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Recent research on New England clam populations by a research team that includes University of Maine professor Laurie Connell has yielded results that could be significant in educating fishermen to better handle outbreaks of red tide.
The research has dealt with clam resistance to paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP, which is the strand of red tide familiar to New England.
PSP was responsible for the massive closures of clam flats last summer, when New England saw its worst outbreak of red tide in the past three decades.
For several years, Connell, a professor in the school of marine sciences, and the research team have been trying to identify which clams have developed a resistance to PSP and which have not.
Their findings have shown that a clam’s genetic adaptation and resistance to the toxin linked to PSP is based on a single site in a sodium ion channel.
“A single nucleotide change equals a single base change,” said Connell. “And clams with this mutation have eight times more toxin in their bodies than clams without it.”
This is because the resistant clams can store the toxin in their tissue without it harming them.
In addition, because resistant clams are unaffected by the toxin, they can continue to feed and thrive, while non-resistant clams cannot.
This presents somewhat of a dilemma for fishermen. While they aim to maintain a healthy, thriving clam population, which the resistant clams would be better able to give them, they also need to ensure the safety of people who might eat their clams.
The clams that are resistant to PSP are much more of a danger to humans because they have much more of the toxin in their tissues.
This problem is one that Connell and her fellow researchers hope they can help solve.
Having established that they are able to identify which clams are resistant to PSP, the project will turn toward identifying what proportion of each population has the mutation.
This information could help fishermen with their difficult decisions.
“You would be able to tell how long you should close for a little bit better,” said Connell.
The team is currently working mainly in Nova Scotia, but they hope to soon expand their research down the coast. If all goes well, they will be economically aiding fishermen and the New England community at large.
Bangor Daily News