Characterization of toxin-producing strains of Dinophysis spp. (Dinophyceae) isolated from French coastal waters, with a particular focus on the D. acuminata-complex

Abstract Dinoflagellates of the genus Dinophysis are the most prominent producers of Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP) toxins which have an impact on public health and on marine aquaculture worldwide. In particular, Dinophysis acuminata has been reported as the major DSP agent in Western Europe. Still, its contribution to DSP events in the regions of the English Channel and the Atlantic coast of France, and the role of the others species of the Dinophysis community in these areas are not as clear. In addition, species identification within the D. acuminata complex has proven difficult due to their highly similar morphological features. In the present study, 30 clonal strains of the dominant Dinophysis species have been isolated from French coasts including the English Channel (3 sites), the Atlantic Ocean (11 sites) and the Mediterranean Sea (6 sites). Morphologically, strains were identified as three species: D. acuta, D. caudata, D. tripos, as well as the D. acuminata-complex. Sequences of the ITS and LSU rDNA regions confirmed these identifications and revealed no genetic difference within the D. acuminata-complex. Using the mitochondrial gene cox1, two groups of strains differing by only one substitution were found in the D. acuminata-complex, but SEM analysis of various strains showed a large range of morphological variations. Based on geographical origin and morphology, strains of the subclade A were ascribed to ‘D. acuminata’ while those of the subclade B were ascribed to D. sacculus’. Nevertheless, the distinction into two separate species remains questionable and was not supported by our genetic data. The considerable variations observed in cultured strains suggest that physiological factors might influence cell contour and bias identification. Analyses of Dinophysis cultures from French coastal waters using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) revealed species-conserved toxin profiles for D. acuta (dinophysistoxin 2 (DTX2), okadaic acid (OA), pectenotoxin 2 (PTX2)), D. caudata (PTX2) and D. tripos (PTX2), irrespective of geographical origin (Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean Sea). Within the D. acuminata-complex, two different toxin profiles were observed: the strains of ‘D. acuminata’ (subclade A) from the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean contained only OA while strains of D. sacculus (subclade B) from Mediterranean Sea/Atlantic Ocean contained PTX2 as the dominant toxin, with OA and C9-esters also being present, albeit in lower proportions. The same difference in toxin profiles between ‘D. sacculus’ and ‘D. acuminata’ was reported in several studies from Galicia (NW- Spain). This difference in toxin profiles has consequences in terms of public health, and consequently for monitoring programs. While toxin profile could appear as a reliable feature separating ‘D. acuminata’ from ‘D. sacculus’ on both French and Spanish coasts, this does not seem consistent with observations on a broader geographical scale for the D. acuminata complex, possibly due to the frequent lack of genetic characterization.