Disease relevance of Dinoflagellida

• Sera from patients with autoimmune diseases have been used to identify small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNPs) present in higher eukaryotic cells and also in dinoflagellates [1].
• The peridinin chlorophyll-a protein (PCP) of dinoflagellates differs from the well-studied light-harvesting complexes of purple bacteria and green plants in its large (4:1) carotenoid to chlorophyll ratio and the unusual properties of its primary pigment, the carotenoid peridinin [2].
• Evidence that some dinoflagellates contain a ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase related to that of the alpha-proteobacteria [3].
• The most probable source of ciguatera is thought to be the benthic microorganism, Gambierdiscus toxicus, which produces both CTX and MTX, but other species of dinoflagellates such as Prorocentrum lima may also contribute with secondary toxins associated with the disease [4].
• An extracellular polysaccharide from marine microalga, dinoflagellate Gymnodinium sp. A3 (GA3), showed cytotoxicity to human myeloid leukemia K562 cells [5].

High impact information on Dinoflagellida

• Photosynthetic dinoflagellates are important aquatic primary producers and notorious causes of toxic 'red tides'. Typical dinoflagellate chloroplasts differ from all other plastids in having a combination of three envelope membranes and peridinin-chlorophyll a/c light-harvesting pigments [6].
• Peridinin-chlorophyll-protein, a water-soluble light-harvesting complex that has a blue-green absorbing carotenoid as its main pigment, is present in most photosynthetic dinoflagellates [7].
• When given in a noninducing photoperiod, melatonin and an analog, 5-methoxytryptamine, substances that had previously been shown to occur in Gonyaulax, provoked cyst formation [8].
• Autoimmune sera of the Sm specificity react with the major class of small nuclear RNA (snRNA)-containing ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNP's) from organisms as evolutionarily divergent as insects and dinoflagellates but have been reported not to recognize snRNP's from yeast [9].
• As expected from previous analyses, the fucoxanthin-containing dinoflagellates formed a well-supported sister group with haptophytes in the rbcL tree [10].

Chemical compound and disease context of Dinoflagellida

• At least four different species of the toxic dinoflagellates cause shellfish and fish poisoning in the United States: Ptychodiscus brevis, neurotoxic shellfish poisoning; Protogonyaulax catenella and P tamarensis, paralytic shellfish poisoning; and Gambierdiscus toxicus, ciguatera fish poisoning [11].
• Toxicity bioassays based on survival were carried out with cells of the marine dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polyedra exposed to mercury (Hg2+ ), cadmium (Cd2+), lead (Pb2+) and copper (Cu2+) [12].

Biological context of Dinoflagellida

• When the dinoflagellates were isolated from their host, the giant clam (Tridacna gigas), CO(2) uptake was found to support the majority of net photosynthesis (45%-80%) at pH 8.0; however, 2 d after isolation this decreased to 5% to 65%, with HCO(3)(-) uptake supporting 35% to 95% of net photosynthesis [13].
• The phylogeny of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase indicates lateral gene transfer from cryptomonads to dinoflagellates [14].
• This structural feature accounts for the efficient light-harvesting process of dinoflagellates as the exciton interaction lengthens the lifetime of peridinin (radiative) and the complex topology increases the energy transfer probability [15].
• Peridinin-pigmented dinoflagellates contain secondary plastids that seem to have undergone more nearly complete plastid genome reduction than other eukaryotes [16].
• A luciferin binding protein (LBP) can easily be extracted from the two Gonyaulax species (MW approximately 120,000 daltons), but none could be detected in extracts of either D. lunula or P. noctiluca [17].

Anatomical context of Dinoflagellida

• A single origin of the peridinin- and fucoxanthin-containing plastids in dinoflagellates through tertiary endosymbiosis [10].
• Identification of an HSP70-related protein associated with the centrosome from dinoflagellates to human cells [18].
• The peridinin-pigmented plastids of dinoflagellates are very poorly understood, in part because of the paucity of molecular data available from these endosymbiotic organelles [19].
• The effects of okadaic acid (OA), a monocarboxylic acid produced by marine dinoflagellates belonging to the genera Dinophysis and Prorocentrum, and their interactions with theophylline and caffeine were studied on the rat-isolated uterus in a calcium-containing medium and a calcium-free medium in the presence of 10(-3) M EGTA [20].

Associations of Dinoflagellida with chemical compounds

• The circadian-expressed luciferin-binding protein from the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polyedra is regulated at the translational level [21].
• Letter: Dinosterol, the major sterol with a unique side chain ion the toxic dinoflagellate, Gonyaulax tamarensis [22].
• Acid phosphatase localization in PAS-bodies of Gonyaulax [23].
• To decipher the complex signaling events which lead to encystment, we have investigated the functional roles of Ca2+ and inositol phosphates in indoleamine-induced encystment of the dinoflagellates Alexandrium catenella and Crypthecodinium cohnii [24].
• "Species" radiations of symbiotic dinoflagellates in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific since the Miocene-Pliocene transition [25].

Gene context of Dinoflagellida

• A transcriptional fusion of genes encoding glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and enolase in dinoflagellates [26].
• U3 snoRNA has been previously characterized from several sources, including human, rat, mouse, frog, fruit fly, dinoflagellates, slime mold, and yeast; in all these organisms, U3 snoRNA contains trimethylguanosine cap structure [27].
• The present study thus demonstrated the presence of the spindle checkpoint and APC-mediated cyclin degradation in dinoflagellates [28].
• COX1 amino acid identity and phylogenetic tree analyses strongly support a close evolutionary relationship between dinoflagellates and apicomplexans; however, inclusion of the ciliates in this clade is less well supported, a result likely due to the highly derived nature of ciliate COX1 sequences [29].
• An AT-rich cDNA isolated from a Gonyaulax library was identified as a putative mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 3 (cox3) by sequence comparisons [30].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Dinoflagellida

• Molecular cloning and genomic organization of a gene for luciferin-binding protein from the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polyedra [31].
• The neurotoxic actions of T17 , a toxin isolated from the red-tide dinoflagellate Ptychodiscus brevis, on membrane excitability were investigated by the intracellular microelectrode technique on the crayfish giant axons and by the voltage clamp experiments on the squid giant axons [32].
• Monitoring brevetoxins during a Gymnodinium breve red tide: comparison of sodium channel specific cytotoxicity assay and mouse bioassay for determination of neurotoxic shellfish toxins in shellfish extracts [33].
• Both athecate cells and motile forms of gonyaulacoid dinoflagellates derived from size-fractionated plankton material from Nova Scotia, Canada were sorted and pooled by the glass micropipette isolation technique and by flow cytometry [34].
• A protein present in extracts of the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax that was capable of binding an antibody directed against the conserved Cdc2 kinase epitope EGVPSTAIREISLLKE was characterized by Western blot analysis and DNA sequencing and shown not to encode a Cdc2 kinase [35].

References