Production of Paralytic Shellfish Toxins (PSTs) in Toxic is Intertwined with Photosynthesis and Energy Production.

To investigate the mechanism for the production of paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) in toxic dinoflagellates, with a 2D-gel based approach, we had made two sets of proteomic comparisons: (a) between a toxic (AC-T) and a phylogenetically closely related non-toxic strain (AC-N), (b) between toxic AC-T grown in a medium with 10% normal amount of phosphate (AC-T-10%P) known to induce higher toxicity and AC-T grown in normal medium. We found that photosynthesis and energy production related proteins were up-regulated in AC-T when compared to AC-N. However, the same group of proteins was down-regulated in AC-T-10%P when compared to normal AC-T.