Identification of apparently neurotoxic metabolites from assemblages of marine filamentous cyanobacteria associated with the intoxication of captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Florida Keys

Eudesmacarbonate, a Eudesmane-Type Sesquiterpene from a Marine Filamentous Cyanobacterial Mat (Oscillatoriales) in the Florida Keys

“…Filamentous marine cyanobacteria, occurring as part of a mixed assemblage, were most closely linked to these intoxications . Morphologically resembling Lyngbya , cloning of 16S rDNA PCR products and their Sanger sequencing revealed three closely related members of the family Oscillatoriaceae (Oscillatoriales) in the sampled cyanobacterial mat including a previously undocumented species of the newly reported genus Neolyngbya as the dominant taxa (represented by the largest number of clones), along with Neolyngbya arenicola and an unknown taxon found in a poorly resolved clade comprising the genera Limnoraphis and Capilliphycus − (Figure ).…”

“…Subsequently, these dolphins displayed signs of apparent intoxication including neurological symptoms of uncoordinated swimming behaviors (ataxia), ocular dysfunctions (blepharospasms), and respiratory issues. Notably, dolphins generally recovered from these intoxications, typically within several days, after being transferred to secondary enclosures …”

Ecotoxicological studies of metabolites produced by two Brazilian cyanobacterial strains

“…Variants of anabaenopeptins and cyanopeptolins were lethal towards the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in the same low micromolar range as the During young life stages, zebrafish are more sensitive due to a combination of factors including a larger body surface area, high metabolic rate, and absence of mature detoxification pathways as well as limited motility, which can make them restricted to lentic areas where cyanobacteria frequently form scums or benthic populations (DI PAOLO et al, 2015;MALBROUCK;KESTEMONT, 2006). Zebrafish larvae have been broadly used to study the lethal, sublethal and molecular effects of cyanobacterial cultures, focusing on aqueous cyanobacterial extracts or the WHOrecognized toxins (BLAGOJEVI et al, 2021;COSTA et al, 2019;LI et al, 2021;LYDON et al, 2022;RATNAYAKE et al, 2020;YU et al, 2021).…”