Causative Organisms: Gonyaulax sp. (10), Lingulodinium sp. (13), Protoceratium sp. (1, 8, 9) (18)

Mode of Activity: not yet known, but in vitro studies have shown that YTX modulates the calcium homeostasis in human lymphocytes and induces a selective disruption of the E- cadherin-catenin system in epithelial cells (11*)

Toxicity: lethal dose (LD50) varies among the different analogues between 80 and 750 μg/Kg (11)

Geographic range: 65 oN-50 oS (11)

Species:

G. spinifera (10), L. polyedrum (11*), P. reticulatum (8, 9)

Impacts of Toxin

Marine Food Web:

Toxin is bio-magnified and/or bio-transformed up the food web (11*)
YTX effects basic immune function in mussels (16, 17)

Behavioral: No information is currently available

Economic:

No current economic impacts have been documented

Human Health

Name of Malody: diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) (1), but there is debate whether YTX should be classified as a DSP toxin as it is non-diarrheogenic (6, 7)

Symptoms:  Symptoms in humans is unknown due to there being no documented cases presently (11)

 *and references cited therein.  **MU (mouse unit): the amount of crude toxin that will kill a 20-gm in 15 minutes, or the LD50 of the population in 24 hours (8)

References

1. Aune, T. et al., 2002. Comparison of oral and intraperitoneal toxicity of yessotoxin towards mice. Toxicon, 40(1), 77-82.   
2. Satake, M. et al., 1996. Relative configuration of yessotoxin and isolation of two new analogs from toxic scallops. Tetrahedron Letters, 37(33), 5955-5958. 
3. Takahashi, H. et al., 1996. Determination of the absolute configuration of yessotoxin, a polyether compound implicated in diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, by NMR spectroscopic method using a chiral anisotropic reagent, methoxy-(2-naphthyl)acetic acid. Tetrahedron Letters, 37(39), 7087-7090. 
4. Ciminiello, P. et al., 1997. Yessotoxin in mussels of the northern Adriatic Sea. Toxicon, 35(2), 177-183. 
5. Ciminiello, P. et al., 1998. Isolation of adriatoxin, a new analogue of yessotoxin from mussels of the Adriatic sea. Tetrahedron Letters, 39(48), 8897-8900.  Hiroyuki Ogino, Masanori Kumagai, and Takeshi Yasumoto, “Toxicologic evaluation of Yessotoxin,” Natural Toxins 5, no. 6 (1997): 255-259. 
6. Laura A de la Rosa et al., “Modulation of cytosolic calcium levels of human lymphocytes by yessotoxin, a novel marine phycotoxin[star, open],” Biochemical Pharmacology 61, no. 7 (April 1, 2001): 827-833. 
7. de la Rosa, L.A. et al., 2001. Modulation of cytosolic calcium levels of human lymphocytes by yessotoxin, a novel marine phycotoxin[star, open]. Biochemical Pharmacology, 61(7), 827-833. 
8. Eiki, K. et al., 2005. Confirmation of yessotoxin production by the dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum in Mutsu Bay. Fisheries Science, 71(3), 633-638.
9. Samdal, I.A. et al., 2004. Use of ELISA to identify Protoceratium reticulatum as a source of yessotoxin in Norway. Toxicon, 44(1), 75-82.
10. Lesley Rhodes et al., “Yessotoxin production by Gonyaulax spinifera,” Harmful Algae 5, no. 2 (March 2006): 148-155. 
11. Paz, B. et al., 2008. Yessotoxins, a group of marine polyether toxins: an overview. Marine Drugs, 6(2), 73.
12. Hansen, G., Moestrup, O. & Roberts, K.R., 1996. Light and electron microscopical observations on Protoceratium reticulatum (Dinophyceae). Archiv fur Protistenkunde, 147(3), 381–391.
13. Lewis, J. & Hallett, R., 1997. Lingulodinium polyedrum (Gonyaulux polyedra) a blooming dinoflagellate. Oceanography and marine biology, 35, 97–162.
14. Lewis, J. & Burton, P., 1988. A study of newly excysted cells of Gonyaulax polyedra (Dinophyceae) by electron microscopy. European Journal of Phycology, 23(1), 49–60.
15. Figueroa, R.I. & Bravo, I., 2005. Sexual reproduction and two different encystment strategies of Lingulodinium polyedrum (Dinophyceae) in culture. Journal of Phycology, 41(2), 370-379. 
16. Malagoli, D. & Ottaviani, E., 2004. Yessotoxin affects fMLP-induced cell shape changes inMytilus galloprovincialis immunocytes. Cell Biology International, 28(1), 57-61.
17. Malagoli, D., Casarini, L. & Ottaviani, E., 2006. Algal toxin yessotoxin signalling pathways involve immunocyte mussel calcium channels. Cell Biology International, 30(9), 721-726.
18. Paz, B. et al., 2004. Production and release of yessotoxins by the dinoflagellates Protoceratium reticulatum and Lingulodinium polyedrum in culture. Toxicon, 44(3), 251-258.