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First Record of Marine Dinofl agellate, Alexandrium tamutum (Dinophyceae) from Malaysia

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Several species of dinoflagellates in the genus Alexandrium are known to be toxic, and have been associated with paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in Malaysia. These Alexandrium species showed high morphological similarity among the toxic and non-toxic species, and detailed observation of the thecal plate's arrangement is required for precise species identification. Co-occurrence of the toxic and non-toxic species has complicated the plankton monitoring of PSP. In this study, a clone of Alexandrium species was established from plankton samples collected from Kota Belud, Sabah. The specimen was observed under epi-fluorescence microscope, and nucleotide sequences of the nuclear-encoded ribosomal RNA gene obtained. Morphologically, the clone showed relatively wide and large sixth precingular plate (6″) compared to that of A. minutum. The posterior sulcal plate (Sp) is similar to that of A. minutum, which is wider than long. The first apical plate (1′) is irregularly rhomboidal with a small ventral pore (vp) present on its right margin. The morphological characters resembled to the species description of A. tamutum. Phylogenetic analysis of the ITS rDNA region also revealed a monophyly of this clone with other strains of A. tamutum, and separating them from the A. minutum clade. Species-specific sequence signatures of A. tamutum were obtained in silico, which could be as potential oligonucleotide probe regions for species detection by using molecular tool. This represents the first report of A. tamutum found in Malaysian waters.
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Malaysian Journal of Science 32 (SCS Sp Issue) : 81-88 (2013)
81
First Record of Marine Dinoagellate, Alexandrium Tamutum
(Dinophyceae) from Malaysia
Kon, Nyuk Fong1, Hii, Kieng Soon1, Tan, Toh Hii1, Yek, Leh Hie1, Lim, Po Teen2, Leaw, Chui Pin1*
1 Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation (IBEC), University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), 94300 Kota
Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia,
2 Faculty of Resource Science and Technology (FRST), University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), 94300 Kota Samarahan,
Sarawak, Malaysia
*cpleaw@ibec.unimas.my, chuipinleaw@gmail.com (corresponding author)
ABSTRACT Several species of dinoagellates in the genus Alexandrium are known to be toxic, and have
been associated with paralytic shellsh poisoning (PSP) in Malaysia. These Alexandrium species showed high
morphological similarity among the toxic and non-toxic species, and detailed observation of the thecal plate’s
arrangement is required for precise species identication. Co-occurrence of the toxic and non-toxic species
has complicated the plankton monitoring of PSP. In this study, a clone of Alexandrium species was established
from plankton samples collected from Kota Belud, Sabah. The specimen was observed under epi-uorescence
microscope, and nucleotide sequences of the nuclear-encoded ribosomal RNA gene obtained. Morphologically,
the clone showed relatively wide and large sixth precingular plate (6´´) compared to that of A. minutum. The
sulcal posterior plate (Sp) is similar to that of A. minutum, which is wider than long. The rst apical plate
(1´) is irregularly rhomboidal with a small ventral pore (vp) present on its right margin. The morphological
characters resembled to the species description of A. tamutum. Phylogenetic analysis of the ITS rDNA region
also revealed a monophyly of this clone with other strains of A. tamutum, and separating them from the A.
minutum clade. Species-specic sequence signatures of A. tamutum were obtained in silico, which could be as
potential oligonucleotide probe regions for species detection by using molecular tool. This represents the rst
report of A. tamutum found in Malaysian waters.
(Alexandrium tamutum, A. minutum, Sabah, Malaysia, thecal plates)
INTRODUCTION
Harmful algal bloom (HABs) is a natural phenomenon
due to increase in density of phytoplankton resulted
in adverse effect to the ecosystem. Contamination of
biotoxins from the phytoplankton may lead to shellsh
poisoning when the toxins are transferred to human via
the shellsh vectors. In Malaysia, the most frequently
reported seafood intoxication associated with algal
toxins is paralytic shellsh poisoning (PSP) [1]. PSP is
caused by the consumption of contaminated shellsh
such as mussels, clams, oyster, scallop or other lter
feeders [2, 3]. The PSP toxin, collectively called
Saxitoxins (STXs), is a group of toxin family that blocks
the voltage gated sodium channels in mammalian nerve
cells and inhibits nerve conduction, which may lead to
paralysis of the neuromuscular system [4].
