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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2003, p. 5693-5698, Vol. 69, No. 9
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.9.5693-5698.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Reevaluation of Production of Paralytic Shellfish Toxin by Bacteria Associated with Dinoflagellates of the Portuguese Coast

Laboratório de Microbiologia e Ecotoxicologia, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge, 1649-016 Lisbon, Portugal,¹ Marine Biotoxins Program, Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, National Ocean Service, Charleston, South Carolina 29412²

Received 3 September 2002/ Accepted 3 July 2003

Paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) are potent neurotoxins produced by certain dinoflagellate and cyanobacterial species. The autonomous production of PSTs by bacteria remains controversial. In this study, PST production by two bacterial strains, isolated previously from toxic dinoflagellates, was evaluated using biological and analytical methods. Analyses were performed under conditions determined previously to be optimal for toxin production and detection. Our data are inconsistent with autonomous bacterial PST production under these conditions, thereby challenging previous findings for the same strains.