Toxic Characteristics and Action Mode of the Mixotrophic Dinoflagellate Akashiwo sanguinea on Co-Occurring Phytoplankton and Zooplankton

Xiaoer Wu, Ying Yang, Yeyin Yang, Ping Zhong and Ning Xu
Additional contact information
Xiaoer Wu: Institute of Hydrobiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Ying Yang: Institute of Hydrobiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Yeyin Yang: Institute of Hydrobiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Ping Zhong: Institute of Hydrobiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Ning Xu: Institute of Hydrobiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: The mixotrophic dinoflagellate Akashiwo sanguinea frequently forms harmful algal blooms around the world and has caused massive deaths of shellfish, finfish and birds, yet its toxic mechanism is still unclear. In this study, toxic effects of A. sanguinea on co-culturing phytoplankton and zooplankton were investigated. The results showed that sonicated cultures of A. sanguinea JX13 and JX14, isolated from the Pearl River Estuary, had a significant lethal effect on the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis , with the highest mortality rate of 80%. The highest inhibition rates of A. sanguinea cultures JX13 (90%) and JX14 (80%) on R. salina were much higher than that of AS2 (20%). Toxicity varied with the growth stage, during which A. sanguinea cells in the exponential stage showed the highest toxicity (40%), while A. sanguinea filtrate had the highest toxicity (10%) in the decline stage. The action mode of A. sanguinea toxicity on plankton was explored through an osmotic membrane culture device. It was found that A. sanguinea JX13 displayed an inhibitory effect on coexisting phytoplankton, whether they had contact or not, but the inhibition rate increased by 25% with contact. A lethal effect of A. sanguinea JX13 on rotifer Brachionus plicatilis was observed only in contact treatment. This study suggests that direct contact is the key action mode to trigger the release of toxins and induce toxic effects of A. sanguinea on co-occurring plankton.

Keywords: harmful algal blooms; dinoflagellate; phytoplankton; zooplankton; mixotrophy; cell contact (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/404/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/404/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2021:i:1:p:404-:d:714971

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().