Bloom of the marine dinoflagellate, Pyrodinium
bahamense var. compressum, in Brunei Bay and
the subsequent PSP incidence in Sabah [5], was the
rst record of HABs and PSP in Malaysia. Whilst in
Peninsular Malaysia, poisoning case was rst reported
in 1991 when people consumed the green mussel, Perna
viridis, cultured at a mussel farm in Sebatu, Malacca. In
September 2001, poisoning case including one fatality
was reported from Tumpat, Kelantan, a coastal lagoon of
the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The intoxication
was due to the consumption of contaminated benthic
bivalve, Polymesoda sp. (local name, ‘lokan’) [6].
In this study, a marine dinoagellate from the genus
Alexandrium was morphologically and molecularly
characterized. Samples were obtained from Kota Belud,
Sabah, Malaysia, and clonal cultures of the dinoagellate
species were established. Both preserved and eld
samples were observed under an epi-fluorescence
microscope. Clonal cultures were further analyzed
based on the nucleotide sequences of ribosomal RNA
genes (rDNA). Genomic DNA was extracted, and the
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rDNA was amplied prior to sequencing. The sequences
obtained were analyzed and used for phylogenetic
reconstruction. Species-specic sequence signatures of
A. tamutum were also obtained in silico.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Algal cultures
Plankton samples were collected from Kota Belud,
Sabah, using a 20 µm-mesh plankton net. Sampling was
undertaken during high tide, with salinity of ~30 psu.
Field in situ parameter i.e. temperature, salinity and pH
of the seawater was collected. Live samples were kept
in 1 L bottles in cool condition and brought back to the
laboratory for single-cell isolation. A portion of samples
(1/3) were preserved in acidic Lugol’s solution.
Samples were sieved through a 20 µm-mesh sieve and
back-washed to a petri dish for single-cell isolation by
micropipetting technique under an IX51 inverted light
microscope (Olympus, Melville, USA). Clonal cultures
were established in a 96-well microplate containing
ltered sterile seawater. Cultures established were grown
in ES-DK medium [7], and maintained at 25±0.5 °C
under a 12:12 h light:dark photoperiod in a SHEL LAB
temperature-light controlled growth chamber (SHEL
LAB, USA).
Species identication
Morphological observation was performed with an epi-
uorescence microscopy. Identication of the species
was based on cell shape and theca plate tabulation. Fixed
samples were stained with 1% Calcouor white solution
(Fluka, Japan), and the nuclei were stained with SYTOX
Green DNA stain (Invitrogen, Life Technologies, USA).
Stained samples were observed under an Olympus IX51
epiuorescence microscope (Olympus, Melville, USA)
with UV lter sets. Images were captured with a cooled
CCD camera (SIS Colorview F12, Germany).
DNA extraction, rDNA amplication and
sequencing
Mid-exponential growth phase cultures were harvested
by centrifugation at 2,800 rpm for 10 min. The cell
pellet was then suspended in distilled water, followed by
cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) extraction
as described in [8, 9]. Cells were lysed by adding equal
volume of CTAB lysis buffer containing 50 mM
CTAB, 14 mM NaCl, 10 mM Tris-base, 20 mM EDTA,
and 1% mecaptoethanol. The mixture was extracted
with chloroform: isoamyl alcohol (C:I, 24:1), and
subsequently phenol:chloroform:isoamyl alcohol (P:C:I,
25:24:1). Two volumes of absolute ethanol and 1/10
volume of 3M sodium acetate were added to precipitate
the DNA, followed by centrifugation at 13000 rpm for
10 min. DNA pellet was rinsed with 70% cold ethanol
and then dissolved in 30 µL TE buffer (10 mM Tris-
HCl, pH 7.4 and 1 mM EDTA, pH 8.0). Genomic DNA
samples were kept overnight at 4°C to totally dissolve
the DNA before stored at -20°C for further analysis.
The internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1-5.8S-
ITS2) of rDNA were amplified by polymerase
chain reaction (PCR) using the primer pair, ITS1F
(5’TCGTAACAAGGTTTCCGTAGGTG-3’) and
ITS1R (5’ATATGCTTAAGTTCAGCGGG-3’) [8].
Gene amplication was performed as described in [8, 9].
