Bacteria associated with paralytic shellfish toxin-producing strains of Anabaena circinalis

Abstract

Paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) are produced by dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria. There is growing evidence that bacteria associated with dinoflagellates play a role in the production of PSTs, however, no studies have examined the type of bacteria associated with toxic cyanobacteria or the role these bacteria could play in PST-production or metabolism. Further, there are no known axenic cultures of PST-producing cyanobacteria, suggesting that cyanobacteria are dependent on one or more bacteria for growth/survival. The research reported here examined the bacterial community associated with six Australian freshwater cyanobacterial strains of Anabaena circinalis obtained from the CSIRO, three toxic and three non-toxic. The goal was to identify bacteria that could be essential for cyanobacterial growth/survival and/or PST production/metabolism. Confirmation of cyanobacterial species identification was confirmed by molecular techniques; one species was found to be more closely related to Anabaena flos-aquae. PST-production by the three toxic strains was confirmed using HPLC. Bacterial communities associated with the cyanobacteria were dominated by the [alpha]-Proteobacteria, of which the Rhizobiales group was dominant. Two bacterial ribotypes were associated with only the toxic cyanobacteria, and could be important in PST-remineralization.