Screening Assay Establishment for Toxigenic Bacteria from PSP-producing Dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense Cultures

Abstract

Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins are potent neurotoxins mainly produced by marine dinoflagellates. However, the increasing number of findings of toxin-producing bacteria in dinoflagellate intracellular cells supports the hypothesis of the bacterial origin of PSP toxins. Although toxigenic bacteria could be isolated from toxic dinoflagellates, it was not clearly proven whether the isolated bacterial strains based on culture-dependent manner and the corresponding intracellular bacteria were the same because of microbial unculturability and shorting of the genetic evidence. This paper aims to demonstrate the development of a screening assay for toxigenic bacteria from marine dinoflagellate A. tamarense based on molecular analysis of the possible sxtA gene for the toxic PSP biosynthesis.