins produced by certain marine microscopic plankton, the so-called "toxic algae". Mussels can filter a high amount of these toxic microorganisms from the seawater column, and after ingestion they retain the toxins and accumulate them in their edible flesh.
Azaspiracids comprise one group of these microalgal toxins The first known azaspiracid poisonings occurred in the Netherlands in 1995 after consumption of mussels from Ireland. While the toxin itself has been quite well investigated, the question of the origin remained inconclusive until now despite intensive research. According to published investigations by Irish researchers, the dinoflagellate species Protoperidinium crassipes (previously regarded as harmless) has been blamed as the origin of the toxins since 2003. Researchers from the Working Group on Ecological Chemistry, particularly the biologist Dr. Urban Tillmann and the chemist Dr. Bernd Krock from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research were able to show that Protoperidinium is only the vector and not the producer of the toxins, just like other voracious protozoa and mussels. They isolated a small alga from the North Sea off the Scottish east coast and described it as a new dinoflagellate species Azadinium spinosum while providing evidence of its azaspiracid production in the laboratory.
"We are able to produce so-called gene probes from our laboratory cultures with the help of molecular techniques", explains Tillmann. "These gene probes prove the existence of the toxin-producing algae in seawater samples and they offer an effective future early warning system for mussel farms", Tillmann continues. Apart from these applied aspects, the researchers are interested in quite fundamental questions: why does the alga produce these azaspiracid toxins and what are their ecological functions? The researchers have already planned the next expedition in order to further pursue these questions - they will head out into the North Sea with RV Heincke at the end of April 2009.
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
"We are able to produce so-called gene probes from our laboratory cultures with the help of molecular techniques", explains Tillmann. "These gene probes prove the existence of the toxin-producing algae in seawater samples and they offer an effective future early warning system for mussel farms", Tillmann continues. Apart from these applied aspects, the researchers are interested in quite fundamental questions: why does the alga produce these azaspiracid toxins and what are their ecological functions? The researchers have already planned the next expedition in order to further pursue these questions - they will head out into the North Sea with RV Heincke at the end of April 2009.
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Dinoflagellate Current Events and Dinoflagellate News RSSAlgae and pollen grains provide evidence of remarkably warm period in Antarctica's history
For Sophie Warny, LSU assistant professor of geology and geophysics and curator at the LSU Museum of Natural Science, years of patience in analyzing Antarctic samples with low fossil recovery finally led to a scientific breakthrough.
Algal biomonitor
A paper published in the current issue of the International Journal of Environment and Pollution, explains how a DNA test can be used to detect harmful algal blooms across the globe.
New indicator uncovered that can predict coral health
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Underwater Microscope Helps Prevent Shellfish Poisoning Along Gulf Coast of Texas
Through the use of an automated, underwater cell analyzer developed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), researchers and coastal managers were recently able to detect a bloom of harmful marine algae in the Gulf of Mexico and prevent human consumption of tainted shellfish.
Harmful Algal Bloom (Red Tide) Models and Forecasts to be Expanded in Gulf of Maine
A new observation and modeling program focused on the southern Gulf of Maine and adjacent New England shelf waters could aid policymakers in deciding whether or not to re-open, develop, and manage offshore shellfish beds with potential sustained harvesting value of more than $50 million per year.
Discovery of method to combat toxic algal blooms and description of a new group of organisms
In the fall of 1997 a then unknown species of plankton, Parvilucifera infectans, was discovered in the Gullmar Fjord, on the west coast of Sweden. The organism is a parasite that infects and kills several species of toxic algae. Some of these toxic algae can generate extremely potent blooms at great cost to fisheries and the tourism industry around the world. Other species cause mussel toxins that cause major problems for mussel farmers in Sweden and elsewhere. Fredrik Norén at Göteborg University in Sweden, has both described and studied the parasite in his doctoral dissertation. This has led to the establishment of a new biotech company, Blue Water Systems, which will develop and
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