Toxin Profiles of Okadaic Acid Analogues and Other Lipophilic Toxins in from Japanese Coastal Waters.

The identification and quantification of okadaic acid (OA)/dinophysistoxin (DTX) analogues and pectenotoxins (PTXs) in samples collected from coastal locations around Japan were evaluated by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. The species identified and analyzed included , , (), , , , , (), and . The dominant toxin found in was PTX2 although some samples contained DTX1 as a minor toxin. specimens isolated from the southwestern regions (Takada and Hiroshima) showed characteristic toxin profiles, with only OA detected in samples collected from Takada. In contrast, both OA and DTX1, in addition to a larger proportion of PTX2, were detected in from Hiroshima. showed a toxin profile dominated by PTX2 although this species had higher levels of DTX1 than . OA was detected as a minor toxin in some samples collected from Yakumo, Noheji, and Hakata. PTX2 was also the dominant toxin found among other species analyzed, such as , , and , although some pooled picked cells of these species contained trace levels of OA or DTX1. The results obtained in this study re-confirm that cellular toxin content and profiles are different even among strains of the same species.