Prospective Studies in Survey and Biosurvey of Cyanotoxins In Situ

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine and Freshwater Toxins".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 10928

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. UMR-I 02 INERIS-URCA-ULH SEBIO, UFR Sciences Exactes et Naturelles, Moulin de la Housse BP 1039, CEDEX 02, 51687 Reims, France
2. Equipe Cyanobactéries, Cyanotoxines et Environnement, UMR 7245 CNRS-MNHN MCAM, Muséum National Histoire Naturelle 12, rue Buffon CP 39, CEDEX 05, 75231 Paris, France
Interests: microcystins; cytotoxic effects; microcystin-producing cyanobacteria

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Proliferations of cyanobacteria in freshwater ecosystems are a source of growing concern worldwide because of the ecological and economical disturbances they create, as well as the significant impact of their toxins on animal and human health. Cyanotoxins (e.g., microcystins, anatoxins, saxitoxins, cylindrospermopsins) are regulated with sanitary guideline values for drinking and recreational waters worldwide, and sometimes for organism consumption. Robust methods are then needed to evaluate their occurrence in aquatic environment and biota. Some methodological issues to assess cyanotoxin concentrations in biological matrices remain, notably for toxins accumulated under fractions covalently bound to polypeptides or to proteins which can represent a high proportion of accumulated cyantoxins in the case of microcystins. Some approaches already exist but still have to be developed, tested, and improved. Moreover, cyanobacterial proliferations display rapid spatiotemporal variations that can interfere in the assessment of water contamination levels by cyanotoxins and necessitate the use of integrative tools. Therefore, new strategies using passive or active integrators of cyanotoxins in situ are needed. This Special Issue plans to give an overview of the most recent advances in the field of survey and biosurvey of cyanotoxins. It will also provide selected contributions on methodological advances in the quantification of cyanotoxins, of their potent toxic metabolite products, and of their covalently bound fractions in animal tissues.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

