Regional comparison on ciguatoxicity, hemolytic activity, and toxin profile of the dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus from Kiribati and Malaysia

Zhu J 1 , Lee WH 1 , Yip KC 1 , Wu Z 2 , Wu J 3 , Leaw CP 4 Show all authors , Lim PT 4 , Lu CK 5 , Chan LL 6

Affiliations 

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong; Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong; Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518120, China
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong; Shenzhen Key Laboratory for the Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity, Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China
  • 4 Bachok Marine Research Station, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, Bachok 16310, Kelantan, Malaysia
  • 5 National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan; Department of Life Sciences and Institute of Genome Sciences, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 6 State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong; Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong; Shenzhen Key Laboratory for the Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity, Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China. Electronic address: leochan@cityu.edu.hk
Sci Total Environ, 2023 May 10;872:162236.
PMID: 36791857 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162236

Abstract

The dinoflagellates Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa can produce Ciguatoxins (CTXs) and Maitotoxins (MTXs) that lead to ciguatera poisoning (CP). The CP hotspots, however, do not directly relate to the occurrence of the ciguatoxic Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa. Species-wide investigations often showed no association between CTX level and the molecular identity of the dinoflagellates. In the Pacific region, Kiribati is known as a CP hotspot, while Malaysia has only three CP outbreaks reported thus far. Although ciguatoxic strains of Gambierdiscus were isolated from both Kiribati and Malaysia, no solid evidence on the contribution of ciguatoxic strains to the incidence of CP outbreak was recorded. The present study aims to investigate the regional differences in CP risks through region-specific toxicological assessment of Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa. A total of 19 strains of Gambierdiscus and a strain of Fukuyoa were analyzed by cytotoxicity assay of the neuro-2a cell line, hemolytic assay of fish erythrocytes, and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Gambierdiscus from both Kiribati and Malaysia showed detectable ciguatoxicity; however, the Kiribati strains were more hemolytic. Putative 44-methylgambierone was identified as part of the contributors to the hemolytic activity, and other unknown hydrophilic toxins produced can be potentially linked to higher CP incidence in Kiribati.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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