Evaluation of Rapid, Early Warning Approaches to Track Shellfish Toxins Associated with Dinophysis and Alexandrium Blooms.

Marine biotoxin-contaminated seafood has caused thousands of poisonings worldwide this century. Given these threats, there is an increasing need for improved technologies that can be easily integrated into coastal monitoring programs. This study evaluates approaches for monitoring toxins associated with recurrent toxin-producing Alexandrium and Dinophysis blooms on Long Island, NY, USA, which cause paralytic and diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (PSP and DSP), respectively. Within contrasting locations, the dynamics of pelagic Alexandrium and Dinophysis cell densities, toxins in plankton, and toxins in deployed blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) were compared with passive solid-phase adsorption toxin tracking (SPATT) samplers filled with two types of resin, HP20 and XAD-2. Multiple species of wild shellfish were also collected during Dinophysis blooms and used to compare toxin content using two different extraction techniques (single dispersive and double exhaustive) and two different toxin analysis assays (liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and the protein phosphatase inhibition assay (PP2A)) for the measurement of DSP toxins. DSP toxins measured in the HP20 resin were significantly correlated (R² = 0.7-0.9, p < 0.001) with total DSP toxins in shellfish, but were detected more than three weeks prior to detection in deployed mussels. Both resins adsorbed measurable levels of PSP toxins, but neither quantitatively tracked Alexandrium cell densities, toxicity in plankton or toxins in shellfish. DSP extraction and toxin analysis methods did not differ significantly (p > 0.05), were highly correlated (R² = 0.98-0.99; p < 0.001) and provided complete recovery of DSP toxins from standard reference materials. Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and ribbed mussels (Geukensia demissa) were found to accumulate DSP toxins above federal and international standards (160 ng g-1) during Dinophysis blooms while Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and soft shell clams (Mya arenaria) did not. This study demonstrated that SPATT samplers using HP20 resin coupled with PP2A technology could be used to provide early warning of DSP, but not PSP, events for shellfish management.

Mapping the Distribution of Cysts from the Toxic Dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides in Bloom-Prone Estuaries by a Novel Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Assay.

Cochlodinium polykrikoides is a cosmopolitan dinoflagellate that is notorious for causing fish-killing harmful algal blooms (HABs) across North America and Asia. While recent laboratory and ecosystem studies have definitively demonstrated that Cochlodinium forms resting cysts that may play a key role in the dynamics of its HABs, uncertainties regarding cyst morphology and detection have prohibited even a rudimentary understanding of the distribution of C. polykrikoides cysts in coastal ecosystems. Here, we report on the development of a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay using oligonucleotide probes specific for the large subunit (LSU) ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of C. polykrikoides. The LSU rDNA-targeted FISH assay was used with epifluorescence microscopy and was iteratively refined to maximize the fluorescent reaction with C. polykrikoides and minimize cross-reactivity. The final LSU rDNA-targeted FISH assay was found to quantitatively recover cysts made by North American isolates of C. polykrikoides but not cysts formed by other common cyst-forming dinoflagellates. The method was then applied to identify and map C. polykrikoides cysts across bloom-prone estuaries. Annual cyst and vegetative cell surveys revealed that elevated densities of C. polykrikoides cysts (>100 cm(-3)) during the spring of a given year were spatially consistent with regions of dense blooms the prior summer. The identity of cysts in sediments was confirmed via independent amplification of C. polykrikoides rDNA. This study mapped C. polykrikoides cysts in a natural marine setting and indicates that the excystment of cysts formed by this harmful alga may play a key role in the development of HABs of this species.

The effects of elevated CO2 on the growth and toxicity of field populations and cultures of the saxitoxin-producing dinoflagellate, Alexandrium fundyense.

The effects of coastal acidification on the growth and toxicity of the saxitoxin-producing dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense were examined in culture and ecosystem studies. In culture experiments, Alexandrium strains isolated from Northport Bay NY, USA, and the Bay of Fundy, Canada, grew significantly faster (16 -190%; p<0.05) when exposed to elevated levels of pCO2 (~ 800- 1900µatm) compared to lower levels (~390µatm). Exposure to higher levels of pCO2 also resulted in significant increases (71 - 81%) in total cellular toxicity (fg STX eq. cell-1) in the Northport Bay strain, while no changes in toxicity were detected in the Bay of Fundy strain. The positive relationship between pCO2 enhancement and elevated growth was reproducible using natural populations from Northport; Alexandrium densities were significantly and consistently enhanced when natural populations were incubated at 1500 µatm pCO2, a value at the upper range of those recorded in Northport Bay, 390 - 1500 µatm. During natural Alexandrium blooms in Northport Bay, pCO2 concentrations increased over the course of a bloom to more than 1700µatm and were highest in regions with the greatest Alexandrium abundances, suggesting Alexandrium may be further exacerbating acidification or be especially adapted to these extreme, acidified conditions. The co-occurrence of Alexandrium blooms and elevated pCO2 represents a previously unrecognized, compounding environmental threat to coastal ecosystems. The ability of elevated pCO2 to enhance the growth and toxicity of Alexandrium indicates that acidification promoted by eutrophication or climate change can intensify these, and perhaps other, harmful algal blooms.

The role of algal blooms and community respiration in controlling the temporal and spatial dynamics of hypoxia and acidification in eutrophic estuaries.

While hypoxia and acidification can be common occurrences in eutrophic coastal zones, the precise, coupled temporal and spatial dynamics of these conditions are poorly described. Here, continuous measurements of water column pH, pCO2, carbonate chemistry, and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations were made from spring through fall across two, temperate eutrophic estuaries, western Long Island Sound (LIS) and Jamaica Bay, NY, USA. Vertical dynamics were resolved using an underway towing profiler and an automated stationary profiling unit. During the study, high rates of respiration in surface and bottom waters (> -0.2 mg O2 L-1 h-1) yielded strongly negative rates of net ecosystem metabolism during the summer (-4 to -8 g O2 m-2 d-1). Ephemeral surface algal blooms caused brief periods (< one week) of basification and supersaturation of DO that were succeeded by longer periods of acidification and hypoxia. In deeper regions, hypoxia (< 2 mg L-1 DO) and acidic water (pH < 7; total scale; pCO2 levels >2000 µatm) that persisted continuously for >40 days in both estuaries was often overlain by water with higher DO and pH. Diurnal vertical profiles demonstrated that oxic surface waters saturated with respect to calcium carbonate and DO during the day transitioned to unsaturated and hypoxic at night. Evidence is presented that, beyond respiration, nitrification in surface water promoted by sewage discharge and oxidation processes in sediments also contribute to acidification in these estuaries. Collectively, this study demonstrates the pervasive, persistent, and dynamic nature of hypoxia and acidification in eutrophic estuaries are likely to shape marine food webs.