Molecular Forecasting of Domoic Acid during a Pervasive Toxic Diatom Bloom

In 2015, the largest recorded harmful algal bloom (HAB) occurred in the Northeast Pacific, causing nearly $100M in damages to fisheries and killing many protected marine mammals. Dominated by the toxic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia australis, this bloom produced high levels of the neurotoxin domoic acid. This data allowed molecular and transcriptional characterization of 52 near-weekly phytoplankton net-tow samples collected at a bloom hotspot in Monterey Bay, California.