Chemodiversity of ladder-frame prymnesin polyethers in Prymnesium parvum

Silas Anselm Rasmussen, Sebastian Meier, Nikolaj Gedsted Andersen, Hannah Eva Blossom, Jens Øllgaard Duus, Kristian Fog Nielsen, Per Juel Hansen, Thomas Ostenfeld Larsen

23 Citations (Scopus)
70 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Blooms of the microalga Prymnesium parvum cause devastating fish kills worldwide, which are suspected to be caused by the supersized ladder-frame polyether toxins prymnesin-1 and -2. These toxins have, however, only been detected from P. parvum in rare cases since they were originally described two decades ago. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of a novel B-type prymnesin, based on extensive analysis of 2D- and 3D-NMR data of natural as well as 90% 13C enriched material. B-type prymnesins lack a complete 1,6-dioxadecalin core unit, which is replaced by a short acyclic C2 linkage compared to the structure of the original prymnesins. Comparison of the bioactivity of prymnesin-2 with prymnesin-B1 in an RTgill-W1 cell line assay identified both compounds as toxic in the low nanomolar range. Chemical investigations by liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) of 10 strains of P. parvum collected worldwide showed that only one strain produced the original prymnesin-1 and -2, whereas four strains produced the novel B-type prymnesin. In total 13 further prymnesin analogues differing in their core backbone and chlorination and glycosylation patterns could be tentatively detected by LC-MS/HRMS, including a likely C-type prymnesin in five strains. Altogether, our work indicates that evolution of prymnesins has yielded a diverse family of fish-killing toxins that occurs around the globe and has significant ecological and economic impact.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Natural Products
Volume79
Issue number9
Pages (from-to)2250–2256
Number of pages7
ISSN0163-3864
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Sept 2016

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