Ubiquitous 'benign' alga emerges as the cause of shellfish contamination responsible for the human toxic syndrome, azaspiracid poisoning.

A new human toxic syndrome, azaspiracid poisoning (AZP), was identified following illness from the consumption of contaminated mussels (Mytilus edulis). To discover the aetiology of AZP, sensitive analytical protocols involving liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) were used to screen marine phytoplankton for azaspiracids. Collections of single species were prepared by manually separating phytoplankton for LC-MS analysis. A dinoflagellate species of the genus, Protoperidinium, has been identified as the progenitor of azaspiracids. Azaspiracid-1, and its analogues, AZA2 and AZA3, were identified in extracts of 200 cells using electrospray multiple tandem MS. This discovery has significant implications for both human health and the aquaculture industry since this phytoplankton genus was previously considered to be toxicologically benign. The average toxin content was 1.8 fmol of total AZA toxins per cell with AZA1 as the predominant toxin, accounting for 82% of the total.