Malto, Zabrina Bernice L.Benico, Garry A.Batucan, Jeremiah D.Dela Cruz, JamesRomero, Marc Lawrence J.Azanza, Rhodora V.Salvador-Reyes, Lilibeth A.2025-05-012022-02-04Malto, Z. B. L., Benico, G. A., Batucan, J. D., Dela Cruz, J., Romero, M. L. J., Azanza, R. V., & Salvador-Reyes, L. A. (2022). Global mass spectrometric analysis reveals chemical diversity of secondary metabolites and 44-Methylgambierone production in Philippine <i>Gambierdiscus</i> strains. <i>Frontiers in Marine Science</i>, <i>8</i>, Article 767024.2296-774510.3389/fmars.2021.767024https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14697/379We would like to thank H. Junio and the Secondary Metabolites Profiling Laboratory of the Institute of Chemistry, University of the Philippines Diliman and K. B. Davis for assistance in the conduct of this study.Surveillance and characterization of emerging marine toxins and toxigenic dinoflagellates are warranted to evaluate their associated health risks. Here, we report the occurrence of the ciguatera poisoning-causative dinoflagellate <i>Gambierdiscus balechii</i> in the Philippines. Toxin production and chemical diversity of secondary metabolites in <i>G. balechii</i> GtoxSAM092414, <i>G. balechii</i> Gtox112513, and the recently reported <i>Gambierdiscus carpenteri</i> Gam1BOL080513 were assessed using targeted and untargeted UPLC-MS/MS analysis and radioligand receptor-binding assay (RBA). 44-methylgambierone was produced by all three strains, <i>albeit</i>with different levels based on RBA and UPLC-HRMS/MS analysis. The fatty acid composition was similar in all strains, while subtle differences in monosaccharide content were observed, related to the collection site rather than the species. Molecular networking using the GNPS database identified 45 clusters belonging to at least ten compound classes, with terpene glycosides, carbohydrate conjugates, polyketides, and macrolides as major convergence points. Species-specific peptides and polyhydroxylated compounds were identified in <i>G. balechii</i> GtoxSAM092414 and <i>G. carpenteri</i> Gam1BOL080513, respectively. These provide a glimpse of the uncharacterized biosynthetic potential of benthic dinoflagellates and highlight the intricate and prolific machinery for secondary metabolites production in these organisms.enAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Marine biologyMolecular biologyBiotechnologyDinoflagellatesMass spectrometryMarine metabolitesMolecular structure--AnalysisMarine toxinsArticleSDG 14 - Life below waterSDG 12 - Responsible consumption and productionSDG 3 - Good health and well-beingspectrometrymetabolitestoxinsfatty acidsmonosaccharidesDNA sequencesChallenge 1: Understand and beat marine pollutionChallenge 2: Protect and restore ecosystems and biodiversityChallenge 10: Change humanity’s relationship with the ocean