Pfiesteria piscicida

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Pfiesteria piscicida
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Clade: Diaphoretickes
Clade: SAR
Clade: Alveolata
Phylum: Myzozoa
Superclass: Dinoflagellata
Class: Dinophyceae
Order: Thoracosphaerales
Family: Pfiesteriaceae
Genus: Pfiesteria
Species:
P. piscicida
Binomial name
Pfiesteria piscicida
Burkholder

Pfiesteria piscicida is a

estuaries.[1]
Piscicida means "fish-killer".

Life cycles

The complex life cycle of Pfiesteria piscidica. Red = toxic stages, yellow = possibly toxic stages, blue = passive stages

Early research suggested a very complex

toxic amoeboid stages[3] and amoebae present on attacked fish may represent an unrelated species of protist.[4][5]

Toxicity

Pfiesteria presumably kills fish via releasing a

NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the College of Charleston (S.C.) have formally isolated and characterized the toxin in the estuarine dinoflagellete Pfiesteria piscicida as a metal complex and free radical toxin and also have identified how the organism transforms from a non-toxic to toxic state.[8][9][10][11]

Human illness

Very little research on the human health effects of Pfiesteria toxins has been conducted. At a multi-state workshop at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, U.S., at the end of September 1997, attendees agreed on clinical symptoms that characterize a new illness associated with Pfiesteria exposure. These clinical features include:

  • memory loss
  • confusion
  • acute skin burning (on direct contact with water); or
  • three or more of an additional set of conditions (headaches, skin rash, eye irritation, upper respiratory irritation, muscle cramps, and gastrointestinal complaints (i.e., nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and/or abdominal cramps).

With these criteria and environmental qualifiers (e.g., 22% of a 50-fish sample, all of the same species, have lesions caused by a toxin), it is likely that Pfiesteria-related surveillance data can better track potential illnesses.

Pfiesteria toxins have been blamed for illness in those who have come in close contact with waters where this organism is abundant. Since June 1997, the Maryland Department of Health and Hygiene has been collecting data from Maryland physicians through a statewide surveillance system on illnesses suspected of being caused by Pfiesteria toxin. As of late October 1997, illness was reported by 146 persons who had been exposed to diseased fish or to waters that were the site of suspected Pfiesteria activity. Many of these persons are watermen and commercial fishermen.

The strongest evidence of Pfiesteria-associated human illness so far comes from case studies of two research scientists who were both overcome in their

Duke University Medical Center researchers conducted experiments on rats, which showed that the toxin appeared to slow learning but did not affect memory.[12]

Treatment with Colestyramine shortly after exposure has been shown to alleviate symptoms.[13]

Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: a report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), part of the Library of Congress

References

  1. ^ Lertzman, Renée Aron (1999). The wet, the wild and the weird : imagining Pfiesteria. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  2. S2CID 13467281
    .
  3. doi:10.1046/j.1529-8817.2002.t01-1-01242.x
    .
  4. ^ "Study casts doubt on Cell from Hell's role in fish kills". Retrieved 2008-01-06.
  5. S2CID 43191086
    .
  6. PMID 15728353
    .
  7. PMID 12163648
    .
  8. PMID 17598275
    .
  9. doi:10.1021/es072467g
    .
  10. ^ "Fish study backs N.C. scientist". Archived from the original on 2008-06-08. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
  11. ^ "Pfiesteria toxin breakthrough subject of teleconference briefing". Retrieved 2008-01-06.
  12. ^ Report on Pfiesteria and Related Harmful Blooms: Natural Resource and Human Health Concerns Archived 2006-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Congressional Research Service
  13. PMID 11401768
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pfiesteria_piscicida&oldid=1219055910"