Depuration of Domoic Acid from Live Blue Mussels (Mytilus edulis)

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 312-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Novaczek ◽  
M. S. Madhyastha ◽  
R. F. Ablett ◽  
A. Donald ◽  
G. Johnson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mytilus Edulis ◽  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
Domoic Acid ◽  
Unit Weight ◽  
Concentration Data ◽  
Blue Mussels ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Intracellular Compartments ◽  
Effects Of Temperature ◽  
Depuration Rate

Industrial depuration may provide a means of removing domoic acid toxin from blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). Mussels containing up to 50 μg domoic acid∙g−1 were transported from a Prince Edward Island estuary into controlled laboratory conditions to test the effects of temperature, salinity, mussel size, and feeding upon depuration. Fifty percent of toxin was eliminated within 24 h. After 72 h, mussels were either clean or contained, on average, only residual levels of toxin (< 5 μg∙g−1), regardless of conditions. Exponential depuration curves were fitted to the domoic acid concentration data. To evaluate differences in rate of depuration under various conditions, statistical comparisons were made between slopes of the clearance curves. Rates of depuration were faster in small (45–55 mm) than in large mussels (60–70 mm) and more rapid at 11 than at 6 °C. There was no significant difference in depuration rate at 18‰ salinity as opposed to 28‰ or in starved versus fed mussels. Because of their relatively large digestive glands, meats of small mussels contained more toxin per unit weight than meats of large mussels. The bulk of domoic acid appeared to reside in the gut lumen. However, the presence of small amounts of domoic acid in intracellular compartments cannot be ruled out.

Microbial utilization of the neurotoxin domoic acid: blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and soft shell clams (Mya arenaria) as sources of the microorganisms

1998 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 456-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E Stewart ◽  
L J Marks ◽  
M W Gilgan ◽  
E Pfeiffer ◽  
B M Zwicker
Keyword(s):  
Mytilus Edulis ◽  
Domoic Acid ◽  
Mya Arenaria ◽  
Resting Cells ◽  
Placopecten Magellanicus ◽  
Blue Mussels ◽  
Microbial Utilization ◽  
Soft Shell ◽  
Enrichment Techniques ◽  
Sea Scallops

The neurotoxin domoic acid is produced in quantity by the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia multiseries and is released to the environment directly and indirectly via food chains. Presumably there is a mechanism for the biodegradation and disposal of domoic acid and as bacteria are logical candidates for such an activity, a search for bacteria competent to carry out biodegradation of domoic acid was initiated. Extensive trials with a wide variety of bacteria isolated mainly from muds and waters taken from the marine environment showed that the ability to grow on or degrade domoic acid was rare; in fact, domoic acid was inhibitory to resting cells or growing cultures of most of these bacteria. In contrast, using enrichment techniques, it was possible to isolate from molluscan species that eliminate domoic acid readily, i.e., blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria), bacteria that exhibited growth with and biodegradation of domoic acid when supplemented with low concentrations of growth factors. The species that retain domoic acid for lengthy periods, such as sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) and red mussels(Modiolus modiolus), only occasionally yielded bacteria with this capability. The differences may be a result of the mechanisms used by the different shellfish in dealing with domoic acid, i.e., freely available in the blue mussels and soft shell clams but likely sequestered in the digestive glands of sea scallops and red mussels and thus, largely unavailable for bacterial utilization. The results show that Mytilus edulis and Mya arenaria, almost uniquely, are prime and reliable sources of domoic acid utilizing bacteria. These findings suggest a strong possibility that autochthonous bacteria may be significant factors in the elimination of the neurotoxin in these two species of shellfish.Key words: bacteria, neurotoxin, domoic acid, elimination, bivalve molluscs.

Domoic Acid—A Neurotoxic Amino Acid Produced by the Marine Diatom Nitzschia pungens in Culture

1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 2076-2079 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. V. Subba Rao ◽  
M. A. Quilliam ◽  
R. Pocklington
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Chemical Analysis ◽  
River Water ◽  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
Domoic Acid ◽  
Culture Medium ◽  
Marine Diatom ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Blue Mussels ◽  
Nitzschia Pungens

During late 1987, an outbreak of poisoning resulting from the ingestion of cultivated blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) from a localized area in eastern Canada (Cardigan Bay, Prince Edward Island) was associated with massive blooms of Nitzschia pungens, a widely distributed diatom not previously known to produce toxins; human fatalities resulted. Here we provide proof that the causative agent, domoic acid, is indeed produced by this diatom. Although no domoic acid could be detected (<2 ng∙mL−1) in culture medium (FE) prepared from Cardigan River water, it was found in cultures of Nitzschia pungens grown in this medium at concentrations ranging from 0.03 to 0.8 pg∙cell−1 in various separate cultures harvested for chemical analysis 7–68 d after inoculation.

Uptake, disposition and depuration of domoic acid by blue mussels (Mytilus edulis)

1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 103-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Novaczek ◽  
M.S. Madhyastha ◽  
R.F. Ablett ◽  
G. Johnson ◽  
M.S. Nijjar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mytilus Edulis ◽  
Domoic Acid ◽  
Blue Mussels

Dynamic Model of the Flux of Domoic Acid, a Neurotoxin, through a Mytilus edulis Population

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 400-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Silvert ◽  
D. V. Subba Rao
Keyword(s):  
Mytilus Edulis ◽  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
Domoic Acid ◽  
Blue Mussel ◽  
Computer Simulation Model ◽  
Mussel Tissue ◽  
Physiological Feedback ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Rate Of Accumulation

A one-compartment computer simulation model was developed to quantify and characterize the accumulation of the neurotoxin domoic acid in blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) in Cardigan Bay, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Comparison of simulation results with field abundances of Nitzschia pungens f. multiseries Hasle, a diatom implicated in the production of domoic acid, and with measurements of domoic acid within Nitzschia cells indicates that the rate of accumulation of domoic acid in mussel tissue during peak bloom conditions may involve unexpected physiological feedback processes. At extremely high concentrations of toxin (> 300 ppm) observed in toxic Mytilus episodes off eastern Prince Edward Island in 1987 during the peak of Nitzschia bloom, the depuration of domoic acid seemed to be suppressed; this may have been responsible for the observed abnormal buildup of toxin in the mussels. In 1989 the amount of domoic acid produced by N. pungens was slightly lower, but the levels of domoic acid in Mytilus were much less than in 1987. These results suggest that a crucial factor in prediction of high levels of domoic acid in mussels may be identification of changes in their physiology and metabolism which suppress depuration rates.

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