MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 230:29-34 (2002) - doi:10.3354/meps230029 A fast fluorimetric assay (FFA) for the detection of saxitoxin in natural phytoplankton samples G. Gerdts1,*, C. Hummert2, G. Donner3, B. Luckas2, C. Schütt1 1Marine Chemistry and Natural Products, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Kurpromenade, 27483 Helgoland, Germany 2Deptartment of Biology and Pharamacy, Institute of Food Chemistry, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Dornburger Straße 24-29, 07743 Jena, Germany 3Taxonomische Arbeitsgruppe, Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Wattenmeerstation Sylt, Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Hafenstraße 43, 25992 List/Sylt, Germany *E-mail: ggerdts@awi-bremerhaven.de ABSTRACT: A fast fluorimetric assay (FFA) for the detection of saxitoxins in plankton samples was compared with the analysis by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The correlation between the results of the assay and those of the HPLC is significant for most of the carbamoyl saxitoxins. During research cruises to the Orkney Islands and the Firth of Forth (Scotland) in 1997 and 1998, samples of toxic Alexandrium spp. blooms were analyzed successfully by FFA and HPLC. Because the toxin pattern of toxic Alexandrium spp. mostly consists of highly fluorescent saxitoxins (like STX and GTX3), the assay can be applied for monitoring toxic Alexandrium spp. blooms and is suggested as a tool for future prewarning systems of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) events. KEY WORDS: Saxitoxin · Paralytic shellfish poisoning · PSP · Fast fluorimetric assay Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 230. Online publication date: April 05, 2002 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2002 Inter-Research.