Comparative Study on the Performance of Three Detection Methods for the Quantification of Pacific Ciguatoxins in French Polynesian Strains of <em>Gambierdiscus polynesiensis</em>
Hélène Taiana Darius,
Taina Revel,
Jérôme Viallon,
Manoëlla Sibat,
Philippe Cruchet,
Sébastien Longo,
Donnie Ransom Hardison,
William C. Holland,
Patricia A. Tester,
R. Wayne Litaker,
Jennifer R. McCall,
Philipp Hess,
Mireille Chinain
Affiliations
Hélène Taiana Darius
Institut Louis Malardé (ILM), Laboratory of Marine Biotoxins, UMR 241-EIO (IFREMER, ILM, IRD, Université de Polynésie Française), P.O. Box 30, Papeete 98713, French Polynesia
Taina Revel
Institut Louis Malardé (ILM), Laboratory of Marine Biotoxins, UMR 241-EIO (IFREMER, ILM, IRD, Université de Polynésie Française), P.O. Box 30, Papeete 98713, French Polynesia
Jérôme Viallon
Institut Louis Malardé (ILM), Laboratory of Marine Biotoxins, UMR 241-EIO (IFREMER, ILM, IRD, Université de Polynésie Française), P.O. Box 30, Papeete 98713, French Polynesia
Manoëlla Sibat
IFREMER, PHYTOX, Laboratoire METALG, F-44000 Nantes, France
Philippe Cruchet
Institut Louis Malardé (ILM), Laboratory of Marine Biotoxins, UMR 241-EIO (IFREMER, ILM, IRD, Université de Polynésie Française), P.O. Box 30, Papeete 98713, French Polynesia
Sébastien Longo
Institut Louis Malardé (ILM), Laboratory of Marine Biotoxins, UMR 241-EIO (IFREMER, ILM, IRD, Université de Polynésie Française), P.O. Box 30, Papeete 98713, French Polynesia
Donnie Ransom Hardison
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA
William C. Holland
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA
Patricia A. Tester
Ocean Tester, LLC, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA
R. Wayne Litaker
CSS, Inc. Under Contract to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA
Jennifer R. McCall
Center for Marine Science, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 601 South College Road, Wilmington, NC 28403, USA
Philipp Hess
IFREMER, PHYTOX, Laboratoire METALG, F-44000 Nantes, France
Mireille Chinain
Institut Louis Malardé (ILM), Laboratory of Marine Biotoxins, UMR 241-EIO (IFREMER, ILM, IRD, Université de Polynésie Française), P.O. Box 30, Papeete 98713, French Polynesia
Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa dinoflagellates produce a suite of secondary metabolites, including ciguatoxins (CTXs), which bioaccumulate and are further biotransformed in fish and marine invertebrates, causing ciguatera poisoning when consumed by humans. This study is the first to compare the performance of the fluorescent receptor binding assay (fRBA), neuroblastoma cell-based assay (CBA-N2a), and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the quantitative estimation of CTX contents in 30 samples, obtained from four French Polynesian strains of Gambierdiscus polynesiensis. fRBA was applied to Gambierdiscus matrix for the first time, and several parameters of the fRBA protocol were refined. Following liquid/liquid partitioning to separate CTXs from other algal compounds, the variability of CTX contents was estimated using these three methods in three independent experiments. All three assays were significantly correlated with each other, with the highest correlation coefficient (r2 = 0.841) found between fRBA and LC-MS/MS. The CBA-N2a was more sensitive than LC-MS/MS and fRBA, with all assays showing good repeatability. The combined use of fRBA and/or CBA-N2a for screening purposes and LC-MS/MS for confirmation purposes allows for efficient CTX evaluation in Gambierdiscus. These findings, which support future collaborative studies for the inter-laboratory validation of CTX detection methods, will help improve ciguatera risk assessment and management.
