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Domoic Acid and Pseudo-nitzschia spp. Connected to Coastal Upwelling along Coastal Inhambane Province, Mozambique: A New Area of Concern.

ABSTRACT: Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasing globally in frequency, persistence, and geographic extent, posing a threat to ecosystem and human health. To date, no occurrences of marine phycotoxins have been recorded in Mozambique, which may be due to absence of a monitoring program and general awareness of potential threats. This study is the first documentation of neurotoxin, domoic acid (DA), produced by the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia along the east coast of Africa. Coastal Inhambane Province is a biodiversity hotspot where year-round Rhincodon typus (whale shark) sightings are among the highest globally and support an emerging ecotourism industry. Links between primary productivity and biodiversity in this area have not previously been considered or reported. During a pilot study, from January 2017 to April 2018, DA was identified year-round, peaking during Austral winter. During an intense study between May and August 2018, our research focused on identifying environmental factors influencing coastal productivity and DA concentration. Phytoplankton assemblage was diatom-dominated, with high abundances of Pseudo-nitzschia spp. Data suggest the system was influenced by nutrient pulses resulting from coastal upwelling. Continued and comprehensive monitoring along southern Mozambique would provide critical information to assess ecosystem and human health threats from marine toxins under challenges posed by global change.

SUBMITTER: Kelchner H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8704230 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundPseudo-nitzschia multiseries Hasle (Hasle) (Ps-n) is distinctive among the ecologically important marine diatoms because it produces the neurotoxin domoic acid. Although the biology of Ps-n has been investigated intensely, the characterization of the genes and biochemical pathways leading to domoic acid biosynthesis has been limited. To identify transcripts whose levels correlate with domoic acid production, we analyzed Ps-n under conditions of high and low domoic acid production by cDNA microarray technology and reverse-transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) methods. Our goals included identifying and validating robust reference genes for Ps-n RNA expression analysis under these conditions.ResultsThrough microarray analysis of exponential- and stationary-phase cultures with low and high domoic acid production, respectively, we identified candidate reference genes whose transcripts did not vary across conditions. We tested eleven potential reference genes for stability using RT-qPCR and GeNorm analyses. Our results indicated that transcripts encoding JmjC, dynein, and histone H3 proteins were the most suitable for normalization of expression data under conditions of silicon-limitation, in late-exponential through stationary phase. The microarray studies identified a number of genes that were up- and down-regulated under toxin-producing conditions. RT-qPCR analysis, using the validated controls, confirmed the up-regulation of transcripts predicted to encode a cycloisomerase, an SLC6 transporter, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, glutamate dehydrogenase, a small heat shock protein, and an aldo-keto reductase, as well as the down-regulation of a transcript encoding a fucoxanthin-chlorophyll a-c binding protein, under these conditions.ConclusionOur results provide a strong basis for further studies of RNA expression levels in Ps-n, which will contribute to our understanding of genes involved in the production and release of domoic acid, an important neurotoxin that affects human health as well as ecosystem function.

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Domoic Acid and Pseudo-nitzschia spp. Connected to Coastal Upwelling along Coastal Inhambane Province, Mozambique: A New Area of Concern.

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