David Ponce

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Jiang, Lin

Area of Concentration

Marine Biology

Abstract

The northern quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria Linnaeus, 1758) is heavily valued for its ability to filter excess nutrients from marine ecosystems, and as a delicacy in the shellfish aquaculture industry. However, humans may contract Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning from consuming northern quahogs that have accumulated toxins from the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis in their tissues, and current methods of toxin analysis are notoriously slow and inefficient. This study used 1H NMR spectroscopy to identify gill metabolites that may serve as immediate biomarkers of brevetoxin exposure in afflicted northern quahogs. A total of 70 adult northern quahogs were exposed to brevetoxin PbTx-2 for 24 hours, then subsequently dissected in order to extract metabolites from gill tissue. Samples were subjected to 1H NMR analysis after extraction was complete. Results showed that 18 metabolites significantly changed levels of expression after PbTx-2 exposure, including biotin (FC = 0.91), leucine (FC = 0.74), and taurine (FC = 0.80). Replicate studies should examine brevetoxin-induced metabolite changes in closely related clam species, as well as in juvenile northern quahogs.

Download

Share

COinS