NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Juneau, Alaska, USA.
Alaska Sea Grant, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA.
Integr Environ Assess Manag. 2024 Nov;20(6):2189-2202. doi: 10.1002/ieam.4944. Epub 2024 May 7.
Blooms of Alexandrium catenella threaten to disrupt subsistence, recreational, and commercial shellfish harvest in Alaska, as the paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) produced pose a serious public health risk and can lead to costly shutdowns for shellfish farmers. Current methods of PST detection in the region range from monitoring programs utilizing net tows to detect A. catenella to direct shellfish tissue testing via mouse bioassay (MBA) for commercial aquaculture harvest, as well as various optional testing methods for subsistence and recreational harvesters. The efficacy and feasibility of these methods vary, and they have not been directly compared in Southeast Alaska. In this study, we sought to assess and compare A. catenella and PST early detection methods to determine which can provide the most effective and accurate warning of A. catenella blooms or PST events. We found microscope counts to be variable and prone to missing lower numbers of A. catenella, which may be indicative of bloom formation. However, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) significantly correlated with microscope counts and was able to effectively detect even low numbers of A. catenella on all sampling days. Paralytic shellfish toxin concentrations measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and MBA significantly correlated with each other, qPCR, and some microscope counts. These results show that qPCR is an effective tool for both monitoring A. catenella and serving as a proxy for PSTs. Further work is needed to refine qPCR protocols in this system to provide bloom warnings on an actionable timescale for the aquaculture industry and other shellfish harvesters. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:2189-2202. © 2024 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.
链状亚历山大藻的水华有可能扰乱阿拉斯加的生计贝类、休闲贝类和商业贝类的收获，因为产生的麻痹性贝类毒素（PSTs）会带来严重的公共健康风险，并可能导致贝类养殖者的成本关闭。该地区目前的 PST 检测方法包括监测项目，从利用网拖检测链状亚历山大藻到商业水产养殖收获的直接贝类组织测试（MBA），以及为生计和休闲采集者提供的各种可选测试方法。这些方法的有效性和可行性各不相同，而且在东南阿拉斯加尚未直接进行比较。在这项研究中，我们试图评估和比较链状亚历山大藻和 PST 的早期检测方法，以确定哪种方法可以最有效地、准确地预警链状亚历山大藻水华或 PST 事件。我们发现显微镜计数存在变化，并且容易错过较低数量的链状亚历山大藻，这可能表明水华的形成。然而，实时定量聚合酶链反应（qPCR）与显微镜计数显著相关，并且能够有效地检测所有采样日的低数量的链状亚历山大藻。酶联免疫吸附测定和 MBA 测量的麻痹性贝类毒素浓度彼此之间以及 qPCR 和一些显微镜计数显著相关。这些结果表明，qPCR 是监测链状亚历山大藻和作为 PST 替代物的有效工具。需要进一步的工作来完善该系统中的 qPCR 协议，以便为水产养殖行业和其他贝类采集者提供可操作时间尺度的水华预警。综合环境评估与管理 2024；20:2189-2202。© 2024 作者。综合环境评估与管理由 Wiley 期刊公司代表环境毒理与化学学会（SETAC）出版。本文已贡献给美国政府雇员，其工作在美国属于公有领域。
