Non-toxic and toxic subclones obtained from a toxic clonal culture of Alexandrium tamarense (Dinophyceae): Toxicity and molecular biological feature

Alexandrium tamarense (Lebour) Taylor strain OF935-AT6 is a rare strain of paralytic shellfish toxin (PST)-producing dinoflagellate, in which non-toxic and toxic cells are found in an approximately 1:1 ratio, isolated in Japan. The non-toxic characteristics of UAT-014-009, an axenic non-toxic subclone of OF935-AT6, have been confirmed at the attomole per cell level. Three out of nine toxic subclones of OF935-AT6 became non-toxic over a relatively short period of time (4–6 years), while the other toxic subclones retained their toxicity and the non-toxic subclones retained to be non-toxic. Two axenic subclones from OF935-AT6, UAT-014-009 (non-toxic) and Axat-2 (toxic) are indistinguishable from one another, and from popularly known A. tamarense by rDNA sequence analysis. The most significant difference identified by subtractive hybridization of cDNA pertains to gene fragments homologous with mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase polypeptide three (cox3) and cytochrome b (cob). Thus, the polymorphism targeting these regions was investigated by comparison of the gene length amplified by PCR using total DNA from other subclones with a range of toxicities. No direct correlation between any allele and toxicity was observed in this study.