A preliminary study on the allelopathy and toxicity of the dinoflagellate Karlodinium veneficum

Rui Wang; Jiajun Wu; Shiwen Zhou; Ruobing Cao; Leo Lai Chan

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111400

A preliminary study on the allelopathy and toxicity of the dinoflagellate Karlodinium veneficum

Mar Pollut Bull. 2020 Sep:158:111400. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111400. Epub 2020 Jun 25.

Authors

Rui Wang¹, Jiajun Wu², Shiwen Zhou³, Ruobing Cao¹, Leo Lai Chan⁴

Affiliations

¹ Shenzhen Key Laboratory for the Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity, Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China.
² Shenzhen Key Laboratory for the Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity, Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China; The State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR 999077, China.
³ The State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR 999077, China.
⁴ Shenzhen Key Laboratory for the Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity, Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China; The State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR 999077, China; Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR 999077, China. Electronic address: leochan@cityu.edu.hk.

PMID: 32753185
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111400

Abstract

The dinoflagellate Karlodinium veneficum has worldwide distribution and is associated with harmful algal blooms through the production of karlotoxins. We investigated the allelopathy and toxicity to explore the potential ecological implications. Prorocentrum donghaiense was inhibited significantly when grown either in co-cultures or in culture filtrate of K. veneficum. In addition, the effect of the co-occurring microalga species (P. donghaiense) on the hemolytic activity of K. veneficum was also evaluated. P. donghaiense did not inhibit the growth of K. veneficum but increased the hemolytic activity. The culture of K. veneficum was loaded onto an RP-C18 column and eluted with different percentages of aqueous methanol solution. 80% methanol fraction not only inhibited the growth of P. donghaiense by allelopathy but also exhibited strong hemolytic activity, indicating that the allelochemicals and toxins of K. veneficum might be the same components. Furthermore, KmTx 3 (C₆₈H₁₂₄O₂₄) was identified using HPLC-HRMS from this fraction.

Keywords: Allelopathy; Hemolysis; Karlodinium veneficum; Karlotoxins.

MeSH terms

Allelopathy
Dinoflagellida*
Harmful Algal Bloom