Acronym LINGUATOX
Category
Fisheries
Title Bioelectronic tongue for the detection of marine toxins in bivalves Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Alisa Rudnitskaya Coordinator email NA
Coordinator institution
UA - University of Aveiro (Portugal)
Institutions involved
CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (Portugal) ,
GEOBIOTEC - Geobiosciences, Geoengineering and Geotechnologies (Portugal) ,
Start year 2014 End year 2015 Funding (€) € 229,783 Website https://www.cesam-la.pt/projetos/linguatox-lingua-bioeletronica-para-a-detecao-de-toxinas-marinhas-em-bivalves/ Summary "All coastal countries are affected by toxic algal blooms (HABs). Some of these algae biosynthesize toxins that are harmful to marine life and, when accumulated in certain organisms such as bivalve molluscs, can cause illness and death in humans after ingestion. Globally, as in Portugal, there has been an increase in the number of HABs, toxins and toxic species, as well as in the economic losses associated with HAB events. Monitoring marine toxins in bivalve molluscs is necessary given the unpredictability of the occurrence of HABs. These toxins are generally classified into 3 distinct groups, depending on the symptoms caused in humans, and are monitored in the European Union (EU): diarrheal poisoning (STDs), paralytic (PSTs) and amnesic (ASTs) toxins [5]. In Portugal, a monitoring program was implemented in 1986 for PSTs, in 1987 for DSTs and in 1996 for ASTs. Although these toxins have been detected along the entire Portuguese coast, the northwest region, Ria de Aveiro and Algarve are among the most problematic with frequent contamination.
Routine analyzes of marine toxins in bivalves in Portugal are carried out by the National Reference Laboratory – Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera. Although the occurrence of PSTs is less frequent than the rest, they are of particular interest due to the severity of the neurological symptoms they cause in humans. Until recently, the reference methods for detecting marine toxins were rat bioassays that use the death of animals exposed to the toxins as the end point in determining toxicity. In addition to the ethical implications of this method, bioassays in mice have been criticized for having insufficient sensitivity and selectivity. Efforts to replace bioassays with alternative analytical techniques have resulted in the EU approval of Liquid Chromatography with fluorimetric detection (LC-FLD) as an alternative method for detecting PSP toxins. However, HPLC-FLD is a laboratory technique that requires expensive equipment and specialized personnel. Therefore, there is a need to develop alternative tests that are inexpensive, fast and can be used as screening and alarm tools. Sensors and immunoassays are the best placed candidates for the development of this tool, and there are already promising results.
This project proposes the development of a bioelectronic tongue based on chemical sensors and biosensors for the rapid detection of PSP toxins, focusing exclusively on the toxins already detected on the Portuguese coast. The electronic tongue consists of a battery of cross-sensitive sensors, a measuring device and data processing tools. The electronic tongue combines the advantages of sensors such as speed of analysis, simple instrumentation and relatively low cost with improved analytical characteristics. Successful applications of electronic tongue for the quantification of organic and inorganic compounds have been reported several times by project participants.
Application of the electronic tongue for the detection of marine toxins would allow better management of the cultivation and harvesting of bivalves, mainly in remote and/or offshore areas, a reduction in the cost of analyzing negative samples in monitoring programs and reducing risk and costs associated contaminated bivalves are supplied for human consumption."
Keywords
Biosensors;
Bivalve;
Algal toxins;
Mollusc;
Shellfish;
Monitoring;
Marine Region
0
NA
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