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. 1988 Sep;54(9):2257–2263. doi: 10.1128/aem.54.9.2257-2263.1988

Toxicity and partial structure of a hepatotoxic peptide produced by the cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena Mertens emend. L575 from New Zealand.

W W Carmichael 1, J T Eschedor 1, G M Patterson 1, R E Moore 1
PMCID: PMC202845  PMID: 3142356

Abstract

A clonal isolate, termed L575, of the filamentous brackish-water cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena Mertens emend. was found to produce a potent hepatotoxic peptide (50% lethal intraperitoneal dose for the mouse, 60 micrograms/kg) with chemical and toxicological properties similar to those of the hepatotoxic heptapeptides produced by other freshwater planktonic cyanobacteria. The isolate was made from a water sample collected in Lake Ellesmere, New Zealand, in 1980. The toxin, isolated and purified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and analyzed by HPLC amino acid analysis, contained glutamic acid, beta-methyla-spartic acid, and arginine units in equivalent amounts. The fast-atom-bombardment mass spectrum of the toxin indicated the molecular weight to be 824. Batch cultures of strain L575 showed that the toxin content varied between 1.96 and 2.99 mg/g of cells and that a positive correlation between toxin content and chlorophyll a, but not biomass, was present.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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