Abstract
Bloom samples of the marine pelagic cyanobacteria Trichodesmium thiebautii and Trichodesmium erythraeum were collected off St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands in April 1990 and at locations throughout Caribbean waters during January and February 1991. Samples containing T. thiebautii were highly neurotoxic to mice with LD50 values (intraperitoneal) ranging from 5 to 85 mg bloom dry weight per kg body weight. Toxicity was characterized by severe convulsions and death within 2–30 minutes by respiratory arrest. HPLC diode array analysis of extracts of the toxic bloom samples did not reveal UV absorption spectra corresponding to known cyanobacterial toxins. Further characterization of Trichodesmium bloom toxicity was achieved using invertebrate assays, bacterial luminescence and enzyme assays and HPLC analysis. The possible biological significance of the Trichodesmium bloom toxic factor(s) is discussed.
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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Hawser, S.P., Codd, G.A. (1992). The Toxicity of Trichodesmium Blooms from Caribbean Waters. In: Carpenter, E.J., Capone, D.G., Rueter, J.G. (eds) Marine Pelagic Cyanobacteria: Trichodesmium and other Diazotrophs. NATO ASI Series, vol 362. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7977-3_21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7977-3_21
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