Hawazin Hamed Mutawie
Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) form massive water blooms and surface scums in eutrophic waters. They are found in a variety of habitats; live in terrestrial, fresh, brackish, or marine water. Fresh water cyanobacteria produce wide range of toxins among them hepatotoxic and neurotoxic. Five species of Oscillatoria (O. agardhii, O. brevis, O. limnetica, O. rubescens, and O. tenuis) were used in this study. They were identified and collected from sixten different sites in Makkah area, KSA. Cyanotoxins were detected and determined using High Performance Liquid Chromatography HPLC. The HPLC analysis of the five species of Oscillatoria extract demonstrated that O. tenus has the highest percentage (35. 267%) of neurotoxins and the lowest percentage (0.249%) of hepatoxins. On the other hand, O. rubescens showed the highest percentage of hepatotoxins (37.657%) and the lowest percentage (0. 62%) of neurotoxins. The results revealed that neurotoxins and hepatotoxins are produced by species and stains of Oscillatoria but the amount of these toxins are different.
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