Seasonal and Spatial Variations in Bacterial Communities From Tetrodotoxin-Bearing and Non-tetrodotoxin-Bearing Clams

Laura Biessy,John K Pearman,Kirsty F Smith,Susanna A Wood,Ian Hawes

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.01860

Laura Biessy, John K Pearman + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01860

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Abstract

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is one of the most potent naturally occurring compounds and is responsible for many human intoxications worldwide. Paphies australis are endemic clams to New Zealand which contain varying concentrations of TTX. Research suggests that P. australis accumulate the toxin exogenously, but the source remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to identify potential bacterial TTX-producers by exploring differences in bacterial communities in two organs of P. australis: the siphon and digestive gland. Samples from the digestive glands of a non-toxic bivalve Austrovenus stutchburyi that lives amongst toxic P. australis populations were also analyzed. Bacterial communities were characterized using 16S ribosomal RNA gene metabarcoding in P. australis sourced monthly from the Hokianga Harbor, a site known to have TTX-bearing clams, for 1 year, from ten sites with varying TTX concentrations around New Zealand, and in A. stutchburyi from the Hokianga Harbor. Tetrodotoxin was detected in P. australis from sites all around New Zealand and in all P. australis collected monthly from the Hokianga Harbor. The toxin averaged 150 μg kg–1 over the year of sampling in the Hokianga Harbor but no TTX was detected in the A. stutchburyi samples from the same site. Bacterial species diversity differed amongst sites (p < 0.001, F = 5.9) and the diversity in siphon samples was significantly higher than in digestive glands (p < 0.001, F = 65.8). Spirochaetaceae (4–60%) and Mycoplasmataceae (16–78%) were the most abundant families in the siphons and the digestive glands, respectively. The bacterial communities were compared between sites with the lowest TTX concentrations and the Hokianga Harbor (site with the highest TTX concentrations), and the core bacterial communities from TTX-bearing individuals were analyzed. The results from both spatial and temporal studies corroborate with previous hypotheses that Vibrio and Bacillus could be responsible for the source of TTX in bivalves. The results from this study also indicate that marine cyanobacteria, in particular picocyanobacteria (e.g., Cyanobium, Synechococcus, Pleurocapsa, and Prochlorococcus), should be investigated further as potential TTX producers.

Highlights

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is one of the most potent naturally occurring neurotoxins in the world (Noguchi et al, 2011)
Spatial Study Tetrodotoxin was detected in P. australis from sites all around New Zealand (Figure 1A) with TTX as the main congener (>99%) in all samples
Our results from both spatial and temporal studies correlate with some previous hypotheses that Vibrio and Bacillus could be responsible for the source of TTX in the New Zealand endemic clams P. australis

Summary

Introduction

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is one of the most potent naturally occurring neurotoxins in the world (Noguchi et al, 2011). Tetrodotoxin is found in a wide variety of phylogenetically unrelated terrestrial, marine and freshwater organisms (Bane et al, 2014) and the consumption of seafood, primarily puffer fish and gastropods, contaminated with TTX has resulted in many human intoxications (Noguchi et al, 2011). It was first identified in marine bivalves (Japanese scallops, Pactinopecten yessoensis) in 1993 (Kodama et al, 1993), but recently there has been an increase in detection and published reports with TTX identified in ten bivalve species from seven countries (Biessy et al, 2019a). There are indications that some of the methods (e.g., high performance-liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) used to analyze the TTX-producing bacteria in culture generate false positives (Matsumura, 1995)

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