Evaluation of sxtA and rDNA qPCR assays through monitoring of an inshore bloom of Alexandrium catenella Group 1.

ABSTRACT: Alexandrium catenella (formerly A. tamarense Group 1, or A. fundyense) is the leading cause of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia. The quantification of A.catenella via sxtA, a gene involved in Paralytic Shellfish Toxin synthesis, may be a promising approach, but has not been evaluated in situ on blooms of A. catenella, in which cell abundances may vary from not detectable to in the order of 10⁶ cells L^-1. In this study, we compared sxtA assay performance to a qPCR assay targeted to a species-specific region of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and an established fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) microscopy method. Passing-Bablok regression analyses revealed the sxtA assay to overestimate abundances when <5 cell equi

SUBMITTER: Murray SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6787220 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature