Thor, Peter
- University of Gothenburg
Abstract
Among the thousands of unicellular phytoplankton species described in the sea, some frequently occurring and bloom-forming marine dinoflagellates are known to produce the potent neurotoxins causing paralytic shellfish poisoning. The natural function of these toxins is not clear, although they have been hypothesized to act as a chemical defence towards grazers. Here, we show that waterborne cues from the copepod Acartia tonsa induce paralytic shellfish toxin (PST) production in the harmful algal bloom-forming dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum. Induced A. minutum contained up to 2.5 times more toxins than controls and was more resistant to further copepod grazing. Ingestion of non-toxic alternative prey was not affected by the presence of induced A. minutum. The ability of A. minutum to sense and respond to the presence of grazers by increased PST production and increased resistance to grazing may facilitate the formation of harmful algal blooms in the sea.
Keywords
Alexandrium minutum; Acartia tonsa; induced resistance; paralytic shellfish poisoning
Published in
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
2006, volume: 273, number: 1594, pages: 1673-1680
Publisher: ROYAL SOC
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Ecology
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3502
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/120101