In brief, the amplication condition is as follow: initial
denaturation at 95°C for 5 min, denaturation at 94°C for
18 seconds, annealing at 55°C for 18 seconds, followed
by elongation at 72°C for 1 min and nal elongation at
72°C for 7 min. PCR products were subjected to further
purication prior to DNA sequencing by the sequencing
service laboratory (1st Base, Selangor, Malaysia),
using an ABI 377 automated sequencer (PE Applied
Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA). Sequencing was
performed in both strands.
Sequence analysis and taxon sampling
Sequences were evaluated by using the Basic Local
Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) program [10], and
analyzed by ABI sequence Scanner ver. 1.0 (ABI
BioSystem, USA). Ambiguous bases were determined
by comparing both forward and reverse strands of each
strain. The reverse strands were reversed complemented
by using BioEdit version 6.0.7 [11] and pairwise-aligned
with the forward strands using Clustal-X [12]. These
were followed by assignation according to the IUPAC
nucleotide code.
Taxon sampling was achieved by blasting in the
nucleotide database, GenBank, in conjunction with the
National Center of Biotechnology Institute (NCBI) to
acquire related sequences. The selected sequences were
saved as FASTA format for further analysis.
Phylogenetic analyses
Phylogenetic analyses was performed by using
Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (PAUP) ver.
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4.0b10 [13] with the maximum likelihood (ML) and
maximum parsimony (MP) algorithms used to estimate
the phylogeny.
For ML analysis, Modeltest ver. 3.06 [14, 15] with
α value of 0.01 was used to identify the hierarchical
likelihood ratio so that the best model of evolution can
be determined. The evolutionary model selected for the
sequences data set and the ML parameters were used to
reconstruct the ML tree. ML was performed by heuristic
search with tree bisection-reconnection (TBR) branch
swapping and 10 random additions.
MP was performed by heuristic search of 1,000 random
addition and TBR branch swapping. Bootstrapping [16]
was performed on both ML and MP analyses with 1,000
replication (P < 0.001) to determine the condence limits
of tree topology using TBR branch swapping algorithm.
Sequence signatures assignation
The ITS sequence of A. tamutum was aligned and
compared to all other Alexandrium species retrieved
from GenBank to search for the signature regions.
Species-specic sequence signatures were identied by
using ARB package.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Among the species of Alexandrium, A. tamutum showed
high morphological similarity to its closely related toxic
species, A. minutum. Microscopic cell observation
without pre-staining often is difcult to discriminate
the two species. Only detailed thecal plate arrangement
and the shapes revealed upon thecal staining could be
used to differentiate the two species. The morphological
characteristic of the sixth precingular plate (6’’) is one
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Figure 1. Alexandrium tamutum strain AuKA01 from Kota Belud, Sabah. (A) Bright eld. (B) Cell showing chlorophyll
pigments. (C) SYTOX green-stained cells showing the arc shaped nuclei. (D) Cell with thin thecal plates showing
rhomboidal 1´ and wide 6´´. Note the ventral pore (vp). (E) Antapical view of cell with wider than long posterior
sulcal plate (Sp). (F) Cell showing the sulcus with deep and excavated cingulum.
of the main diagnostic features used to delineate the
two species [17].
Morphological characterization of A. tamutum
Cells are round and small, with 9–25 µm long and
9–33 µm wide (Figure 1). Chlorophyll pigments
present indicating the cells are photosynthetic (Figure
1B). The fairly large nucleus with chromosomes that
are permanently condensed can be readily seen after
SYTOX Green staining (Figure 1C). The thecal plates
are thin and smooth. Cingulum is deep and excavated,
with its left end shifted anteriorly (Figure 1D). The rst
apical plate (1´) is irregularly rhomboidal, with a small
ventral pore (vp) present on its right margin (Figure 1D).
The sixth precingular plate (6´´) is wider than long, and
adjacent to 1´ (Figure 1D). The posterior sulcal plate
(Sp) on the hypotheca is wider than long (Figure 1E).
The epi-uorescence image clearly showed the sulcal
area of A. tamutum, with both sulcal right posterior plate
(Sdp) and sulcal left posterior plate (Ssp) (Figure 1F).
Alexandrium tamutum resembled A. minutum in its
relatively small cell size, rounded or elliptical [17].
However, large A. tamutum cells have a slightly
pentagonal shape which is similar to the outline of
small-sized A. tamarense [17]. Alexandrium andersoni
is another small-sized species which is difcult to
distinguish it from A. tamutum and A. minutum. Both
A. andersoni and A. minutum are PSP toxin producers
[18], but A. tamutum was reported as non-toxic [17].
