Extraction and analysis by liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry of intra- and extracellular microcystins and nodularin to study the fate of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins across the freshwater-marine continuum

The presence of microcystins (MCs) is increasingly being reported in coastal areas worldwide. To provide reliable data regarding this emerging concern, reproducible and accurate methods are required to quantify MCs in salt-containing samples. Herein, we characterized methods of extraction and analysis by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for nine MCs and one nodularin (NOD) variants in both cyanobacteria (intracellular) and dissolved forms (extracellular). Different approaches have been used to cope with salinity for the extraction of dissolved MCs but none assessed solid phase extraction (SPE) so far. It was found that salt had negligible effect on the SPE recovery of dissolved MCs using the C18 cartridge while an overestimation up to 67% was noted for some variants with a polymeric sorbent. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were 1.0-22 and 5.5-124 pg on column for the intracellular toxins, while 0.05-0.81 and 0.13-2.4 ng/mL were obtained for dissolved toxins. Extraction recoveries were excellent for intracellular (89-121%) and good to excellent for extracellular cyanotoxins (73-102%) while matrix effects were considered neglectable (<12% for 16/20 toxin-matrix combinations), except for the two MC-RR variants. The strategy based on the application of a corrective factor to compensate for losses proved useful as the accuracy was satisfactory (73-117% for intra- and 81-139% for extracellular cyanotoxins, bias <10% for 46/60 conditions, with a few exceptions), with acceptable precisions (intra- and inter-days variabilities <11%). We then applied this method on natural colonies of Microcystis spp. subjected to a salt shock, mimicking their estuarine transfer, in order to assess their survival and to quantify their toxins. The colonies of Microcystis spp. had both their growth and photosynthetic activity impaired at salinities from 10, while toxins remained mainly intracellular (>76%) even at salinity 20, suggesting a potential health risk and contamination of estuarine organisms.