Harmful Blooms of Potentially Toxic Dinoflagellates in the Baltic Sea: Ecological, Cellular, and Molecular Background

The article is devoted to harmful blooms of potentially toxic planktonic dinoflagellates, which do not synthesize toxins, but are capable of releasing secondary metabolites the high concentration of which in the water column is detrimental to aquatic animals and dangerous to human health. Modern ideas about the key ecological, physicochemical, cellular, and molecular genetic prerequisites for the occurrence of red tides of dinoflagellates are analyzed. Effective adaptation strategies of potentially toxic dinoflagellates are considered based on the example of species of the genus Prorocentrum, characterized by significant intrapopulation heterogeneity, mixotrophic metabolism, and wide ecological plasticity in coastal waters of the Baltic Sea.

Automated summary

The article analyzes the occurrence mechanism of harmful blooms of planktonic dinoflagellates, which do not produce toxins but release secondary metabolites that are detrimental to aquatic animals and human health in high concentrations. The effective adaptation strategies of potentially toxic dinoflagellates are considered using the example of Prorocentrum species in coastal waters of the Baltic Sea, which exhibit significant intrapopulation heterogeneity, mixotrophic metabolism, and wide ecological plasticity.