Bill BromerK. Rebecca ThomasMarsha TimmermanLinda Weinland

Trees from the Seas:Trees from the Seas:Investigating Phylogeny Using Investigating Phylogeny Using

DinoflagellatesDinoflagellates

As Lars and Sven set sail on their fishing boat, they noticed that the seas had finally calmed. After a day of trawling, they discovered that 30% of the fish were dead and had massive skin lesions. Lars immediately called the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to alert them that there was a problem with the catch. Maria-Jose, the director of marine fisheries at the DNR, asked Lars whether he or Sven had experienced any of the symptoms associated with red tide.

What do we know? What do we need to know?

What is this part of the case about?

Red TideRed Tide

DinoflagellatesDinoflagellates

ToxinsToxins

saxitoxin

brevetoxinciguatoxin

yessotoxin

The DNR informed Lars and Sven that they needed to destroy all the fish in their catch. This was the third time in two years that they had received such an order. Frustrated, Lars and Sven contacted START (Solutions to Avoid Red Tide, Inc.), a non-profit organization committed to reducing the environmental, economic, social, and public health impacts of future red tides.

Clarissa, one of the founders of START, commented to her laboratory supervisor, “We need to help these guys. Let’s collect some samples and run them through the phylogenetic analysis process that we developed last year. Maybe that will help us pinpoint the source of the problem.”

What do we know? What do we need to know?

What is this part of the case about?

Marsha…Marsha…

Student OutcomesStudent Outcomes

Build a simple phylognetic treeAnalyze different phylogenetic treesTest hypotheses of character evolution within the context of a phylogentic diagram

ResourcesResources• Anderson, DM. 2007. The Harmful Algae Page, http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/ Woods Hole

Oceanographic Institute. • Anderson, DM. 2007. Human illness associated with harmful algae.

http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/illness/illness.html Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. • Brevetoxin B http://www.ncl.ox.ac.uk/quicktime/brevetoxin.html• Burkholder, JM; Glasgow, HB; Deamer-Melia, NJ; Springer, J; Parrow, MW; Zhang, C; and Cancellieri PJ.

2001. Species of the toxic Pfiesteria complex, and the importance of functional type in data interpretation. Environmental Health Perspectives 109:667-679.

• Clamp, M.; Cuff, J.; Searle, SM; and Barton, GJ. 2004. The Jalview Java Alignment Editor. Bioinformatics 20:426-7

• Images• www.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/.../cell_covering.html• www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artsep01/dinof.html• www.mdsg.umd.edu/MarineNotes/Jul-Aug97/side1.html• www.serc.si.edu/.../dinoflagellates/gsang.jsp• chbr.noaa.gov/pmn/resfspfiesteria.htm• www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/protista/dinoflagmm.html• www.lifeinfreshwater.org.uk/.../Pollution.htm• www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/.../Biotoxins/PSP_e.htm• daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/.../12_classics_blooms.shtml• European Bioinformatics Institute http://www.ebi.ac.uk/• EBI Tools: ClustalW http://www.ebi.ac.uk/clustalw/• Faust, MA and Gulledge RA. 2002. Identifying Harmful Marine Dinoflagellates,

http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany/projects/dinoflag/index.htm Smithsonian Institution• Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. Regional red tide summaries and status reports

http://research.myfwc.com/features/view_article.asp?id=9670• GenBank http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Genbank/• Hackett, JD; Anderson, DM; Erdner, DL; and Bhattacharya, D. 2004. Dinoflagellates: A remarkable

evolutionary experiment. Am J Bot 91:1523-34.• Jalview A Multialignment Editor http://www.jalview.org/

AcknowledgementsAcknowledgements

We wish to thank the entire BioQUEST staff and all our colleagues for the help, inspiration, motivation - and laughs.

“all ignorance toboggans into knowand trudges up to ignorance again...” - e.e. cummings

Table of Dinoflagellate Table of Dinoflagellate CharacteristicsCharacteristics

Dinoflagellate Toxin Disease

Morphology (size,

theca, etc.)

Photosynthetic pigments

(and alternate nutrition)

Reproduction

Ecology, Habitat, Locality

Prorocentrum ciguatoxinmaitotoxinokadaic acid

DSP 30-38 µm l x 20-25 µm w,armoured

chl a and c binary fission, sexual

marine, benthic, tropical and subtropical

Gymnodinium saxitoxins PSP 34-65 µm l x 27-43 µm w, chain-forming,unarmoured

chl a and c binary fission, sexual

marine, planktonic, temperate and subtropical

Karenia brevetoxins

NSP 12-17 µm l x 20-40 µm w, unarmoured

chl a and c binary fission, sexual

marine and estuarine, planktonic, subtropical and temperate