Pfiesteria
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Pfiesteria is a genus of dinoflagellates.
Pfiesteria (Pfiesteria piscicida) is a dinoflagellate that some researchers claimed was toxic and in large blooms was responsible for fish kills in the 1980s and 1990s on the coast of North Carolina and in tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. This finding is now under serious scrutiny, and many experts now say the algae is not toxic, bolstering that claim by peer-reviewed evidence.
While some researchers have claimed that its living cycle is extremely complex (these scientists have found at least 24 different stages, spanning from cyst to several amoeba-like forms), newer peer-reviewed research by government and university dinoflagellate experts has found only a simple life cycle with no toxic amoebic stage. The original research claimed that the organism apparently moves through many different stages as environmental conditions require. However, the new research from 2002 claims the cycle is much simpler than previously thought (See external Links), and that the true Pfisteria is non-toxic). Further peer-reviewed research based on advanced DNA-analyses shows that the organism lacks certain genetic structure to be capable of making the type of toxic proteins associated with typical dinoflagellates.
[edit] External links
- http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1046/j.1529-8817.2002.t01-1-01242.x/abs/
- http://www.vims.edu/pfiesteria/FAQ.html
- http://research.unc.edu/endeavors/fall2002/pfiesteria_3.html
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