Several Alexandrium species share similar cell outline
and size ranges. Thus, it is difficult to distinguish
Alexandrium species solely based on cell size and
shape. Identication at species level requires detailed
investigation of the pattern of their thecal plates.
Alexandrium tamutum differs from A. minutum by
its relatively wide and large 6´´, whereas A. minutum
has narrower and smaller 6´´ [17]. The large 6´´ of A.
tamutum is similar to that of A. tamarense [17].
Shape of the sulcal posterior plate (Sp) has been
suggested as a diagnostic character to delineate species
of Alexandrium [19]. The Sp of A. tamutum is similar to
that of A. minutum which is wider than long, while the
Sp is longer than wide in A. tamarense. Both A. tamutum
and A. minutum have rhomboidal 1´ plate. However,
the vp of that in A. tamutum is located in the median/
upper part of the margin [17], whilst in A. minutum it is
located on the posterior end of the anterior right margin
of plate 1´ [20].
ITS rDNA phylogeny of Alexandrium
The ITS region of rDNA of A. tamutum was successfully
amplied for the strain AuKA01. Blast search revealed
an e-value of 0.0 with a total of six hits to A. tamutum
in the nucleotide database of GenBank (NCBI). Closely
related species of A. tamutum were included in the taxon
sampling; they are A. afne, A. andersoni A. catenella,
A. minutum, , A. ostenfeldii, A. peruvianum A. tamarense
and A. tamiyavanichii (Table1). Pyrodinium bahamense
var. compressum was used as the outgroup.
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Species Strain Location
Alexandrium afne AC-1 China
AS-1 China
A. andersoni CCMP 1718 Massachusetts, USA
A. catenella PE01 Southern Chile
A4 Daya Bay, China
AD1 East China Sea, China
A. minutum CBA64 Catalan Sea, Spain
AMITA Trieste, Italy
Palmira1 Catalan Sea, Spain
CBA28 Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy
A. ostenfeldii AOFUN0905 Hokkaido, Japan
AOFUN0904 Hokkaido, Japan
ASBH01 China
A. peruvianum IEO-VGOAMD12 Catalan Sea, Spain
IEO-VGOAM10 Catalan Sea, Spain
A. tamarense 04-197-30 Scotland, United Kingdom
S06-010-01 Scotland, United Kingdom
A. tamiyavanichii A1PSA Porto Seguro, Brazil
B2PSA Porto Seguro, Brazil
PSII Porto Seguro, Brazil
A. tamutum IEO-VGO616 Catalan Sea, Spain
IEO-VGO617 Catalan Sea, Spain
IEO-VGO615 Catalan Sea, Spain
AL2T -
LBM-A5 North West Adriatic Sea, Italy
IEO-VGO662 Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy
Table 1. Sequences of ITS region retrieved from NCBI nucleotide database with species, strain and accession.
The resulting BI tree showed that AuKA01 strain
obtained in this study was clustered together with
other A. tamutum from GenBank (AM236857,
AM236858, AM236859, AM236860, AM238452 and
EU707497) (Figure 2). This further supported the
species identication of strain AuKA01 as A. tamutum.
The clade formed a sister group with A. minutum
group (FR668134, FR668136, FR668140, FR668142).
The molecular phylogenetic inference supported the
morphological observation that A. tamutum was a sister
taxon to A. minutum.
The MP analysis revealed 333 parsimony-informative
characters, resulted in one parsimonious tree with a tree
length of 1,039 evolutionary steps, with the parsimony
indices of consistency index (CI) = 0.7036, homoplasy
index (HI) = 0.2964, retention index (RI) = 0.8229, and
rescaled consistency index (RC) = 0.5790.
Bootstrap supports of the monophyly of A. tamutum
were relatively high with MP, ML bootstraps of 81% and
78% respectively, and BI posterior probability (PP) of
1.0. The A. minutum clade was also supported by 100%
for MP, 96% for ML and 1.0 for BI.
Although A. tamutum is closely related morphologically
to A. minutum, the results of phylogenetic inferences
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Figure 2. Phylogenetic tree of Alexandrium species derived from Bayesian analysis (BI) of ITS sequences. Alexandrium
tamutum from Kota Belud, Sabah used in this study are in boldface. Bootstrap supports of MP/ML/BI are shown at
the internal nodes. Scare bar = 0.1 substitution per site.
strongly supported the split of A. tamutum as a single
clade, while A. minutum formed another clade (Figure 2).
