Gymnodinium

This lithiated epoxysulfone cyclisation strategy has been iteratively applied in the total synthesis of hemibrevitoxin B, a polycyclic ether marine toxin from the red tide organism Gymnodinium breve (Scheme 5.41) [64]. 

Gymnodinium catenatwn, first recognized as a cause of toxicity in an outbreak in Mazatlan (43,44), lacks a theca but otherwise bears some resemblance to the catenate Alexandrium species. It has now been recognized as a source of PSP in Spain (45), Portugal (46), Venezuela (A. La Barbera-Sanchez, personal communication), Tasmania (47), and Japan (48),... 

Paralytic neurotoxins that bind to sodium channels of nerve and muscle cells causing muscle contractions. They are obtained from the dinoflagellate that causes "red-tide" (Gymnodinium breve). Toxins are typically light tan crystalline solids. They are insoluble in water and very unstable. 

Dinoflagellate, Gymnodinium 110-392 Chlorophyll reduced about 65% in 2 days in temperature range 16-30°C 2... 

Anderson, D., Paralytic shellfish poisoning in northwest Spain the toxicity of the dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum, Toxicon, 27, 6, 665, 1989. 

Naar, J., et ah, A competitive ELISA to detect brevetoxins from Karenia brevis (formerly Gymnodinium breve) in seawater, shellfish, and mammalian body fluid, Env. Health Perspect., 110, 2, 179, 2002. 

Perez, E., Sawyers, W. and Martin, D., Identification of allelopathic substances produced by Nannochloris aculata that affects a red tide organism Gymnodinium breve, Biomed. Lett., 56, 7, 1997. 

Perez, E., Sawyers, W.G. and Martin, D.F., Lysis of Gymnodinium breve by cultures of the green alga Nannochloris eucaryotum, Cytobios, 104, 405, 25, 2001. 

Sengco, M., Removal of red and brown tide cells using clay flocculation I. Laboratory culture experiments with Gymnodinium breve and Aureococcus anophagejferens. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 2003. 

In B.C. they are usually separated distributionally, but intermediate forms occur in intermediate localities. In Japan they may be temporally separated.The allocation of Gymnodinium breve to Ptychodiscus depends on the presence of a pellicle. Although not seen with TEM it can be seen with light microscopy. Geographic distribution is closely linked to taxonomy for, although some toxin producers appear to be endemic in a restricted sense, closely similar forms occur elsewhere (e.g.p, brevis) or the same species may be known by different names in different regions ( Gyrodinium aureolum ). 

Other closely similar species of Protogonyaulax, such as the chain-forming ]P. cohorticula and ]P. fratercula, have warmer distributions than catenella (see Figure 5), as do the chain-formers Gessnerium monilaturn and Gymnodinium catenatum, which may also be nlosely related (4,5,10). 

Except for sanguineum, the above named species represent cosmopolitan and frequently dominant epiphytic/benthic dinoflagel-lates in the Virgin Islands. Gymnodinium sanguineum is one of the few common planktonic species in the study area. All of these species are readily accessible to herbivorous fishes throughout the Virgin Island chain. 

Perhaps the most unusual marine metabolites from the Caribbean are con lex polyketides, called brevetoxins, produced by a toxic dinoflagellate, Gymnodinium breve (Chart 7.3.FA/PO). 

Poiyether hemibrevetoxins Gymnodinium breve Davis [= Ptychodiscus brevis Davis], free Dinofl. Prasad 1989) brevetoxin-A-class Gymnodinium breve, free Dinofl. Rein 1994). 

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