Dados do Trabalho

Título

FIRST REPORT OF BORBOTOXIN OCCURRENCE ON THE BRAZILIAN COAST

Introdução

Like any food, fish consumption carries microbiological, physical, and chemical risks. Regarding bivalve mollusks, a significant risk is the accumulation of marine biotoxins in these organisms. Borbotoxin is an emerging biotoxin produced by Prorocentrum borbonicum and other related dinoflagellates. This toxin is still unknown in terms of its molecular structure and has not yet been reported on the Brazilian coast.

Material e Métodos

A culture of Prorocentrum borbonicum from the northeastern coast of Brazil was analyzed using LC-MS/MS and reverse-phase chromatography. The cell pellets were extracted with methanol (90:10, v/v), assisted by ultrasound. The analysis was conducted on a liquid chromatography system coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) with positive mode electrospray ionization. Chromatographic separation was performed using a C8 Zorbax Eclipse Plus column. The mobile phase flow was maintained at 600 µL/min with an elution gradient. The mobile phase consisted of water with calcium acetate and acetonitrile with calcium acetate. The mass spectrometer used was a hybrid triple quadrupole-ion trap model, configured for multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). Ionization parameters were optimized using factorial design. The MRM mode was used for detecting borbotoxin A and B using mass data obtained from the literature.

Resultados e Discussão

Peaks with masses similar to those in the literature were found in 2 of 10 algal cell extracts. Experiments using the ion trap produced MS/MS spectra in agreement with previous studies. Due to the absence of analytical standards, the mass spectrometry data were used to confirm the structures. Based on the data, the occurrence of borbotoxin was confirmed.

Conclusão

To our knowledge, this is the first report of borbotoxin occurrence in Brazil. Further studies will be conducted to propose a molecular structure for this relatively unknown marine biotoxin.