Sequence signature
The ITS sequence of A. tamutum was aligned with ITS
sequences of other Alexandrium species retrieved from
the GenBank to search for the signature regions.
By using ARB program, several regions of sequences
with nucleotides length of 25bp and100% hits were
identied. These regions were identied as species-
specific to A. tamutum based on the nucleotide
polymorphism to the non-target species. Table 2 shows
the E-value and number of hits of the nblast search
result. Three signature regions were proposed as the
DNA signature of A. tamutum (Figure 3).
Table 2. nBlast search of signature regions revealed the respective e-value and the number of hits
Signature Uppermost Blastn hit against NCBI
nr-database
e-value Number of hits
AGGGUGGCAUGGCUUGCAAUAGCAA A. tamutum 2e-04 6
AUGCUGCUGCAUUGGACACACGCGC A. tamutum 2e-04 5
AUUUGCUCGAGGGUGGCAUGGCUUG A. tamutum 2e-04 5
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Figure 3. Three possible sequence logos of signature region of A. tamutum predicted in this study
CONCLUSION
Culture of Alexandrium from Kota Belud, Sabah was
identied and designated as Alexandrium tamutum
based on the rhomboidal rst apical plate (1´), wide
sixth precingular plate (6´´) and wide posterior sulcal
plate (Sp). The phylogenetic analyses also supported the
species identity based on the evidence of monophyly of
taxa identied as A. tamutum. This represents the rst
report of A. tamutum found in the Malaysian waters.
Species-specic sequence signatures of A. tamutum
were obtained in silico. The species-specic sequence
signatures of A. tamutum obtained in this study can be
used to develop molecular probe for rapid detection of
the species.
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... Phylogenetic differentiation in support of classical taxonomic identification showed the divergence of these two Alexandrium species. A. minutum and A. tamutum form differently well-supported clades based on the nuclear small subunit rDNA and the D1/D2 domain of the large subunit of the large nuclear rDNA [9,10]. In terms of toxicity, A. minutum isolates from Australia [11,12], Taiwan [13], Vietnam [14] and Portugal [7] produced gonyautoxin 1,4 (GTX1,4), while an isolate from Italy produced gonyautoxin (GTX2, 3) and saxitoxin (STX) as primary toxins [15,16]. ...
... Non-toxic A. minutum isolates from Ireland and Scotland [17,18] and Italy [19] have also been reported. Meanwhile, various isolates of A. tamutum have been reported to be non-toxic [9,10]. ...
... The dinoflagellate Alexandrium sp. has been implicated in harmful algal bloom through the production of paralytic shellfish toxins [36,37] and/or fish kills due to bioactive reagents such as reactive oxygen species and polyunsaturated fatty acids [38]. In this study, two Alexandrium species from Manila Bay, Bataan, Philippines were characterized. A. minutum produced GTX1,4, and GTX2,3 as primary toxins, with similar toxin profiles to A. minutum from southern Taiwan [39]. A. tamutum did not give any detectable toxins, in agreement with the observed toxin profiles for other A. tamutum isolates from the Mediterranean Sea, Italy and Malaysia [9,10]. Reported toxic Alexandrium species in the Philippines now include A. minutum aside from earlier reported Alexandrium cf. ...
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Details research papers regarding the aquatic science studies located along the Tanjung Datu to Samunsan and some at the Sematan, Sarawak, Malaysia Borneo. The studies were done before the opening of the Pan-Borneo Highway.
... Previously recorded as Alexandrium sp. for the northwest Pacific (Yoshida, 2002), A. tamutum was formally described based on material isolated from the Mediterranean (Montresor et al., 2004). Since then, the species has been reported in morphological studies of populations from Russia, Malaysia, and Scotland (Selina and Morozova, 2005;Hii et al., 2012;Swan and Davidson, 2014) and in morphological and genetic studies of populations from Ireland, Shetland, China, Malaysia, Greenland (Touzet et al., 2008;Brown et al., 2010;Gu et al., 2013;Kon et al., 2013;Tillmann et al., 2016). Our results demonstrated a genetic variability within the A. tamutum clade, which was formed by some subclades, including the Brazilian subclade. ...
