UC San Diego

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have been documented to harbor algae capable of producing toxins harmful to both humans and marine life. Lingulodinium polyedrum, the major dinoflagellate species in the recent algal blooms in southern California in 2011 and 2013, has been shown to induce allergic responses in humans exposed to the bloom. The chemical natures of the compounds produced by L. polyedrum which induce this response are as of yet unknown. This study had the goal of determining whether L. polyedrum contains any pro-inflammatory compounds and to discern whether these compounds could induce an allergic reaction. Bioassay guided fractionation and chemical separation of cultured L. polyedrum has led to the isolation of a glycolipid produced by L. polyedrum, monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (20:5/18:5). Evaluation of the pro-inflammatory capacity of this glycolipid revealed that this glycolipid does not induce a pro-inflammatory response.