Pseudo-nitzschia

The genus Pseudo-nitzschia includes several species of diatoms known to produce the neurotoxin known as domoic acid, a toxin which is responsible for the human illness called amnesic shellfish poisoning. This genus of phytoplankton is known to form harmful algal blooms in coastal waters of Canada, California, Oregon, and Washington state.

Species that have been shown to produce domoic acid (although not all strains are toxigenic ^[1],^[2]) include:

• Pseudo-nitzschia australis
• Pseudo-nitzschia calliantha
• Pseudo-nitzschia cuspidata
• Pseudo-nitzschia delicatissima
• Pseudo-nitzschia fraudulenta
• Pseudo-nitzschia galaxiae
• Pseudo-nitzschia multiseries
• Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata
• Pseudo-nitzschia pugens
• Pseudo-nitzschia seriata
• Pseudo-nitzschia turgidula

References

1. ^ Bates, S.S. and V.L. Trainer. 2006. The ecology of harmful diatoms. In: E. Granéli and J. Turner [eds.] Ecology of harmful algae. Ecological Studies, Vol. 189. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, p. 81-93.
2. ^ Trainer, V.L., B.M. Hickey, and S.S. Bates. 2008. Toxic diatoms. In: P.J. Walsh, S.L. Smith, L.E. Fleming, H. Solo-Gabriele, and W.H. Gerwick [eds.], Oceans and human health: risks and remedies from the sea. Elsevier Science Publishers, New York, p. 219-237.

External links

• NOAA Phytoplankton Monitoring Network
• Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA
• Toxic Blooms: Understanding Red Tides, a seminar by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• NOAA Marine Biotoxins Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• California Program for Regional Enhanced Monitoring for PhycoToxins, California Department of Health Services and the University of California, Santa Cruz
• Washington State Shellfish Biotoxin Program
• Series in Marine Phytoplankton: The genus Pseudo-nitzschia