Domoic acid (DA) is a neurotoxin produced by diatoms from the genera Pseudo-nitzschia and Nitzschia. DA is transferred through the food web when consumed by organisms such as copepods (e.g., Acartia tonsa). DA bioaccumulates in higher trophic levels and poses a threat to human health through amnesic shellfish poisoning. Laboratory experiments using a DA reference standard demonstrated that mild turbulence facilitates formation of organic polymer aggregates >0.6 µm in-vivo that can scavenge dissolved DA (dDA). Using A. tonsa, we demonstrate that DA can be assimilated through consumption of these organic polymers which scavenged dDA —a pathway which does not require direct ingestion of the toxin-producer Pseudo-nitzschia. In filtered seawater with spiked DA, copepods accumulated 24.8 ± 4.7 pg DA copepod⁻¹ (2.1 ppm) on average by consuming organic polymers. This was validated in one out of five experiments using ambient DA concentrations. Copepods were suspended in particle-free seawater and accumulated 14.4 ± 3.8 pg DA copepod⁻¹ (1.20 ppm), and in particle-concentrated seawater they accumulated 40.9 ± 3.8 pg DA copepod⁻¹ (3.42 ppm). Data from this experiment suggests that ~34% of the total assimilated DA entered via an organic polymer-bound DA pathway. This experiment had the highest Pseudo-nitzschia spp. abundance (~225,000 cells L ^− 1) and cellular toxin quota, up to 0.88 pg DA cell⁻¹, relative to the other four ambient DA experiments. These results demonstrate the potential for DA to enter the marine food web through an alternate pathway and may have considerable implications to understanding the flow of DA through marine food webs, and how we monitor DA and its potential vectors into the food web.

Domoic acid（DA）是由假尼兹菌属和尼兹菌属的硅藻产生的一种神经毒素。当被co足类动物（例如A螨）消耗时，DA通过食物网转移。DA的营养水平较高，并且会因遗忘性贝类中毒而对人类健康构成威胁。使用DA参考标准品的实验室实验表明，温和的湍流有助于体内形成大于0.6 µm的有机聚合物聚集体，从而可以清除溶解的DA（dDA）。使用A.tonsa，我们证明可以通过消耗清除dDA的这些有机聚合物来吸收DA-一种不需要直接摄取毒素产生剂的途径拟菱形藻。在掺有DA的过滤海水中，co足类通过消耗有机聚合物平均积累了24.8±4.7 pg DA pe足类^-1（2.1 ppm）。使用环境DA浓度的五分之一实验对此进行了验证。pe足类被悬浮在无颗粒的海水中，并累积了14.4±3.8 pg DA pe足类^-1（1.20 ppm），在浓缩颗粒的海水中，它们累积了40.9±3.8 pg DA pe足类^-1（3.42 ppm）。该实验的数据表明，约34％的同化DA通过有机聚合物结合的DA途径进入。该实验具有最高的假单胞菌属。丰度（〜225,000个细胞L  ^{−  1}）和细胞毒素配额，相对于其他四个环境DA实验而言，DA细胞^-1最高可达0.88 pg 。这些结果证明了DA通过替代途径进入海洋食物网的潜力，并且可能对理解DA通过海洋食物网的流动以及我们如何监测DA及其进入食物网的潜在载体具有重大意义。