Historical records from dated sediment cores reveal the multidecadal dynamic of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum in the Bay of Brest (France)

The multiannual dynamic of the cyst-forming and toxic marine dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum was studied over a time scale of about 150 years by a paleoecological approach based on ancient DNA (aDNA) quantification and cyst revivification data obtained from two dated sediment cores of the Bay of Brest (Brittany, France). The first genetic traces of the species presence in the study area dated back to 1873 ± 6. Specific aDNA could be quantified by a newly developed real-time PCR assay in the upper core layers, in which the germination of the species (in up to 17–19-year-old sediments) was also obtained. In both cores studied, our quantitative paleogenetic data showed a statistically significant increasing trend in the abundance of A. minutum ITS1 rDNA copies over time, corroborating three decades of local plankton data that have documented an increasing trend in the species cell abundance. By comparison, paleogenetic data of the dinoflagellate Scrippsiella donghaienis did not show a coherent trend between the cores studied, supporting the hypothesis of the existence of a species-specific dynamic of A. minutum in the study area. This work contributes to the development of paleoecological research, further showing its potential for biogeographical, ecological and evolutionary studies on marine microbes.