What is Pyrodinium Bahamense var Compressum?

What is Pyrodinium Bahamense var Compressum?

Abstract. Pyrodinium bahamense var. compressum is a toxic dinoflagellate that produces paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins. It is responsible for the chronic toxicity of shellfish in many coastal areas of the Philippines and other South East Asian countries.

Is Pyrodinium a plant?

Pyrodinium bahamense is a dinoflagellate that blooms regularly in Florida coastal waters, including Tampa Bay, Florida Bay and the Indian River Lagoon.

Where can Pyrodinium Bahamense be found?

Pyrodinium bahamense, considered the sister taxon to Alexandrium, is a tropical photosynthetic euryhaline species of dinoflagellates found mainly in the Atlantic ocean. It is found in marine waters that have more than 20 psu of salinity and are warmer than 22 °C (72 °F).

Is Pyrodinium Bahamense a protist?

bahamense. Pyrodinium is well known for producing Paralytic Shellfish Toxins (PSTs), e.g. saxitoxin, and the bioluminescence that lights up the bioluminescent bays in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas….

Why do dinoflagellates produce saxitoxin?

Saxitoxin is produced by the dinoflagellates Gonyaulax, Alexandrium, Gymnodinium, and Pyrodinium. Similar to tetrodotoxin, saxitoxin binds to voltage-gated sodium channels within cell membranes, inhibiting membrane depolarization and blocking proliferation of action potentials.

Is a dinoflagellate a eukaryotic or prokaryotic?

unicellular eukaryotes
Dinoflagellates are unicellular eukaryotes with a fossil record tracing back to the early Cambrian. They are widespread in marine and freshwaters, where they present a great diversity including autotrophic, heterotrophic, mixotrophic, parasitic, and symbiotic species.

What structure does the dinoflagellate use for movement?

flagella
Dinoflagellates possess two flagella, one (the transverse flagellum) may be contained in a groove-like structure around the equator of the organism (the cingulum), providing forward motion and spin to the dinoflagellate, the other (the longitudinal flagellum) trailing behind providing little propulsive force, mainly …

What causes red tide dinoflagellates?

Red tide is caused by microscopic organisms in the plankton, the drifting or weakly swimming sea life, that are the foundation of the ocean food chain. Specifically, dinoflagellates, a microscopic marine life form with two long slender appendages, are the organisms responsible for red tide.

What major compound class does saxitoxin belong to?

Saxitoxin is the parent molecule in a class of compounds, typically referred to as paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs).