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Marine Phytoplankton Toxins: Genomics, Distribution and Risk Assessment

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A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine and Freshwater Toxins".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2022) | Viewed by 9116

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jang-Seu Ki

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Guest Editor

Department of Biotechnology, Sangmyung University, Seoul 03016, Republic of Korea
Interests: toxic phytoplankton; saxitoxin; toxicogenomics; algal genomics; molecular adaptation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Harmful phytoplankton can produce toxins that may impact organisms including humans, as well as damage local fish and aquatic invertebrates. Increased abundances of toxic phytoplankton species can be attributed to natural processes that depend on meteorological conditions and hydrodynamics as well as anthropogenic factors. The structural diversity in different classes of marine phytoplankton toxins has initiated studies on the fields of chemical ecology, evolutionary biology, and molecular biology. Better understanding of the diversity of these toxins, the producing organisms, toxin-related genomics, and their global distribution will help in overcoming the gaps, and will help to answer fundamental questions relating to the evolution of toxin production in marine toxic phytoplankton.

This Special Issue, with the theme of “Marine Phytoplankton Toxins: Genomics, Distribution and Risk Assessment”, is aiming to publish the latest research and development on diverse aspects of the harmful organisms. This issue will assemble comprehensive information about the diversity of marine phytoplankton toxins from different regions of the world, toxin-biosynthesis genes, and method development research that will accelerate the assessment of potential risk.

Prof. Dr. Jang-Seu Ki
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

toxic phytoplankton
algal toxins
toxin synthesis gene
toxin genomics
toxin distribution
toxicity
risk assessment

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 5218 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of a Method for Detecting Alexandrium pacificum Based on the Quantification of sxtA4 by Chip-Based Digital PCR

by Jun-Ho Hyung, Jinik Hwang, Seung-Joo Moon, Eun-Joo Kim, Dong-Wook Kim and Jaeyeon Park

Toxins 2022, 14(2), 111; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/toxins14020111 - 02 Feb 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2030

Abstract

Alexandrium pacificum, which produces the paralytic shellfish toxin (PST) saxitoxin (STX), is one of the causative species of paralytic shellfish poisoning outbreaks in coastal areas of Korea. In this study, we developed a chip-based digital PCR (dPCR) method for A. pacificum detection and tested it for monitoring in Jinhae-Masan Bay. Using the sequence of an A. pacificum strain isolated in 2017, species-specific primers targeting sxtA4 (a STX biosynthesis-related gene) were designed and used in a dPCR, detecting 2.0 ± 0.24 gene copies per cell of A. pacificum. Cell abundance in field samples, estimated by a chip-based dPCR, was compared with the PST content, and measured using a mouse bioassay. A comparison with shellfish PST concentrations indicated that cell concentrations above 500 cells L⁻¹, as measured using the dPCR assay, may cause shellfish PST concentrations to exceed the allowed limits for PSTs. Concordance rates between dPCR and PST results were 62.5% overall in 2018–2021, reaching a maximum of 91.7% in 2018–2019. The sensitivity of the dPCR assay was higher than that of microscopy and sxtA4-based qPCRs. Absolute quantification by chip-based dPCRs targeting sxtA4 in A. pacificum exhibits potential as a complementary approach to mouse bioassay PST monitoring for the prevention of toxic blooms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Phytoplankton Toxins: Genomics, Distribution and Risk Assessment)

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13 pages, 1641 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Salinity Affects Saxitoxins (STXs) Toxicity in the Dinoflagellate Alexandrium pacificum, with Low Transcription of SXT-Biosynthesis Genes sxtA4 and sxtG

by Quynh Thi Nhu Bui, Hansol Kim, Hyunjun Park and Jang-Seu Ki

Toxins 2021, 13(10), 733; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/toxins13100733 - 18 Oct 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2916

Abstract

Salinity is an important factor for regulating metabolic processes in aquatic organisms; however, its effects on toxicity and STX biosynthesis gene responses in dinoflagellates require further elucidation. Herein, we evaluated the physiological responses, toxin production, and expression levels of two STX synthesis core genes, sxtA4 and sxtG, in the dinoflagellate Alexandrium pacificum Alex05 under different salinities (20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 psu). Optimal growth was observed at 30 psu (0.12 cell division/d), but cell growth significantly decreased at 20 psu and was irregular at 25 and 40 psu. The cell size increased at lower salinities, with the highest size of 31.5 µm at 20 psu. STXs eq was highest (35.8 fmol/cell) in the exponential phase at 30 psu. GTX4 and C2 were predominant at that time but were replaced by GTX1 and NeoSTX in the stationary phase. However, sxtA4 and sxtG mRNAs were induced, and their patterns were similar in all tested conditions. PCA showed that gene transcriptional levels were not correlated with toxin contents and salinity. These results suggest that A. pacificum may produce the highest amount of toxins at optimal salinity, but sxtA4 and sxtG may be only minimally affected by salinity, even under high salinity stress. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Phytoplankton Toxins: Genomics, Distribution and Risk Assessment)

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Review

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19 pages, 1838 KiB

Open AccessReview

Toxic Effects and Tumor Promotion Activity of Marine Phytoplankton Toxins: A Review

by Biswajita Pradhan, Hansol Kim, Sofia Abassi and Jang-Seu Ki

Toxins 2022, 14(6), 397; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/toxins14060397 - 08 Jun 2022

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3403

Abstract

Phytoplankton are photosynthetic microorganisms in aquatic environments that produce many bioactive substances. However, some of them are toxic to aquatic organisms via filter-feeding and are even poisonous to humans through the food chain. Human poisoning from these substances and their serious long-term consequences have resulted in several health threats, including cancer, skin disorders, and other diseases, which have been frequently documented. Seafood poisoning disorders triggered by phytoplankton toxins include paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP), amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), diarrheic shellfish poisoning (DSP), ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), and azaspiracid shellfish poisoning (AZP). Accordingly, identifying harmful shellfish poisoning and toxin-producing species and their detrimental effects is urgently required. Although the harmful effects of these toxins are well documented, their possible modes of action are insufficiently understood in terms of clinical symptoms. In this review, we summarize the current state of knowledge regarding phytoplankton toxins and their detrimental consequences, including tumor-promoting activity. The structure, source, and clinical symptoms caused by these toxins, as well as their molecular mechanisms of action on voltage-gated ion channels, are briefly discussed. Moreover, the possible stress-associated reactive oxygen species (ROS)-related modes of action are summarized. Finally, we describe the toxic effects of phytoplankton toxins and discuss future research in the field of stress-associated ROS-related toxicity. Moreover, these toxins can also be used in different pharmacological prospects and can be established as a potent pharmacophore in the near future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Phytoplankton Toxins: Genomics, Distribution and Risk Assessment)

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