Cryo-electron microscopy of extracellular vesicles associated with the marine toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum

•The presence of extracellular vesicles was proven with cryo-electron microscopy in a near-axenic culture of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum.•Five different morphotypes were retrieved from the near-axenic culture (rounded, double, rounded electron-dense, lumen electron-dense and irregul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Harmful algae 2023-03, Vol.123, p.102389-102389, Article 102389
Main Authors: Pernice, Massimo C., Closa, Daniel, Garcés, Esther
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alexandrium minutum
Cryo TEM
Cryoelectron Microscopy
Dinoflagellates
Dinoflagellida
Extracellular Vesicles
Microbiota
Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
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Summary:•The presence of extracellular vesicles was proven with cryo-electron microscopy in a near-axenic culture of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum.•Five different morphotypes were retrieved from the near-axenic culture (rounded, double, rounded electron-dense, lumen electron-dense and irregular), this plurality of shapes suggests a plurality of functions.•The average size of the extracellular vesicles retrieved from the near-axenic culture was of 0.36 µm, which is larger than the average of 0.1 µm of vesicles clearly belonging to prokaryotes. Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) are likely an important strategy of transport and communication in marine microbial community. Their isolation and characterization from axenic culture of microbial eukaryotes represents a technological challenge not fully solved. Here, for the first time, we isolated EVs from a near-axenic culture of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum. Pictures of the isolated vesicles were done with Cryo TEM (Cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy). Based on their morphotype the EVs were clustered in five major groups (rounded, rounded electron-dense, lumen electron-dense, double and irregular) and each EV was measured resulting in an average size of 0.36 µm of diameter. Taking in account that in prokaryotes it has been demonstrated that EVs play an important role in the mechanism of toxicity, this descriptive work aims to be the first step to study the possible role of EVs in the toxicity of dinoflagellates.
ISSN:1568-9883
1878-1470
DOI:10.1016/j.hal.2023.102389