(Table S2) Cell concentrations of individual and combined Alexandrium spp. and phylogenetic groups as obtained by qPCR assay and Utermöhl counts, as well as particulate PSP toxin concentrations from discrete water depths

Kerstin Töbe; Tilman J Alpermann; Urban Tillmann; Bernd Krock; Allan Cembella; Uwe John

doi:10.1594/pangaea.820036

(Table S2) Cell concentrations of individual and combined Alexandrium spp. and phylogenetic groups as obtained by qPCR assay and Utermöhl counts, as well as particulate PSP toxin concentrations from discrete water depths

Citation

Töbe K, Alpermann T J, Tillmann U, Krock B, Cembella A, John U (2013). (Table S2) Cell concentrations of individual and combined Alexandrium spp. and phylogenetic groups as obtained by qPCR assay and Utermöhl counts, as well as particulate PSP toxin concentrations from discrete water depths. PANGAEA - Publishing Network for Geoscientific and Environmental Data. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.820036 accessed via GBIF.org on 2022-06-28.

Description

Molecular methods provide promising tools for routine detection and quantification of toxic microalgae in plankton samples. To this end, novel TaqMan minor groove binding probes and primers targeting the small (SSU) or large (LSU) ribosomal subunit (rRNA) were developed for two species of the marine dinoflagellate genus Alexandrium (A. minutum, A. tamutum) and for three groups/ribotypes of the A. tamarense species complex: Group I/North American (NA), Group II/Mediterranean (ME) and Group III/Western European (WE). Primers and probes for real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) were species-specific and highly efficient when tested in qPCR assays for cross-validation with pure DNA from cultured Alexandrium strains. Suitability of the qPCR assays as molecular tools for the detection and estimation of relative cell abundances of Alexandrium species and groups was evaluated from samples of natural plankton assemblages along the Scottish east coast. The results were compared with inverted microscope cell counts (Utermöhl technique) of Alexandrium spp. and associated paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxin concentrations. The qPCR assays indicated that A. tamarense (Group I) and A. tamutum were the most abundant Alexandrium taxa and both were highly positively correlated with PSP toxin content of plankton samples. Cells of A. tamarense (Group III) were present at nearly all stations but in low abundance. Alexandrium minutum and A. tamarense (Group II) cells were not detected in any of the samples, thereby arguing for their absence from the specific North Sea region, at least at the time of the survey. The sympatric occurrence of A. tamarense Group I and Group III gives further support to the hypothesis that the groups/ribotypes of the A. tamarense species complex are cryptic species rather than variants belonging to the same species.

Taxonomic Coverages

Protozoa
rank: kingdom

Geographic Coverages

Event: HE209_S2, North Sea ; Event: HE209_S4, North Sea ; Event: HE209_S5, North Sea ; Event: HE209_S6, North Sea ; Event: HE209_S7, North Sea ; Event: HE209_S10, North Sea ; Event: HE209_S11, North Sea ; Event: HE209_S12, North Sea ; Event: HE209_S13, North Sea ; Event: HE209_S15, North Sea ;

Bibliographic Citations

Contacts

Kerstin Töbe
originator

Tilman J Alpermann
originator

Urban Tillmann
originator

Bernd Krock
originator

Allan Cembella
originator

Uwe John
originator

metadata author
PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science
email: info@pangaea.de
homepage: https://www.pangaea.de

administrative point of contact
PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science
email: info@pangaea.de
homepage: http://www.pangaea.de