Variations in major toxin composition for six clones of Ptychodiscus brevis.

Extracts from six clones of Ptychodiscus brevis (formerly known as Gymnodinium breve) were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography for the presence of brevetoxins PbTx-1, PbTx-2, and PbTx-3. Analyses indicated a wide clonal variability of the three toxin fractions in logarithmic phase cultures when normalized on a per cell basis. It appears that a much wider variability exists in toxin content for different P. brevis clones than exists in replicate extraction of multiple cultures of the diploid clone originally isolated by Wilson.