Pseudo-nitzschia

Pseudo-nitzschia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Clade: Diaphoretickes
Clade: SAR
Clade: Stramenopiles
Phylum: Gyrista
Subphylum: Ochrophytina
Class: Bacillariophyceae
Order: Bacillariales
Family: Bacillariaceae
Genus: Pseudo-nitzschia
H. Perag. in H. Perag. and Perag.
Not to be confused with Pseudonitzschia, a genus of flatworm in the family Capsalidae.

Pseudo-nitzschia is a marine planktonic diatom genus that accounts for 4.4% of pennate diatoms found worldwide.[1] Some species are capable of producing the neurotoxin domoic acid (DA), which is responsible for the neurological disorder in humans known as amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP). Currently, 58 species are known, 28 of which have been shown to produce DA. It was originally hypothesized that only dinoflagellates could produce harmful algal toxins, but a deadly bloom of Pseudo-nitzschia occurred in 1987 in the bays of Prince Edward Island, Canada, and led to an outbreak of ASP.[2] Over 100 people were affected by this outbreak after consuming contaminated mussels; three people died.[3] Since this event, no additional deaths have been attributed to ASP, though the prevalence of toxic diatoms and DA has increased worldwide. This anomaly is likely due to increased awareness of harmful algal blooms (HABs) and their implications for human and ecosystem health.[4]

Blooms have since been characterized in coastal waters and the open-ocean worldwide and have been linked to increasing marine nutrient concentrations, warming ocean temperatures, and bacterial interactions.[5][4]

  1. ^ Malviya, Shruti; Scalco, Eleonora; Audic, Stéphane; Vincent, Flora; Alaguraj, Veluchamy; Poulain, Julie; Wincker, Patrick; Iudicone, Daniele; de Vargas, Colomban; Bittner, Lucie; Zingone, Adriana; Bowler, Chris (15 March 2016). "Insights into global diatom distribution and diversity in the world's ocean". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 113 (11): E1516-1525. Bibcode:2016PNAS..113E1516M. doi:10.1073/pnas.1509523113. PMC 4801293. PMID 26929361.
  2. ^ Maldonado, Maria T.; Hughes, Margaret P.; Rue, Eden L.; Wells, Mark L. (March 2002). "The effect of Fe and Cu on growth and domoic acid production by Pseudo-nitzschia multiseries and Pseudo-nitzschia australis". Limnology and Oceanography. 47 (2): 515–526. Bibcode:2002LimOc..47..515M. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.580.133. doi:10.4319/lo.2002.47.2.0515. S2CID 85706962.
  3. ^ Lim, Hong-Chang; Leaw, Chui-Pin; Su, Suriyanti Nyun-Pau; Teng, Sing-Tung; Usup, Gires; Mohammad-Noor, Normawaty; Lundholm, Nina; Kotaki, Yuichi; Lim, Po-Teen (October 2012). "Morphology and Molecular Characterization of Pseudo-Nitzschia (bacillariophyceae) from Malaysian Borneo, Including the New Species Pseudo-Nitzschia Circumpora Sp. Nov". Journal of Phycology. 48 (5): 1232–1247. doi:10.1111/j.1529-8817.2012.01213.x. PMID 27011282. S2CID 29046420.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference pmid30420013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Parsons, Michael L.; Dortch, Quay (March 2002). "Sedimentological evidence of an increase in Pseudo-nitzschia (Bacillariophyceae)abundance in response to coastal eutrophication". Limnology and Oceanography. 47 (2): 551–558. Bibcode:2002LimOc..47..551P. doi:10.4319/lo.2002.47.2.0551. S2CID 128974607.