Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is caused by consumption of a wide variety of shellfish which accumulated saxitoxins (STXs) from marine dinoflagellates (Alexandrium minutum, A. tamarense, Gymnodinium catenatum, Pyrodinium bahamense) and affect a wide variety of shellfish. There are about 20 saxitoxin analogs with closely related structures. A regulatory level of 0.8 mg/kg shellfish meat as ...

Neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP) is caused by consumption of molluscan shellfish contaminated with brevetoxins primarily produced by the dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis. Blooms of K. brevis, called Florida red tide, occur frequently along the Gulf of Mexico. Many shellfish beds in the US (and other nations) are routinely monitored for presence of K. brevis and other brevetoxin-producing orga...

Noroviruses (NoV), which are members of the family Caliciviridae, are the most important cause of outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis worldwide and are commonly found in shellfish grown in polluted waters. In the present study, we developed broadly reactive one-step TaqMan reverse transcription (RT)-PCR assays for the detection of genogroup I (GI) and GII NoV in fecal samples, as well as shellfi...

AIMS The aim of this study was to detect the main pathogenic human RNA enteric viruses able to persist in the environment such as astrovirus, enterovirus, norovirus and hepatitis A virus (HAV) in shellfish collected from two locations in northern Tunisia. METHODS AND RESULTS Viruses were eluted from digestive tissues and concentrated by polyethylene glycol precipitation before nucleic acid ex...

To investigate the prevalence of lipophilic marine biotoxins in shellfish from the Chinese market, we used hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to measure levels of okadaic acid (OA), azaspiracid (AZA1), pectenotoxin (PTX2), gymnodimine (GYM), and spirolide (SPX1). We collected and analyzed 291 shellfish samples from main production sites along a wid...

The differential and selective sodium dodecyl sulfate-polymyxin B-sucrose medium (SPS) of Kitaura et al. (T. Kitaura, S. Doke, I. Azuma, M. Imaida, K. Miyano, K. Harada, and E. Yabuuchii, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 17:205-209, 1983), which highlights alkylsulfatase activity, was evaluated for its potential use in the direct isolation and enumeration of Vibrio vulnificus from shellfish. V. vulnificus...

A fluorescent zebrafish was the first genetically engineered animal to be marketed, and biotechnologists are developing many transgenic fish and shellfish. Biosafety science is not sufficiently advanced to be able to draw scientifically reliable and broadly trusted conclusions about the environmental effects of these animals. The science is best developed for identifying hazards posed by enviro...

In this lesson, students will learn methods for spawning bivalve mollusks (e.g. clams or oysters) using thermal induction. Students will acquire skills in using an ocular micrometer to measure the diameter of bivalve eggs and the length of bivalve larvae. The following lesson plan will have students monitoring the density of larvae in their culture system and understanding production protocols ...

In Prince Edward Island (PEI), shellfish (bivalves comprised of mussel and oyster) aquaculture production occurs in sheltered, generally shallow bays. The productive capacity of a bay for shellfish aquaculture is determined by many factors including the hydrodynamics of the bay and input of nutrients. There is considered to be a limit to the production (biomass) that can be extracted from an ar...

The acyl-CoA: cholesterol acyl transferase (ACAT) reaction in macrophages is a critical step in atherosclerotic foam cell formation, but little is known about the reaction's sterol substrate specificity. In this report we examine the macrophage ACAT reactivity of the shellfish sterol, desmosterol, and other sterols found in man because of shellfish ingestion or in association with the foam cell...