Risk of ciguatoxins is shaped by Gambierdiscus community structure.

ABSTRACT: Ciguatoxins (CTXs) are produced by marine microbial eukaryotes (Gambierdiscus/Fukuyoa, Dinophyta: Alveolata) that live epiphytically on macroalgae and other substrates. When CTXs accumulate in seafood they cause Ciguatera Poisoning (CP), which affects ca. 20-50,000 people p.a. and is likely worsened by climate change. CTXs in fish are highly variable with diet, ecology, size, age and phylogeny. Chemical identification of CTXs is difficult, and while detection of Gambierdiscus is simple, often no clearly CTX-producing Gambierdiscus are known from CP sites. Here, we coupled custom deep metabarcoding with quantitative PCR, CTXs in both Gambierdiscus and a sentinel fish (Ctenochaetus striatus) with limited home range, in the Cook Islands, an endemic CP area. Using neuroblastoma cell assays and

SUBMITTER: Smith KF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12854468 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature