Ecotoxicology of marine biotoxins in bivalve shellfish

McCarthy, Moira

Ecotoxicology of marine biotoxins in bivalve shellfish

dc.check.chapterOfThesis	2-5 (pp. 47-207)
dc.check.embargoformat	E-thesis on CORA only	en
dc.check.opt-out	Not applicable	en
dc.check.reason	This thesis is due for publication or the author is actively seeking to publish this material	en
dc.contributor.advisor	O'Halloran, John	en
dc.contributor.advisor	Van Pelt, Frank	en
dc.contributor.author	McCarthy, Moira
dc.contributor.funder	Higher Education Authority	en
dc.date.accessioned	2013-07-15T14:59:45Z
dc.date.available	2013-07-15T14:59:45Z
dc.date.issued	2013
dc.date.submitted	2013
dc.description.abstract	A small proportion of harmful algae produce toxins which are harmful to human health. Strict monitoring programmes are in place within Ireland and the EU to effectively manage risk to human consumers of shellfish species that have accumulated marine biotoxins in their tissues. However, little is known about the impacts of HABs on shellfish health. This study used Solid Phase Adsorption and Toxin Tracking (SPATT) for the passive sampling of algal biotoxins at Lough Hyne Marine Nature Reserve in West Cork, Ireland. Spatial and temporal monitoring of the incidence of a wide range of lipophilic toxins was assessed over a 4-month period. Active sampling accumulated sufficient quantities of toxin for use in subsequent experimentation. In addition to commonly occurring Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP) toxins, Dinophysis toxin-1 and Pinnatoxin-G were both detected in the samples. This is the first identification of these latter two toxins in Irish waters. The effects of the DSP toxin okadaic acid (OA) were investigated on three shellfish species: Mytilus edulis, Ruditapes philippinarum and Crassostrea gigas. Histological examination of the gill, mantle and hepatopancreas tissues revealed varying intensity of damage depending both on the tissue type and the species involved. At the cellular level, flow cytometric analysis of the differential cell population distribution was assessed. No change in cell population distribution was observed in Mytilus edulis or Ruditapes philippinarum, however significant changes were observed in Crassostrea gigas granulocytes at the lower levels of toxin exposure. This indicated a chemically-induced response to OA. DNA fragmentation was measured in the haemolymph and hepatopancreas cells post OA-exposure in Mytilus edulis and Crassostrea gigas. A significant increase in DNA fragmentation was observed in both species over time, even at the lowest OA concentrations. DNA fragmentation could be due to genotoxicity of OA and/or to the induction of cell apoptosis.	en
dc.description.status	Not peer reviewed	en
dc.description.version	Accepted Version
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.citation	McCarthy, M. 2013. Ecotoxicology of marine biotoxins in bivalve shellfish. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.	en
dc.identifier.endpage	236
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10468/1175
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.publisher	University College Cork	en
dc.rights	© 2013, Moira McCarthy.	en
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/	en
dc.subject	Harmful algal bloom	en
dc.subject	Biotoxin	en
dc.subject	Ecotoxicology	en
dc.subject.lcsh	Marine toxins	en
dc.subject.lcsh	Bivalves	en
dc.subject.lcsh	Algal blooms	en
dc.subject.lcsh	Shellfish--Effect of water pollution on.	en
dc.thesis.opt-out	false	*
dc.title	Ecotoxicology of marine biotoxins in bivalve shellfish	en
dc.type	Doctoral thesis	en
dc.type.qualificationlevel	Doctoral	en
dc.type.qualificationname	PhD (Science)	en
ucc.workflow.supervisor	cora@ucc.ie	*