Growth and domoic acid production by Pseudo-nitzschia seriata (Bacillariophyceae) under phosphate and silicate limitation

Pseudo-nitzschia seriata (Cleve) H. Peragallo isolated from Scottish west coast waters was studied in batch culture with phosphate (P) or silicate (Si) as the yield-limiting nutrient at 15degrees C. This species produced the neurotoxin domoic acid (DA) when either nutrient was limiting but produced more when stressed by Si limitation during the stationary phase. Under P-limiting conditions, exponential growth stopped after P was reduced to a low threshold concentration. Under Si-limiting conditions, fast exponential growth was followed by a period of slower exponential growth, until Si became exhausted. A stationary phase was observed in the P-limited but not the Si-limited cultures, the latter showing a rapid decrease in cell density after the second exponential growth phase. Si-limited cultures exhibited a further period of active metabolism (as indicated by increases in ch1 and carbon per cell) late in the experiment, presumably fueled by regenerated Si. DA production was low in exponential phase under both conditions. In P-limited cultures, most DA was produced during the immediate postexponential phase, with little or no new DA produced during later cell senescence. In contrast, although a substantial amount of DA was produced during the slower exponential phase of the Si-limited cultures, DA production was even greater near the end of the experiment, coincident with the period of ch1 synthesis and increase in carbon biomass. Comparison of the magnitude of toxin production in the two nutrient regimes indicated a greater threat of P seriata-generated amnesic shellfish poisoning events under Si rather than P nutrient limitation.