Food web biomagnification of the neurotoxin β-N-methylamino-L-alanine in a diatom-dominated marine ecosystem in China

Chao Wang; Chen Yan; Jiangbing Qiu; Chao Liu; Yeju Yan; Ying Ji; Guixiang Wang; Hongju Chen; Yang Li; Aifeng Li

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124217

Food web biomagnification of the neurotoxin β-N-methylamino-L-alanine in a diatom-dominated marine ecosystem in China

J Hazard Mater. 2021 Feb 15;404(Pt B):124217. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124217. Epub 2020 Oct 8.

Authors

Chao Wang¹, Chen Yan¹, Jiangbing Qiu¹, Chao Liu¹, Yeju Yan¹, Ying Ji¹, Guixiang Wang¹, Hongju Chen¹, Yang Li², Aifeng Li³

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ocean University of China, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266100, China.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Healthy and Safe Aquaculture, College of Life Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China.
³ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ocean University of China, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266100, China. Electronic address: lafouc@ouc.edu.cn.

PMID: 33129020
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124217

Abstract

The neurotoxin β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) reported in some cyanobacteria and eukaryote microalgae is a cause of concern due to its potential risk of human neurodegenerative diseases. Here, BMAA distribution in phytoplankton, zooplankton, and other marine organisms was investigated in Jiaozhou Bay, China, a diatom-dominated marine ecosystem, during four seasons in 2019. Results showed that BMAA was biomagnified in the food web from phytoplankton to higher trophic levels. Trophic magnification factors (TMFs) for zooplankton, bivalve mollusks, carnivorous crustaceans and carnivorous gastropod mollusks were ca. 4.58, 30.1, 42.5, and 74.4, respectively. Putative identification of β-amino-N-methylalanine (BAMA), an isomer of BMAA, was frequently detected in phytoplankton samples. A total of 56 diatom strains of the genera Pseudo-nitzschia, Thalassiosira, Chaetoceros, Planktoniella, and Minidiscus isolated from the Chinese coast were cultured in the laboratory, among which 21 strains contained BMAA mainly in precipitated bound form at toxin concentrations ranging from 0.11 to 3.95 µg/g dry weight. Only 2,4-diaminobutyric acid (DAB) but not BMAA or BAMA was detected in seven species of bacteria isolated from the gut of gastropod Neverita didyma, suggesting that this benthic vector of BMAA may have accumulated this compound via trophic transfer.

Keywords: 2,4-Diaminobutyric acid (DAB); Biomagnification; Diatom; Food web; β-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Amino Acids, Diamino*
Animals
Bioaccumulation
China
Cyanobacteria Toxins
Diatoms* / metabolism
Ecosystem
Food Chain
Humans
Neurotoxins / analysis
Neurotoxins / toxicity
Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

Amino Acids, Diamino
Cyanobacteria Toxins
Neurotoxins
beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine