{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]],"date-time":"2026-02-18T06:05:58Z","timestamp":1771394758861,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,14]],"date-time":"2026-02-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771027200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"European Union","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["101086234"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["101086234"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Toxins"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Blooms of the marine dinoflagellate Vulcanodinium rugosum have been associated with skin lesion outbreaks in Cuba and elsewhere. In this study, cell growth and toxin production were investigated under laboratory-controlled conditions in two strains isolated from Cienfuegos Bay, Cuba. Strains were cultured with and without a mechanical agitation and toxins were analyzed at two stages of the culture growth (exponential and stationary). Although blooms in Cienfuegos Bay occur in a semi-enclosed system characterized by calm waters with no agitation, the results of this study suggest that V. rugosum cells may also exhibit growth capacity under agitated conditions, or in open waters, comparable to that observed in systems with low hydrodynamic energy. Higher toxin levels, as determined by liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (LC-MS\/MS), were detected after exponential growth. Portimine-A and pinnatoxin-F (PnTX-F) were the dominant toxins (up to 1.75 and 1.0 pg\u00b7cell\u22121, respectively). PnTX-E, -D and Portimine-B were also detected at minor concentrations. This study contributes the first data necessary for a proper interpretation of monitoring programs aiming to assess the impact of V. rugosum blooms, particularly when used alongside forecasting models.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/toxins18020096","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T09:22:46Z","timestamp":1771320166000},"page":"96","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Skin Irritation-Associated Dinoflagellate Vulcanodinium rugosum Isolated from Cienfuegos Bay, Cuba: Toxin Profile and Cell Growth Characterization Under Laboratory Conditions"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9638-2602","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angel R.","family":"Moreira-Gonzalez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Estudios Ambientales de Cienfuegos (CEAC), AP. 5, Ciudad Nuclear, Cienfuegos CP 59350, Cuba"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2890-4338","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Catarina","family":"Churro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IPMA\u2014Instituto Portugu\u00eas do Mar e da Atmosfera, Avenida Doutor Magalh\u00e3es Ramalho, 6, 1495-165 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"CIIMAR\u2014Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, 4450-238 Matosinhos, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-0879-2937","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vera","family":"Marques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IPMA\u2014Instituto Portugu\u00eas do Mar e da Atmosfera, Avenida Doutor Magalh\u00e3es Ramalho, 6, 1495-165 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3566-2402","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lisbet","family":"D\u00edaz-Asencio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Estudios Ambientales de Cienfuegos (CEAC), AP. 5, Ciudad Nuclear, Cienfuegos CP 59350, Cuba"}]},{"given":"Donaida Chamero","family":"Lago","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Estudios Ambientales de Cienfuegos (CEAC), AP. 5, Ciudad Nuclear, Cienfuegos CP 59350, Cuba"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6083-470X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pedro Reis","family":"Costa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IPMA\u2014Instituto Portugu\u00eas do Mar e da Atmosfera, Avenida Doutor Magalh\u00e3es Ramalho, 6, 1495-165 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR\/CIMAR LA), University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143782","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2020.143782","article-title":"Summer Bloom of Vulcanodinium rugosum in Cienfuegos Bay (Cuba) Associated to Dermatitis in Swimmers","volume":"757","author":"Fernandes","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci. 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