Open Access
REVIEW
Oxidative effects of the harmful algal blooms on primary organisms of the food web
Joaquin Cabrera1,2, Paula Mariela González1,2, Susana Puntarulo1,2
1
Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Fisicoquímica. Buenos Aires, Argentina
2
CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular (IBIMOL). Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Address correspondence to: Susana Puntarulo,
BIOCELL 2019, 43(2), 41-50. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2019.06163
Abstract
Degraded water quality from nutrient pollution, physical, biological, and other chemical factors contributes
to the development and persistence of many harmful algal blooms (HABs). The complex dynamics of the HABs is
a challenge to marine ecosystems for the toxic effects reported. The consequences include fish, bird, and mammal
mortality, respiratory or digestive tract problems, memory loss, seizures, lesions and skin irritation in many organisms.
This review is intended to briefly summarize the recent reported information on harmful marine toxin deleterious
effects over the primary organisms of the food web, namely algae, zooplankton and invertebrates. Special focus is made
on oxidative stress status of cells and tissues. Even though
in situ field research is less controlled than laboratory studies,
in which the organisms are directly exposed to the toxins under consideration, both types of approaches are required to
fully understand such a complex scenario. On top of that, the contribution of the increasing water temperatures in the
sea, as a consequence of the global climate change, will be addressed as a topic for further studies, to evaluate the effect
on regulating algal growth, species composition, trophic structure, metabolic stress and function of aquatic ecosystems.
Keywords
Cite This Article
Cabrera, J., González, P. M., Puntarulo, S. (2019). Oxidative effects of the harmful algal blooms on primary organisms of the food web.
BIOCELL, 43(2), 41–50.