Publication Date:
2022-05-26
Description:
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Harmful Algae 14 (2012): 10-35, doi:10.1016/j.hal.2011.10.012.
Description:
The dinoflagellate genus Alexandrium is one of the major harmful algal bloom
(HAB) genera with respect to the diversity, magnitude and consequences of blooms. The
ability of Alexandrium to colonize multiple habitats and to persist over large regions
through time is testimony to the adaptability and resilience of this group of species. Three
different families of toxins, as well as an as yet incompletely characterized suite of
allelochemicals are produced among Alexandrium species. Nutritional strategies are
equally diverse, including the ability to utilize a range of inorganic and organic nutrient
sources, and feeding by ingestion of other organisms. Many Alexandrium species have
complex life histories that include sexuality and often, but not always, cyst formation,
which is characteristic of a meroplanktonic life strategy and offers considerable
ecological advantages. Due to the public health and ecosystem impacts of Alexandrium
blooms, the genus has been extensively studied, and there exists a broad knowledge base
that ranges from taxonomy and phylogeny through genomics and toxin biosynthesis to
bloom dynamics and modeling. Here we present a review of the genus Alexandrium,
focusing on the major toxic and otherwise harmful species.
Description:
Support to DMA was provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (1-P50-ES012742) and the National Science Foundation through the Woods
Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health (OCE-0430724), and by NOAA Grants
NA09NOS4780193, NA06OAR4170021 and NA06NOS4780245. Research funding to
ADC and previously to TJA was furnished under the PACES Programme (Coast WP2)
from the Helmholtz Society initiative Earth and Environment. Support to TJA was
obtained by the research funding program LOEWE (Landes-Offensive zur Entwicklung
Wissenschaftlich-ökonomischer Exzellenz) of Hesse’s Ministry of Higher Education,
Research, and the Arts. Support to EM and YC was provided by grants from the French
National Programme “Ecosphère Continentale et Côtière-EC2CO and from the
“Fondation pour la Recherche sur la Biodiversité-INVALEX project (AAP-IN-2009-
036).
Keywords:
Alexandrium
;
Harmful algal blooms
;
HAB
;
Biotoxins
;
Public health
;
Global dispersion
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Preprint
Format:
application/pdf
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