Interaction of a dinoflagellate neurotoxin with voltage-activated ion channels in a marine diatom

BACKGROUND: The potent neurotoxins produced by the harmful algal bloom species Karenia brevis are activators of sodium voltage-gated channels (VGC) in animals, resulting in altered channel kinetics and membrane hyperexcitability. Recent biophysical and genomic evidence supports widespread presence of homologous sodium (Na(+)) and calcium (Ca(2+)) permeable VGCs in unicellular algae, including marine phytoplankton. We therefore hypothesized that VGCs of these phytoplankton may be an allelopathic target for waterborne neurotoxins produced by K. brevis blooms that could lead to ion channel dysfunction and disruption of signaling in a similar manner to animal Na(+) VGCs. METHODS: We examined the interaction of brevetoxin-3 (PbTx-3), a K. brevis neurotoxin, with the Na(+)/Ca(2+) VGC of the non-toxic diatom Odontella sinensis using electrophysiology. Single electrode current- and voltage- clamp recordings from O. sinensis in the presence of PbTx-3 were used to examine the toxin’s effect on voltage gated Na(+)/Ca(2+) currents. In silico analysis was used to identify the putative PbTx binding site in the diatoms. We identified Na(+)/Ca(2+) VCG homologs from the transcriptomes and genomes of 12 diatoms, including three transcripts from O. sinensis and aligned them with site-5 of Na(+) VGCs, previously identified as the PbTx binding site in animals. RESULTS: Up to 1 µM PbTx had no effect on diatom resting membrane potential or membrane excitability. The kinetics of fast inward Na(+)/Ca(2+) currents that underlie diatom action potentials were also unaffected. However, the peak inward current was inhibited by 33%, delayed outward current was inhibited by 25%, and reversal potential of the currents shifted positive, indicating a change in permeability of the underlying channels. Sequence analysis showed a lack of conservation of the PbTx binding site in diatom VGC homologs, many of which share molecular features more similar to single-domain bacterial Na(+)/Ca(2+) VGCs than the 4-domain eukaryote channels. DISCUSSION: Although membrane excitability and the kinetics of action potential currents were unaffected, the permeation of the channels underlying the diatom action potential was significantly altered in the presence of PbTx-3. However, at environmentally relevant concentrations the effects of PbTx- on diatom voltage activated currents and interference of cell signaling through this pathway may be limited. The relative insensitivity of phytoplankton VGCs may be due to divergence of site-5 (the putative PbTx binding site), and in some cases, such as O. sinensis, resistance to toxin effects may be because of evolutionary loss of the 4-domain eukaryote channel, while retaining a single domain bacterial-like VGC that can substitute in the generation of fast action potentials.