Gambierdiscus species diversity and community structure in St. Thomas, USVI and the Florida Keys, USA.

Autor: Richlen ML; Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA. Electronic address: mrichlen@whoi.edu., Horn K; Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA., Uva V; Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA., Fachon E; Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA; Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, 02139, USA., Heidmann SL; Center for Marine and Environmental Studies, University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 00802, USA., Smith TB; Center for Marine and Environmental Studies, University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 00802, USA., Parsons ML; The Water School, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL 33965, USA., Anderson DM; Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Harmful algae [Harmful Algae] 2024 Jan; Vol. 131, pp. 102562. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Dec 19.
DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2023.102562
Abstrakt: Ciguatera Poisoning (CP) is a widespread and complex poisoning syndrome caused by the consumption of fish or invertebrates contaminated with a suite of potent neurotoxins collectively known as ciguatoxins (CTXs), which are produced by certain benthic dinoflagellates species in the genera Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa. Due to the complex nature of this HAB problem, along with a poor understanding of toxin production and entry in the coral reef food web, the development of monitoring, management, and forecasting approaches for CP has lagged behind those available for other HAB syndromes. Over the past two decades, renewed research on the taxonomy, physiology, and toxicology of CP-causing dinoflagellates has advanced our understanding of the species diversity that exists within these genera, including identification of highly toxic species (so called "superbugs") that likely contribute disproportionately to ciguatoxins entering coral reef food webs. The recent development of approaches for molecular analysis of field samples now provide the means to investigate in situ community composition, enabling characterization of spatio-temporal species dynamics, linkages between toxic species abundance and toxin flux, and the risk of ciguatoxin prevalence in fish. In this study we used species-specific fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) probes to investigate Gambierdiscus species composition and dynamics in St. Thomas (USVI) and the Florida Keys (USA) over multiple years (2018-2020). Within each location, samples were collected seasonally from several sites comprising varying depths, habitats, and algal substrates to characterize community structure over small spatial scales and across different host macrophytes. This approach enabled the quantitative determination of communities over spatiotemporal gradients, as well as the selective enumeration of species known to exhibit high toxicity, such as Gambierdiscus silvae. The investigation found differing community structure between St. Thomas and Florida Keys sites, driven in part by differences in the distribution of toxin-producing species G. silvae and G. belizeanus, which were present throughout sampling sites in St. Thomas but scarce or absent in the Florida Keys. This finding is significant given the high toxicity of G. silvae, and may help explain differences in fish toxicity and CP incidence between St. Thomas and Florida. Intrasite comparisons along a depth gradient found higher concentrations of Gambierdiscus spp. at deeper locations. Among the macrophytes sampled, Dictyota may be a likely vector for toxin transfer based on their widespread distribution, apparent colonization by G. silvae, and palatability to at least some herbivore grazers. Given its ubiquity throughout both study regions and sites, this taxa may also serve as a refuge, accumulating high concentrations of Gambierdiscus and other benthic dinoflagellates, which in turn can serve as source populations for highly palatable and ephemeral habitats nearby, such as turf algae. These studies further demonstrate the successful application of FISH probes in examining biogeographic structuring of Gambierdiscus communities, targeting individual toxin-producing species, and characterizing species-level dynamics that are needed to describe and model ecological drivers of species abundance and toxicity.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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