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A review of the dinoflagellate genus Alexandrium occurring in Brazilian coastal waters is presented based on both published information and new data. Seven Alexandrium species have been recorded from Brazil so far: Alexandrium catenella, Alexandrium fraterculus, Alexandrium gaardnerae, Alexandrium kutnerae, Alexandrium tamiyavanichi, Alexandrium tamutum, and Alexandrium sp. While A. gaardnerae and A. kutnerae were identified based only on morphological characteristics, phylogenetic analysis (ITS and LSU rDNA) were performed for the remaining species based on cultures and/or field populations. Monoclonal cultures of the analyzed species were isolated from field samples obtained from Bahia (A. tamiyavanichi, two strains), Rio de Janeiro (A. tamutum, three strains; Alexandrium sp., two strains), Santa Catarina (A. fraterculus, one strain), and Rio Grande do Sul (Alexandrium tamarense, three strains). This is the first record of A. tamutum for the South Atlantic. In addition, molecular data for Brazilian strains of A. fraterculus are presented for the first time, as well as sequences from the ITS region for A. catenella (previously reported as A. tamarense) from Brazilian coastal waters. The morphological characters of the three species corresponded to those typically recorded in the literature and their identification was confirmed by molecular analysis. Based on the LSU rDNA and ITS regions, the three strains of A. catenella showed a high degree of similarity with strains from Southern Chile and North America. The implications and limitations of these findings for the monitoring protocols within the global and regional context are discussed.
... In Vietnam, at least 15 Alexandrium species have been documented (Larsen and Nguyen 2004). Malaysia has reported eight species, with A. taylori, A. peruvianum, and A. tamutum as the most recently identified (Lim et al. 2005;Kon et al. 2013). For the Philippines, a total of eight Alexandrium species has been recorded as well [Azanza unpubl.;see ...
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Harmful algal blooms (HABs), contributing to both fisheries effects due to high-biomass algal blooms and shellfish or fish poisoning due to toxic algae, have long been reported in coastal waters of the Asian region, especially in East and Southeast Asia. HAB-related issues have continuously been of both social and economic concern. Although there have been continuous efforts to investigate various aspects of harmful algae, new records of fish mass mortality due to species previously undetected at particular sites have continued to occur over the last decade. These cases suggest recent expansion or introduction of HAB species in the Asian region. In this chapter, progress in HAB research and recent issues regarding harmful algae are summarized together with descriptions of newly documented HAB species from Asia, to improve our understanding for future research and management of harmful algae in the Asian region.
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Many dinoflagellates species, especially of the Alexandrium genus, produce a series of toxins with tremendous impacts on human and environmental health, and tourism economies. Alexandrium tamutum was discovered for the first time in the Gulf of Naples, and it is not known to produce saxitoxins. However, a clone of A. tamutum from the same Gulf showed copepod reproduction impairment and antiproliferative activity. In this study, the full transcriptome of the dinoflagellate A. tamutum is presented in both control and phosphate starvation conditions. RNA-seq approach was used for in silico identification of transcripts that can be involved in the synthesis of toxic compounds. Phosphate starvation was selected because it is known to induce toxin production for other Alexandrium spp. Results showed the presence of three transcripts related to saxitoxin synthesis (sxtA, sxtG and sxtU), and others potentially related to the synthesis of additional toxic compounds (e.g., 44 transcripts annotated as “polyketide synthase”). These data suggest that even if this A. tamutum clone does not produce saxitoxins, it has the potential to produce toxic metabolites, in line with the previously observed activity. These data give new insights into toxic microalgae, toxin production and their potential applications for the treatment of human pathologies.
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A field survey had been conducted during the 15 to 27 August 2016 at East coastline of the Peninsular Malaysia, part of the EPSK Scientific expedition. A total of 59 micro-phytoplankton was collected by using the 20 um plankton net from 10 transect lines along the East coastline of Peninsular. Samples were enumerated to obtain the composition and cell abundance of the micro-phytoplankton. Micro-phytoplankton was identified based on the morphology approach with light microscopy and advanced electron microscopy. A total of 52 genera were documented in this study. Sixteen genera were dinoflagellate and 36 genera were diatom. Chaetoceros was found to be the dominant genus with 49.39% of overall in the East coast of Peninsular. Station 56-59 were showed the highest cell density with 31,691 cells ml-1. Station T5 was showed the lowest cell density with 3,006 cells ml-1. A total of five harmful genera were found in this survey. There were in genera of Alexandrium, Ceratium, Prorocentrum, Pseudo-nitzschia, and Nitzschia.
