The effects of salinity on the cellular permeability and cytotoxicity of Heterosigma akashiwo

A laboratory study using the fish‐killing raphidophyte Heterosigma akashiwo was conducted to examine its capability to grow at salinities below oceanic, and to test the perceived relationship between reduced salinities and increased cytotoxicity. A nonaxenic strain of H. akashiwo isolated from the U.S. Pacific Northwest was exposed to a combination of three salinity (32, 20, and 10) and five temperature (14.7°C, 18.4°C, 21.4°C, 24.4°C and 27.8°C) conditions. Our results demonstrate that cell permeability and cytotoxicity are strongly correlated in unialgal cultures of H. akashiwo, which both increased as salinity decreased from 32 to 10. Furthermore, over a broad median range of salinities (10 and 20), neither temperature nor specific growth rate was correlated with cytotoxicity. However, in cultures grown at the salinity of 32, both temperature and specific growth rate were inversely proportional to toxicity; this relationship was likely due to the effect of contamination by an unidentified species of Skeletonema in those cultures. The presence of Skeletonema sp. resulted in a cytotoxic response from H. akashiwo that was greater than the response caused by salinity alone. These laboratory results reveal the capability of H. akashiwo to become more toxic not only at reduced salinities but also in competition with another algal species. Changes in cell permeability in response to salinity may be an acclimation mechanism by which H. akashiwo is able to respond rapidly to different salinities. Furthermore, due to its strong positive correlation with cytotoxicity, cellular permeability is potentially associated with the ichthyotoxic pathway of this raphytophyte.