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

• Published in: Toxins Vol. 11; no. 8; p. 446
• Main Authors: Tibiriçá, Carlos, Leite, Isabel, Batista, Talita, Fernandes, Luciano, Chomérat, Nicolas, Herve, Fabienne, Hess, Philipp, Mafra, Luiz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 27.07.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Algae; Archipelagoes; benthic microalgae; biofilm formation; Biofilms; Blooms (microorganisms); Contamination; Dinoflagellates; Fiberglass; Harmful algal bloom; Ingestion; Irradiance; Life Sciences; Litter; Marine animals; Marine ecosystems; Marine fauna; Marine pollution; Microorganisms; Microscopy; Mollusks; Mussels; Ostreopsis; ovatoxin; Phylogeny; Plastic debris; plastic litter; Pollutants; Radiation; seafood safety; Seaweeds; Surveillance; toxic dinoflagellates; toxin transfer; Toxins; Wind speed; Brazil; plastic litter; seafood safety; toxic dinoflagellates; ovatoxin; marine pollution; biofilm formation; Harmful algal bloom; toxin transfer; benthic microalgae
• ISSN: 2072-6651; 2072-6651
• DOI: 10.3390/toxins11080446

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.