Transmission of the paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins, from dinoflagellate to gastropod

C.-Y. Chen and H.-N. Chou. Transmission of the paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins, from dinoflagellate to gastropod. Toxicon 36, 515-522, 1998. Purple clams, Hiatula diphos Linnaeus, are filter-feeding bivalves and maculated ivory shells, Babylonia areolata Link are carnivorous gastropods. Both shellfishes are popular seafood delicacies among the Taiwanese. Hiatula diphos were forced to contain gonyautoxins (GTXs) in this research by feeding them with cells of Alexandrium minutum Halim, a toxic dinoflagellate species responsible for the paralytic shellfish poisonings in Taiwan. The intoxicated purple clams of known toxicity and toxin composition were fed to B. areolata to observe the transmission and transformation of GTXs among this shellfish. It was found that the toxin composition in bivalve and gastropod were similar to that in dinofagellate. Our data provide evidence for food-chain transmission of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins, from dinoflagellate to gastropod through a filter-feeding bivalve. The transmitted GTX-I, -II, -III and -IV of A. minirtum could only be found in the viscera of these shellfish. There was a notable degradation of GTX-I in the ivory shell that resulted in a decrease in toxicity while the total amount of toxins was accumulatively increasing. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.