Two novel pectenotoxins (PTXs) were detected by LC-MS in solid phase extracts of net hauls taken at Flødevigen, Norway, in June 2002 that were dominated by Dinophysis acuminata and Dinophysis norvegica. The new compounds were isolated as minor components from a large collection of a Dinophysis acuta-dominated bloom obtained from Skjer, Sognefjorden, Norway, in October 2002. LC-MS and NMR analyses revealed that the new components, 36S-PTX-12 and 36R-PTX-12, occurred as a pair of equilibrating diastereoisomers differing from PTX-2 in that they contained an exocylic olefinic methylene rather than a methyl group at C-38. Analyses of shellfish extracts revealed that PTX-12 accumulated in Norwegian blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and cockles (Cerastoderma edule), along with PTX-12 seco acids occurring as a complex mixture of diastereoisomers. LC-MS analysis of algal cells picked from the net haul from Flødevigen revealed that PTX-12 predominated in D. acuta and D. norvegica, whereas PTX-2 was the predominant pectenotoxin in D. acuminata. Preliminary observations indicate that the relative contents of PTX-2 and PTX-12 vary between sites and years in Norway, even within a single species of Dinophysis. Our data also suggest that heterotrophic dinoflagellates may accumulate toxins from their prey.

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