Effects of temperature, salinity and CO2 concentration on growth and toxin production of the harmful algal bloom species Alexandrium pseudogonyaulax (Dinophyceae) from the Danish Limfjord

The marine dinoflagellate Alexandrium pseudogonyaulax is a widely distributed Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) species that produces the macrocyclic polyketide goniodomin A (GDA). Occurrences in northern European waters are increasing and a spreading of the species along a salinity gradient into the Baltic Sea has been observed. As GDA is suspected to lead to invertebrate mortality, the spreading is of concern for the environment and possibly human health. In order to assess the potential of A. pseudogonyaulax to adapt to the environmental conditions in the Baltic Sea and the risk of future harmful blooms of that species, we quantified the influence of bottom-up factors on the growth and toxin content of three strains of A. pseudogonyaulax from the Danish Limfjord. Specifically, we exposed these strains to salinities ranging from 5 to 50, temperatures in the range of 10 – 30 °C and to three different CO₂ concentrations of 250, 400 and 1000 µatm. All strains tolerated a broad range of salinities and temperatures, resulting in positive growth rates ranging from 0.06 to 0.33 d^-1 between temperatures of 12 and 27 °C and between salinities of 10 and 40. The highest cell quotas of GDA were measured at low temperatures. For two strains, GDA amounts were almost unaffected by salinity, while the cell quota of the third strain decreased about 20-fold when salinity increased above 30. Different CO₂ concentrations had no effect on growth or GDA production. In summary, these findings show a high ecological tolerance towards a wide range of temperatures and salinities of the Limfjord population of A. pseudogonyaulax, together with distinct intraspecific physiological differences within the population. Our results also suggest that a further spreading into the Baltic Sea might be possible.