The cost of toxicity in microalgae: direct evidence from the dinoflagellate Alexandrium

Hannah Eva Blossom; Bo Markussen; Niels Daugbjerg; Bernd Krock; Andreas Norlin; Per Juel Hansen

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.01065

The cost of toxicity in microalgae: direct evidence from the dinoflagellate Alexandrium

Hannah Eva Blossom, Bo Markussen, Niels Daugbjerg, Bernd Krock, Andreas Norlin, Per Juel Hansen

7 Citations (Scopus)

20 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Empirical evidence of the cost of producing toxic compounds in harmful microalgae is completely lacking. Yet costs are often assumed to be high, implying substantial ecological benefits with adaptive significance exist. To study potential fitness costs of toxin production, 16 strains including three species of the former Alexandrium tamarense species complex were grown under both carbon limitation and unlimited conditions. Growth rates, levels of intracellular paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs), and effects of lytic compounds were measured to provide trade-off curves of toxicity for both PST and lytic toxicity under high light (300 μmol photons m−² s−1) and under low light (i.e., carbon limited; 20 μmol photons m−² s−1). Fitness costs in terms of reduced growth rates with increasing PST content were only evident under unlimited conditions, but not under carbon limitation, in which case PST production was positively correlated with growth. The cost of production of lytic compounds was detected both under carbon limitation and unlimited conditions, but only in strains producing PST. The results may direct future research in understanding the evolutionary role and ecological function of algal toxins. The intrinsic growth rate costs should be accounted for in relation to quantifying benefits such as grazer avoidance or toxin-mediated prey capture in natural food web settings.

Original language	English
Article number	1065
Journal	Frontiers in Microbiology
Volume	10
Number of pages	14
ISSN	1664-302X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01065
Publication status	Published - 2019

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The cost of toxicity in microalgaeFinal published version, 1.93 MBLicence: CC BY

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title = "The cost of toxicity in microalgae: direct evidence from the dinoflagellate Alexandrium",

abstract = "Empirical evidence of the cost of producing toxic compounds in harmful microalgae is completely lacking. Yet costs are often assumed to be high, implying substantial ecological benefits with adaptive significance exist. To study potential fitness costs of toxin production, 16 strains including three species of the former Alexandrium tamarense species complex were grown under both carbon limitation and unlimited conditions. Growth rates, levels of intracellular paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs), and effects of lytic compounds were measured to provide trade-off curves of toxicity for both PST and lytic toxicity under high light (300 μmol photons m−2 s−1) and under low light (i.e., carbon limited; 20 μmol photons m−2 s−1). Fitness costs in terms of reduced growth rates with increasing PST content were only evident under unlimited conditions, but not under carbon limitation, in which case PST production was positively correlated with growth. The cost of production of lytic compounds was detected both under carbon limitation and unlimited conditions, but only in strains producing PST. The results may direct future research in understanding the evolutionary role and ecological function of algal toxins. The intrinsic growth rate costs should be accounted for in relation to quantifying benefits such as grazer avoidance or toxin-mediated prey capture in natural food web settings.",

author = "Blossom, {Hannah Eva} and Bo Markussen and Niels Daugbjerg and Bernd Krock and Andreas Norlin and Hansen, {Per Juel}",

year = "2019",

doi = "10.3389/fmicb.2019.01065",

language = "English",

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journal = "Frontiers in Microbiology",

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T1 - The cost of toxicity in microalgae

T2 - direct evidence from the dinoflagellate Alexandrium

AU - Blossom, Hannah Eva

AU - Markussen, Bo

AU - Daugbjerg, Niels

AU - Krock, Bernd

AU - Norlin, Andreas

AU - Hansen, Per Juel

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Empirical evidence of the cost of producing toxic compounds in harmful microalgae is completely lacking. Yet costs are often assumed to be high, implying substantial ecological benefits with adaptive significance exist. To study potential fitness costs of toxin production, 16 strains including three species of the former Alexandrium tamarense species complex were grown under both carbon limitation and unlimited conditions. Growth rates, levels of intracellular paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs), and effects of lytic compounds were measured to provide trade-off curves of toxicity for both PST and lytic toxicity under high light (300 μmol photons m−2 s−1) and under low light (i.e., carbon limited; 20 μmol photons m−2 s−1). Fitness costs in terms of reduced growth rates with increasing PST content were only evident under unlimited conditions, but not under carbon limitation, in which case PST production was positively correlated with growth. The cost of production of lytic compounds was detected both under carbon limitation and unlimited conditions, but only in strains producing PST. The results may direct future research in understanding the evolutionary role and ecological function of algal toxins. The intrinsic growth rate costs should be accounted for in relation to quantifying benefits such as grazer avoidance or toxin-mediated prey capture in natural food web settings.

AB - Empirical evidence of the cost of producing toxic compounds in harmful microalgae is completely lacking. Yet costs are often assumed to be high, implying substantial ecological benefits with adaptive significance exist. To study potential fitness costs of toxin production, 16 strains including three species of the former Alexandrium tamarense species complex were grown under both carbon limitation and unlimited conditions. Growth rates, levels of intracellular paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs), and effects of lytic compounds were measured to provide trade-off curves of toxicity for both PST and lytic toxicity under high light (300 μmol photons m−2 s−1) and under low light (i.e., carbon limited; 20 μmol photons m−2 s−1). Fitness costs in terms of reduced growth rates with increasing PST content were only evident under unlimited conditions, but not under carbon limitation, in which case PST production was positively correlated with growth. The cost of production of lytic compounds was detected both under carbon limitation and unlimited conditions, but only in strains producing PST. The results may direct future research in understanding the evolutionary role and ecological function of algal toxins. The intrinsic growth rate costs should be accounted for in relation to quantifying benefits such as grazer avoidance or toxin-mediated prey capture in natural food web settings.

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DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01065

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 31178832

SN - 1664-302X

VL - 10

JO - Frontiers in Microbiology

JF - Frontiers in Microbiology

M1 - 1065

ER -

The cost of toxicity in microalgae: direct evidence from the dinoflagellate Alexandrium

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