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The previously undescribed morphological development of resting cysts of the living marine dinoflagellate Lingulodinium ("Gonyaulax") polyedrum has been observed in laboratory cultures. Referred to as L. machaerophorum in cyst‐based taxonomy, this species has a fossil record extending back at least to the Early Eocene. In our cultures, planozygotes preparing to encyst showed a distinctive interstice in the peripheral cytoplasm and often displayed a characteristic swimming behavior. The transition from motile planozygote to morphologically mature hypnozygote (resting cyst) took approximately 10–20 minutes. Encystment began with several events occurring simultaneously: (1) the cell stopped swimming and came to rest at the bottom of the observation chamber, (2) flagella were expelled from their respective thecal grooves, (3) localized swelling of a membrane external to the theca formed bubble‐like protrusions on the surface of the cell, (4) the theca began to dissociate along one or more plate sutures, and (5) a single layer of globules appeared in the interstice between the theca and cytoplasm. External protrusions then enlarged and merged to liberate a continuous membrane which surrounded the entire cell. Subsequent expansion of this membrane gave the encysting cell the appearance of an inflating balloon. In most cases, the outer membrane remained partially attached to the theca so that expansion caused thecal sections to pull away from the underlying globules and cytoplasm. As the outer membrane enlarged, globules on the surface of the cytoplasmic mass grew radially outward (i.e., centrifugally) beneath the dissociating theca to form processes. Morphological development of the resting cyst ended when the expanding membrane ruptured. The maximum lateral dimension attained by this membrane was about twice the diameter of the internal body of the cyst. In these cases, cysts developed the distinctive processes characteristic of Lingulodinium. Premature rupture of the balloon‐like membrane, however, resulted in processes showing considerable variation in size and morphology. Based on the variability of process morphology observed in laboratory cultures of L. polyedrum, three morphotypes currently designated as separate species of the genus Lingulodinium are here synonymized with L. machaerophorum.
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C.P LEAW, PT Lim, B.K. NG, M.Y. CHEAH, A. AHMAD AND G. USUP. 2005. Phylogenetic analysis of Alexandrium species and Pyrodinium bahamense (Dinophyceae) based on theca morphology and nuclear ribosomal gene sequence. Phycologia 44:550-565. A phylogenetic analysis of Alexandrium species and Pyrodinium. bahamense was carried out. The analysis was based on nucleotide sequences of the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene and 16 morphological characters considered taxonomically informative. Maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and Bayesian approaches were used. Molecular and morphological data were analysed independently and in combination. The outcomes of all the analyses were the same. Pyrodinium was consistently grouped in the same clade with Alexandrium, specifically with the subgenus Gessnerium, A. pseudogoniaulax and A. taylori. Two monophyletic clades were resolved. The first comprised A. tamarense, A. fundyense, A. catenella, A. tamiyavanichii, A. affine and A. concavum, with the base formed by A. pseudogoniaulax, A. tavlori and P. bahamense. The second clade comprised the species A. minutum, A. insuetum, A. tamutum, A. andersoni, A. ostenfeldii and A. leei, with A. margalefi forming the base. Mapping of morphological characters onto the phylogenetic trees indicated that posterior sulcal plate probably has the highest value in the taxonomy of Alexandrium. Some other characters considered taxonomically important, such as the ventral pore and position of the anterior attachment pore, are most probably homoplastic.
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Toxic algal blooms occur worldwide and in some areas they are a common and seasonal occurrence. Historically, attention has been focused on blooms of toxic dinoflagellates (e.g., Protogonyaulax tamarensis). More recently, attention has been turned to other species (e.g., Dinophysis, Aureococcus, Gymnodininum). These blooms often present problems with respect to optimal utilization of the shellfish resources, and the magnitude of economic losses can be catastrophic. Nevertheless, successful culture facilities and commercial harvests persist in areas prone to toxic algal blooms. This paper reviews the literature available on occurrences of toxic algal blooms, discusses the means by which harvesters, managers, and industry cope with the problems associated with toxic algal blooms, and makes recommendations for the most efficient and successful utilization of resources in the face of environmental instability.