1. Future perspectives for multi-cyanotoxin analyses;

2. New methods for analysis of free and bound cyanotoxins in cyanobacteria and biota;

3. Use of aquatic organisms as a bioindicator for monitoring cyanotoxins;

4. Development of passive integrators for multi-cyanotoxin detection;

5. Identification of metabolite products of cyanotoxins in animal tissues;

6. Toxicity of metabolite products of cyanotoxins.

Dr. Emilie Lance
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 2411 KiB  
Article
A Direct Analysis of β-N-methylamino-l-alanine Enantiomers and Isomers and Its Application to Cyanobacteria and Marine Mollusks
by James S. Metcalf, Sandra Anne Banack, Peter B. Wyatt, Peter B. Nunn and Paul A. Cox
Toxins 2023, 15(11), 639; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15110639 - 1 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2435
Abstract
Of the wide variety of toxic compounds produced by cyanobacteria, the neurotoxic amino acid β-N-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA) has attracted attention as a result of its association with chronic human neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and Alzheimer’s. Consequently, specific detection methods [...] Read more.
Of the wide variety of toxic compounds produced by cyanobacteria, the neurotoxic amino acid β-N-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA) has attracted attention as a result of its association with chronic human neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and Alzheimer’s. Consequently, specific detection methods are required to assess the presence of BMAA and its isomers in environmental and clinical materials, including cyanobacteria and mollusks. Although the separation of isomers such as β-amino-N-methylalanine (BAMA), N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine (AEG) and 2,4-diaminobutyric acid (DAB) from BMAA has been demonstrated during routine analysis, a further compounding factor is the potential presence of enantiomers for some of these isomers. Current analytical methods for BMAA mostly do not discriminate between enantiomers, and the chiral configuration of BMAA in cyanobacteria is still largely unexplored. To understand the potential for the occurrence of D-BMAA in cyanobacteria, a chiral UPLC-MS/MS method was developed to separate BMAA enantiomers and isomers and to determine the enantiomeric configuration of endogenous free BMAA in a marine Lyngbya mat and two mussel reference materials. After extraction, purification and derivatization with N-(4-nitrophenoxycarbonyl)-l-phenylalanine 2-methoxyethyl ester ((S)-NIFE), both L- and D-BMAA were identified as free amino acids in cyanobacterial materials, whereas only L-BMAA was identified in mussel tissues. The finding of D-BMAA in biological environmental materials raises questions concerning the source and role of BMAA enantiomers in neurological disease. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prospective Studies in Survey and Biosurvey of Cyanotoxins In Situ)
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10 pages, 2097 KiB  
Communication
Label-Free Direct Detection of Cylindrospermopsin via Graphene-Enhanced Surface Plasmon Resonance Aptasensor
by Stefan Jaric, Aabha Bajaj, Vladimir Vukic, Ivana Gadjanski, Ibrahim Abdulhalim and Ivan Bobrinetskiy
Toxins 2023, 15(5), 326; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15050326 - 10 May 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2022
Abstract
In this work, we report a novel method for the label-free detection of cyanotoxin molecules based on a direct assay utilizing a graphene-modified surface plasmon resonance (SPR) aptasensor. Molecular dynamic simulation of the aptamer’s interaction with cylindrospermopsin (CYN) reveals the strongest binding sites [...] Read more.
In this work, we report a novel method for the label-free detection of cyanotoxin molecules based on a direct assay utilizing a graphene-modified surface plasmon resonance (SPR) aptasensor. Molecular dynamic simulation of the aptamer’s interaction with cylindrospermopsin (CYN) reveals the strongest binding sites between C18–C26 pairs. To modify the SPR sensor, the wet transfer method of CVD monolayer graphene was used. For the first time, we report the use of graphene functionalized by an aptamer as a bioreceptor in conjunction with SPR for the detection of CYN. In a direct assay with an anti-CYN aptamer, we demonstrated a noticeable change in the optical signal in response to the concentrations far below the maximum tolerable level of 1 µg/L and high specificity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prospective Studies in Survey and Biosurvey of Cyanotoxins In Situ)
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17 pages, 1287 KiB  
Article
Identification of Cyanobacteria and Its Potential Toxins in the Joanes I Reservoir, Bahia, Brazil
by Maria Teresa Araujo Pinheiro Menescal, Edna dos Santos Almeida, Emerson Andrade Sales, Annick Méjean and Claude Yéprémian
Toxins 2023, 15(1), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15010051 - 6 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2170
Abstract
The Joanes I Reservoir is responsible for 40% of the drinking water supply of the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. For water sources such as this, there is concern regarding the proliferation of potentially toxin-producing cyanobacteria, which can cause environmental and public [...] Read more.
The Joanes I Reservoir is responsible for 40% of the drinking water supply of the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. For water sources such as this, there is concern regarding the proliferation of potentially toxin-producing cyanobacteria, which can cause environmental and public health impacts. To evaluate the presence of cyanobacteria and their cyanotoxins in the water of this reservoir, the cyanobacteria were identified by microscopy; the presence of the genes of the cyanotoxin-producing cyanobacteria was detected by molecular methods (polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/sequencing); and the presence of toxins was determined by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The water samples were collected at four sampling points in the Joanes I Reservoir in a monitoring campaign conducted during the occurrence of phytoplankton blooms, and the water quality parameters were also analysed. Ten cyanobacteria species/genera were identified at the monitoring sites, including five potentially cyanotoxin-producing species, such as Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, Cylindrospermopsis cf. acuminato-crispa, Aphanocapsa sp., Phormidium sp., and Pseudanabaena sp. A positive result for the presence of the cylindrospermopsin toxin was confirmed at two sampling points by LC-MS/MS, which indicated that the populations are actively producing toxins. The analysis of the PCR products using the HEPF/HEPR primer pair for the detection of the microcystin biosynthesis gene mcyE was positive for the analysed samples. The results of this study point to the worrisome condition of this reservoir, from which water is collected for public supply, and indicate the importance of the joint use of different methods for the analysis of cyanobacteria and their toxins in reservoir monitoring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prospective Studies in Survey and Biosurvey of Cyanotoxins In Situ)
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Review

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25 pages, 1884 KiB  
Review
Analysis of Total-Forms of Cyanotoxins Microcystins in Biological Matrices: A Methodological Review
by Pierre Bouteiller, Emilie Lance, Thierry Guérin and Ronel Biré
Toxins 2022, 14(8), 550; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins14080550 - 11 Aug 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3377
Abstract
Microcystins (MCs) are cyclic heptapeptidic toxins produced by many cyanobacteria. Microcystins can be accumulated in various matrices in two forms: a free cellular fraction and a covalently protein-bound form. To detect and quantify the concentration of microcystins, a panel of techniques on various [...] Read more.
Microcystins (MCs) are cyclic heptapeptidic toxins produced by many cyanobacteria. Microcystins can be accumulated in various matrices in two forms: a free cellular fraction and a covalently protein-bound form. To detect and quantify the concentration of microcystins, a panel of techniques on various matrices (water, sediments, and animal tissues) is available. The analysis of MCs can concern the free or the total (free plus covalently bound) fractions. Free-form analyses of MCs are the most common and easiest to detect, whereas total-form analyses are much less frequent and more complex to achieve. The objective of this review is to summarize the different methods of extraction and analysis that have been developed for total forms. Four extraction methods were identified: MMPB (2-methyl-3-methoxy-4-phenylbutyric acid) method, deconjugation at basic pH, ozonolysis, and laser irradiation desorption. The study of the bibliography on the methods of extraction and analysis of the total forms of MCs showed that the reference method for the subject remains the MMPB method even if alternative methods and, in particular, deconjugation at basic pH, showed results encouraging the continuation of the methodological development on different matrices and on naturally-contaminated samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prospective Studies in Survey and Biosurvey of Cyanotoxins In Situ)
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