Nostoc linckia (Bornet ex Bornet et Flahault, 1886) (Nostocales: Cyanobacteria) from the Sea of Azov: Morphology and Molecular Investigation of Toxigenicity

• Published in: Russian journal of marine biology Vol. 46; no. 2; pp. 119 - 128
• Main Authors: Maltsev, Y. I., Maltseva, I. A., Maltseva, S. Yu, Kulikovskiy, M. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01-03-2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Chemical analysis; Cylindrospermopsin; DNA; Flora; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Genes; Hepatotoxicity; Life Sciences; Nostoc linckia; Nucleotide sequence; Original Papers; PCR; Phylogeny; Plants; Probability theory; Seawater; Toxigenicity; Toxins; Water analysis; Mediterranean Area; marine ecosystem; hepatotoxin; toxic strain; Cyanobacteria
• ISSN: 1063-0740; 1608-3377
• DOI: 10.1134/S1063074020020066

The Sea of Azov is a part of the Mediterranean basin and is the most continental sea in the world. But the phycological studies of the Sea of Azov were irregular. To assess the ecological safety of sea water, it is important not only to determine the presence of toxigenic species in the flora, but also to confirm the presence of strains capable of synthesizing toxins. The strain
Nostoc linckia
MZ–C21 was isolated from a planktonic sample collected near a seacoast of the Sivash (the bay of the Sea of Azov near Henichesk, Ukraine). PCR reactions demonstrated that the investigated strain has genes encoding all known groups of hepatotoxins: microcystin (the
mcyE
gene), nodularin (the
ndaF
gene), and cylindrospermopsin (the
cyrB
gene) synthetases. The novel strain MZ–C21 formed strongly supported phylogenetic lineages with other microcystin and nodularin producers. Thus, there is a high probability for the production of cyanotoxins by
Nostoc linckia
growths in the Sea of Azov near Henichesk.