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The genus Ostreopsis is an important component of benthic and epiphytic dinoflagellate assemblages in coral reefs and seaweed beds of Malaysia. Members of the species may produce toxins that contribute to ciguatera fish poisoning. In this study, two species have been isolated and cultured, Ostreopsis ovata and Ostreopsis lenticularis. Analyses of the 5.8S subunit and internal transcribed spacer regions ITS1 and ITS2 of the ribosomal RNA gene sequences of these two species showed that they are separate species, consistent with morphological designations. The nucleotide sequences of the 5.8S subunit and ITS1 and ITS2 regions of the rRNA gene were also used to evaluate the interpopulation and intrapopulation genetic diversity of O. ovata found in Malaysian waters. Results showed a low level of sequence divergence within populations. At the interpopulation level, the rRNA gene sequence distinguished two groups of genetically distinct strains, representative of a Malacca Straits group (isolates from Port Dickson) and a South China Sea group (isolates from Pulau Redang and Kota Kinabalu). Part of the sequences in the ITS regions may be useful in the design of oligonucleotide probes specific for each group. Results from this study show that the ITS regions can be used as genetic markers for taxonomic, biogeographic, and fine-scale population studies of this species.
Article
During two years (December 1993-November 1995), 17 stations located off Tunis bay, were visited monthly, to identify different species of Alexandrium halim and to determine the monthly variations of the genus. The biogeographical distribution of the ten species inventoried reveals the first record, in the Mediterranean sea, of A. concavum (Gaarder) Balech and A. kutnerae (Balech) Balech, which were previously identified in Atlantic ocean. The dynamic of Alexandrium shows a high spatio-temporal variability. Maximum of density where observed in July 1994 (295 cells L-1) and in May 1995 (116 cells L-1). © 2001 Ifremer/CNRS/IRD/Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS.
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— We studied sequence variation in 16S rDNA in 204 individuals from 37 populations of the land snail Candidula unifasciata (Poiret 1801) across the core species range in France, Switzerland, and Germany. Phylogeographic, nested clade, and coalescence analyses were used to elucidate the species evolutionary history. The study revealed the presence of two major evolutionary lineages that evolved in separate refuges in southeast France as result of previous fragmentation during the Pleistocene. Applying a recent extension of the nested clade analysis (Templeton 2001), we inferred that range expansions along river valleys in independent corridors to the north led eventually to a secondary contact zone of the major clades around the Geneva Basin. There is evidence supporting the idea that the formation of the secondary contact zone and the colonization of Germany might be postglacial events. The phylogeographic history inferred for C. unifasciata differs from general biogeographic patterns of postglacial colonization previously identified for other taxa, and it might represent a common model for species with restricted dispersal.
Article
The recently-developed statistical method known as the "bootstrap" can be used to place confidence intervals on phylogenies. It involves resampling points from one's own data, with replacement, to create a series of bootstrap samples of the same size as the original data. Each of these is analyzed, and the variation among the resulting estimates taken to indicate the size of the error involved in making estimates from the original data, In the case of phylogenies, it is argued that the proper method of resampling is to keep all of the original species while sampling characters with replacement, under the assumption that the characters have been independently drawn by the systematist and have evolved independently. Majority-rule consensus trees can be used to construct a phylogeny showing all of the inferred monophyletic groups that occurred in a majority of the bootstrap samples. If a group shows up 95% of the time or more, the evidence for it is taken to be statistically significant. Existing computer programs can be used to analyze different bootstrap samples by using weights on the characters, the weight of a character being how many times it was drawn in bootstrap sampling. When all characters are perfectly compatible, as envisioned by Hennig, bootstrap sampling becomes unnecessary; the bootstrap method would show significant evidence for a group if it is defined by three or more characters.
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A new species of the dinoflagellate genus Alexandrium, A. tamutum sp. nov., is described based on the results of morphological and phylogenetic studies carried out on strains isolated from two sites in the Mediterranean Sea: the Gulf of Trieste (northern Adriatic Sea) and the Gulf of Naples (central Tyrrhenian Sea). Vegetative cells were examined in LM and SEM, and resting cysts were obtained by crossing strains of opposite mating type. Alexandrium tamutum is a small-sized species, resembling A. minutum in its small size, the rounded-elliptical shape and the morphology of its cyst. The main diagnostic character of the new species is a relatively wide and large sixth precingular plate (6″), whereas that of A. minutum is much narrower and smaller. Contrary to A. minutum, A. tamutum strains did not produce paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins. Phylogenies inferred from the nuclear small subunit rDNA and the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit nuclear rDNA of five strains of A. tamutum and numerous strains of other Alexandrium species showed that A. tamutum strains clustered in a well-supported clade, distinct from A. minutum.