Development of bioanalytical devices for the detection of ciguatoxins and the ciguatoxin producing genera Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa

Identifier:  TDX:3831

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX3831

Authors:  Gaiani, Greta

Abstract:
Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is a disease that causes gastrointestinal, cardiological and neurological symptoms that can last weeks, months or even years. It is caused by the ingestion of fish containing ciguatoxins (CTXs), compounds produced by microalgae of the genera Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa, which accumulate into fish flesh and through the food webs. This thesis aims at providing biotechnological tools for the characterization of the CFP risk in order to guarantee food safety and protect human health. To achieve this objective, fast extraction techniques for DNA and CTXs with the use of portable devices have been developed. Then, on the one hand, isothermal recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) and PCR with tailed primers have been used to amplify DNA from the genera Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa and from the species G. australes and G. excentricus, amplicons that were subsequently detected with sandwich hybridization assays and biosensors. On the other hand, antibodies that target four main CTXs belonging to two groups of congeners (CTX1B and CTX3C) have been used in the development of immunoassays and immunosensors. Finally, the developed systems were successfully applied to the analysis of natural samples.