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Harmful algal blooms: mechanisms, monitoring, and prevention in a rapidly changing world
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Metagenomics assessment on the distribution and relative abundance of Alexandrium species along the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia
P-B1-04
Kieng Soon Hii* , Bachok Marine Research Station, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Ing Kuo Law, Bachok Marine Research Station, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Winnie Lik Sing Lau, Bachok Marine Research Station, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Mohd Fadzil bin Mohd Akhir, Institute of Oceanography and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysian
Zhaohe Luo, Third Institute of Oceanography China, Xiamen, China
Haifeng Gu, Third Institute of Oceanography China, Xiamen, China
Chui Pin Leaw, Bachok Marine Research Station, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Po Teen Lim, Bachok Marine Research Station, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Presenter Email: hiiks@um.edu.my |
| Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is one of the predominant shellfish poisoning threats in the Southeast Asian region that caused by the marine dinoflagellates Pyrodinium bahamense and some species in the genus Alexandrium. In Malaysia, other than P. bahamense, A. tamiyavanichii and A. minutum are the main PSP causative species that caused PSP incidents. Other non-toxic species, A. affine, A. tamutum, A. ostenfeldii, A. cf. tameranse, A. andersonii, A. leei and A. insuetum have also been documented in Malaysia. However, the spatial distribution and relative abundance of Alexandrium along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia is not known. Nonetheless, identification and enumeration of Alexandrium species is challenging based on minute thecated morphological differences. Therefore, this study employed the metagenomics approach on samples collected from 30 stations on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia during a scientific cruise expedition on RV discovery in August 2016. Plankton samples collected were preserved in modified saline ethanol buffer and the environmental DNA extracted were used to amplify the 18S ribosomal RNA gene (V9 domain) and analyzed by Illumina MiSeq platform. A total of 11 OTU taxa of Alexandrium species were recovered. The toxic A. tamiyavanichii was found to be widely distributed in the region; the highest abundance was recorded in the northeastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Surprisingly, A. minutum was not detected in the dataset. We thus postulated that this species is mainly occurred in semi-enclosed coastal waters. Alexandrium tameranse, A. affine, A. andersonii, A. fraterculus, A. leei, A. margalefii, A. monilatum, A. ostefeldii, A. pohangense and A. insuetum were found but with low relative abundances. The finding of this study could serve as a baseline data in the monitoring and studies of harmful algal blooms. |
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