Efficient isolation of the rare diarrhoeic shellfish toxin, dinophysistoxin-2, from marine phytoplankton

Abstract The rare diarrhoeic shellfish poisoning (DSP) toxin, dinophysistoxin-2 (DTX-2), which is an okadaic acid (OA) isomer, has been isolated from a marine phytoplankton biomass that consisted mainly of Dinophysis acuta. Using a large double plankton net (length 5.9 m), bulk phytoplankton samples were collected off the south–west coast of Ireland and extracted with methanol and chloroform. Liquid chromatography coupled with ionspray mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS, LC–MS–MS) showed the sample contained DTX-2 and OA, at a concentration of 80 pg/cell and 60 pg/cell, respectively. Flash chromatography using silica, sephadex LH20 and C 18 -silica, followed by preparative reversed-phase LC, separated DTX-2 from OA. The efficiency of the separation procedures was substantially improved by the use of a bioscreen to detect DSP toxins in eluate fractions and the application of a new derivatisation procedure for the chromatographic elucidation of toxin profiles with fluorimetric detection (LC–FLD). Thus, 1/1000th aliquots of eluate fractions were assayed using protein phosphatase-2A for the presence of inhibitory compounds. Positive fractions were further analysed for DSP toxins by LC–FLD following derivatisation using the hydrazine reagent, luminarine-3. The identity and purity of the free isolated DTX-2 was confirmed using flow injection analysis (FIA) and liquid chromatography (FIA–MS, LC–MS and LC–MS–MS).