Monitoring harmful algal blooms in Irelands coastal waters

Monitoring harmful algal blooms in Irelands coastal watersBy Keighley Crosthwaite

The Marine Institute is a state funded agency which was set up under the Marine Institute Act of 1991.Responsibilities of the Marine Institute include monitoring of Irelands fisheries along with its inland and coastal waters.The MI facilities are spread out over a number of locations within Ireland, mainly close to large fishing ports with its main headquarters in Renville County Galway.

The MI facility in Renville contains 54 research laboratoriesThe MIs services are split into a number of different functional departments:

Marine Environment and Food Safety Services (MEFS)Fisheries Ecosystems Advisory Services (FEAS)Ocean Science and Information Services (OSIS)The Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO)

MEFS carries out a range of marine environmental monitoring services and provides expert advice to, as well as on behalf of government departments and agencies with regards to maintaining Irelands seafood products to approved standardsWithin MEFS there is a Fish Health Unit (FHU) which is responsible for the monitoring of all fish import and exports Food Safety monitoring for any bacterial and viral contaminants or elevated residue levels which may be present in Irish fish, shellfish and seafood's. Pathogenic organisms that are regularly tested for include: E.coli, Salmonella spp and Norovirus.MEFS also runs a national Harmful Algal Bloom (HABs) monitoring service to track concentrations of any toxic producing Phytoplankton which may be present in Irelands coastal waters

What are HABs?Algal Blooms occur when optimal conditions are met for Phytoplankton cells. These cells then grow at an accelerated rate and can cluster together forming an algal bloom which, are usually a natural part of our ecosystem and provides a nutritious food source for many types of marine life, however there are certain species of Phytoplankton which have the ability to form harmful toxins, when blooms occur containing these toxin-forming Phytoplankton it can have a negative impact to any organisms that come into contact with these toxins.

There are 24 marine sentinel sites from shellfish production areas around the country which are analysed weekly to confirm the presence/absence of Azadinium spinosum and six Pseudo-nitzschia species (P.australis, P.multiseries, P.seriata, P.pungens, P.fraudulenta and P.delicatissima complex)

Toxin forming phytoplankton regularly screened for by the MI The diatom Pseudo-nitschia spp (left) and the dinoflagellate Azadinium spinosum(right)

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Pseudo-nitschia spp produces Domoic acid which, when ingested can cause amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP).Symptoms of ASP include nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal complaints with more severe cases resulting in permanent neurological damage and even death

Azadinium spinosum produces the toxin known as Azaspiracid.

IN 1995, eight people were reported to have fallen ill with ASP-like symptoms after eating mussels which were harvested in Killary Harbor, Ireland. After conducting bio toxin analysis on the shellfish it was determined that azaspiracid was the compound causing the illness. The term used to describe people afflicted with this toxin is azaspiracid poisoning (AZP)

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Sample log in and generation of test identification code (TIC)Pellet formationPreparation of species specific master mixes with fluorescently labelled probes

Extraction process (extra step required for Pseudo-nitschia spp. Involving freeze/thaw using Liquid Nitrogen)Preparing a PCR template with species specific master mix and extracted samplesRunning of real time PCR programme and reading the generated results

Plate locationCqCallA1-NEGATIVEA2-NEGATIVEA3-NEGATIVEA4-NEGATIVEA5-NEGATIVEA635.69POSITIVEA7-NEGATIVEA8-NEGATIVEA9-NEGATIVEA10-NEGATIVEA11-NEGATIVEA12-NEGATIVEB1-NEGATIVEB2-NEGATIVEB3-NEGATIVEB4-NEGATIVEB5-NEGATIVEB634.75POSITIVEB7-NEGATIVEB8-NEGATIVEG126.21POSITIVEG225.12POSITIVEG3-NEGATIVEG4-NEGATIVEG5-NEGATIVE

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Target DNATmCP.australis63P.fraudulenta63P.delicatissma58P.pungens60P.multiseries65P.seriata56

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Summary

The marine Institute carries out continuous monitoring of all seafoods produced in Irelands waters to prevent illness or harm to any organisms whom may feed on these seafoods.The MI aims to both protect and harness the oceans wealth for the benefit of both our environment as well as our economy

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With regard to the monitoring of harmful algae the MI provides a public service In order to prevent humans or animals from feeding on potentially toxic seafoods, also providing both shellfish and finfish sites around Ireland with predictions of possible harmful blooms which might occur in their areaReal-time PCR gives a more accurate species identification than microscopy methods alone , although it is a costly and time consuming process and it also depends on a high level of concentration and aseptic skill from the operator.

References:Azaspiracid poisoning (AZP) toxins in shellfish: Toxicological and health considerations . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0041010109004607. [Accessed 22 May 2016].Amnesic shellfish poisoning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesic_shellfish_poisoning. [Accessed 22 May 2016].Infrastructure & Facilities | Marine Institute. 2016. Infrastructure & Facilities | Marine Institute. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.marine.ie/Home/site-area/infrastructure-facilities/infrastructure-facilities. [Accessed 22 May 2016].SeaWeb - Ocean Briefing Book. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.seaweb.org/resources/briefings/algae.php. [Accessed 21 May 2016].Marine Institute Open Access Repository: The diatom Pseudo-nitzschia (Peragallo) in Irish waters. [ONLINE] Available at: http://oar.marine.ie/handle/10793/805. [Accessed 21 May 2016