Toxic bloom of Pseudo-nitzschia cuspidata (Bacillariophyceae) and domoic acid contamination of bivalve molluscs in Malaysia Borneo

• Published in: Toxicon (Oxford) 2021-10, Vol.202, p.132-141
• Main Authors: Teng, Sing Tung, Abdullah, Nursyahida, Hanifah, Afiqah Halmiton, Tan, Suh Nih, Gao, Chunlei, Law, Ing Kuo, Leaw, Chui Pin, Lim, Po Teen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amnesic shellfish poisoning; Animals; Bivalvia; Borneo; Chromatography, Liquid; Diatom taxonomy and phylogeny; Harmful Algal Bloom; Kainic Acid - analogs & derivatives; Kainic Acid - analysis; Malaysia; New DA record; Phylogeny; Pseudo-nitzschia; Shellfish contamination; Tandem Mass Spectrometry
• ISSN: 0041-0101; 1879-3150
• DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2021.09.018

In March 2018, an algal bloom of Pseudo-nitzschia was detected, for the first time, in a semi-enclosed lagoon in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia Borneo. The plankton samples were collected for cell enumeration and species identification by electron microscopy and molecular characterization. Liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was performed to detect and quantify the neurotoxin domoic acid (DA) in both the plankton and shellfish samples. The abundance of Pseudo-nitzschia cells ranged from 5.6 × 105 to 3.5 × 106 cell L-1 during the bloom event. Morphological observation of the cells by transmission electron microscopy showed that the plankton samples comprised a single Pseudo-nitzschia morphotype resembling P. cuspidata. The ITS2 sequence-structure phylogenetic inference further supported the species identity as Pseudo-nitzschia cuspidata. Low levels of DA were detected in the plankton samples, with cellular DA, particulate DA, and dissolved DA of 257–504 fg DA cell-1, 676 ng L-1, and 15 ng L-1, respectively. The amount of DA, 8 μg g-1 tissue, was found present in the shellfish sample (Magallana sp.) which is below the regulatory limit of 20 μg DA g-1 tissue. The study documented, for the first time, DA contamination in shellfish that associated with bloom of P. cuspidata in the Western Pacific region. [Display omitted] •First record of Pseudo-nitzschia cuspidata bloom in Western Pacific region.•Low level of domoic acid was detected with cellular contents of 257–504 fg cell−1.•Pseudo-nitzschia cuspidata bloom associated with domoic acid contamination in shellfish of up to 8 μg g−1 tissue.•The phylogenetic tree revealed three distinct clades of Pseudo-nitzschia cuspidata.