Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Cox, Paul Alan
• Banack, Sandra Anne
• Murch, Susan J.
• Rasmussen, Ulla
• Tien, Georgia
• Bidigare, Robert Richard
• Metcalf, James S.
• Morrison, Louise F.
• Codd, Geoffrey A.
• Bergman, Birgitta
• Bowers, William S.

Titel

Diverse Taxa of Cyanobacteria Produce β-N-Methylamino-L-Alanine, a Neurotoxic Amino Acid

Ist Teil von

• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 2005-04, Vol.102 (14), p.5074-5078

Ort / Verlag

United States: National Academy of Sciences

Erscheinungsjahr

2005

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Cyanobacteria can generate molecules hazardous to human health, but production of the known cyanotoxins is taxonomically sporadic. For example, members of a few genera produce hepatotoxic microcystins, whereas production of hepatotoxic nodularins appears to be limited to a single genus. Production of known neurotoxins has also been considered phylogenetically unpredictable. We report here that a single neurotoxin, β-N-methylamino-L-alanine, may be produced by all known groups of cyanobacteria, including cyanobacterial symbionts and free-living cyanobacteria. The ubiquity of cyanobacteria in terrestrial, as well as freshwater, brackish, and marine environments, suggests a potential for wide-spread human exposure.