Associations of Cyanobacterial Toxin, Nodularin, with Environmental Factors and Zooplankton in the Baltic Sea

Concentrations of a cyanobacterial toxin, nodularin, were measured in the Baltic Sea in 1998 and 1999. Statistical associations of nodularin concentrations with environmental factors were tested by multiple regression analysis. To reveal the toxin-producing organism, colonies of Aphanizomenon and fi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microbial ecology 2004-04, Vol.47 (4), p.350-358
Main Authors: Repka, S., Meyerhöfer, M., von Bröckel, K., Sivonen, K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Aphanizomenon
Bacteriology
Biological and medical sciences
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
Cyanobacteria
Cyanobacteria - metabolism
Environment
Environmental factors
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Fluorescence
Freshwater
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Liquid chromatography
Marine Toxins - analysis
Microbiology
Microcystins
Miscellaneous
Nodularia spumigena
North Sea
Peptides, Cyclic - analysis
Phytoplankton
Plankton
Regression Analysis
Salinity
Seas
Silica
Silicates
Surface water
Toxicity
Toxins
Upwelling
Zooplankton
Zooplankton - metabolism
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Summary:Concentrations of a cyanobacterial toxin, nodularin, were measured in the Baltic Sea in 1998 and 1999. Statistical associations of nodularin concentrations with environmental factors were tested by multiple regression analysis. To reveal the toxin-producing organism, colonies of Aphanizomenon and filaments of Nodularia were picked and analyzed for peptide toxins. It was also investigated whether there was an association with zooplankton and Nodularia. All the measured seston samples contained nodularin, but other toxins were not detected by the HPLC analysis. In both years, the highest nodularin concentrations were found at the surface water layer. The nodularin concentrations were positively correlated with silicate concentrations in water. High concentrations of silica in surface water may indicate recent upwelling, which in turn renders surface water rich in nutrients. This upwelling is likely to intensify cyanobacterial growth and toxin production, which may explain this rather unexpected result. The picked Aphanizomenon colonies did not contain nodularin and the dissolved nodularin concentrations were below detection limit. Thus it was concluded that most of the nodularin was bound to Nodularia cells. The abundances of zooplankton (copepods, rotifers, and cladocerans) were unrelated to Nodularia, but were positively associated with Aphanizomenon.
ISSN:0095-3628
1432-184X
DOI:10.1007/s00248-003-2010-y