Anatoxin‐a occurrence and potential cyanobacterial anatoxin‐a producers in Spanish reservoirs¹

Abstract

The presence of anatoxin-a (ANA) in Mediterranean region freshwaters has been reported only recently, and this work presents the first survey for ANA on a national scale in such waters. Fourteen reservoirs were sampled over a distance of 550 km from northeast to southwest Spain. Genera of cyanobacteria with ANA-producing members in other countries were present in all of the Spanish reservoirs, but this toxin was detected in only one reservoir. The maximum ANA concentration detected was 0.31 lg AE L )1 , and the most probable producer was Anabaena flos-aquae (Lyngb.) Bréb. ex Bornet et Flahault. These findings suggest that in spite of the abundant cyanobacterial populations, ANA may be of lower occurrence in the Spanish reservoirs investigated than in other European freshwaters, and different strains of potential ANA producers occur in different ecoregions.

Phylogeography of Cylindrospermopsin and Paralytic Shellfish Toxin-Producing Nostocales Cyanobacteria from Mediterranean Europe (Spain)

“…Neither ATX-producing nor MC-producing Nostocales were found. This result is not surprising, considering that ATX is rare in Spanish water reservoirs (41) and that MC is associated with the chroococcalean genus Microcystis in the Mediterranean region (54,55).…”

“…Spain represents a good location for Nostocales research, as Nostocales were shown to be present in 30 water reservoirs and dominated in 16 out of 47 Spanish water reservoirs studied from 1999 to 2001 (39). Furthermore, nostocalean members either have been confirmed to be CYN producers (40) or are good candidates for the production of ATX (41) and PSP toxins (42) in Spanish freshwaters. Therefore, to provide new insight into the cyanotoxin production and phylogeography of planktonic Nostocales from Mediterranean Europe, 31 strains of Anabaena, Aphanizomenon, and Cylindrospermopsis were isolated from 14 freshwater bodies in Spain and analyzed using a polyphasic approach, including (i) morphological characterization; (ii) analysis of ATX, CYN, MC, and PSP toxin production; (iii) screening of genes putatively involved in ATX, CYN, and STX biosynthesis; and (iv) phylogenetic analysis based on the sequence of the intergenic spacer (IGS) and flanking regions of the cpcB and cpcA genes of the phycocyanin operon (cpcBA-IGS).…”

Co-occurrence of microcystin and anatoxin-a in the freshwater lake Aydat (France): Analytical and molecular approaches during a three-year survey

“…To date, ANTX-a was reported in several countries worldwide in both lakes and rivers (Olson, 1951;Park et al, 1993;Ballot et al, 2003;Gugger et al, 2005;Lepistö et al, 2005;Carrasco et al, 2007;Ruiz et al, 2013). In France, the presence of ANTX-a has already been documented in rivers (Gugger et al, 2005;Cadel-Six et al, 2007) but to our knowledge, this is the first report of the presence of ANTX-a in a French lake.…”

Evidence for saxitoxins production by the cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon gracile in a French recreational water body

“…The diagnosis of toxic occurrences still focuses mainly on microcystins, although reports of neurotoxins are becoming more frequent (e.g. Gugger et al, 2005;Liu et al, 2006;Carrasco et al, 2007;Wood et al, 2007).…”