The Bacterial (Vibrio alginolyticus) Production of Tetrodotoxin in the Ribbon Worm Lineus longissimus-Just a False Positive?

Abstract

We test previous claims that the bacteria Vibrio alginolyticus produces tetrodotoxin (TTX) when living in symbiosis with the nemertean Lineus longissimus by a setup with bacteria cultivation for TTX production. Toxicity experiments on the shore crab, Carcinus maenas, demonstrated the presence of a paralytic toxin, but evidence from LC-MS and electrophysiological measurements of voltage-gated sodium channel-dependent nerve conductance in maleWistar rat tissue showed conclusively that this effect did not originate from TTX. However, a compound of similar molecular weight was found, albeit apparently non-toxic, and with different LC retention time and MS/MS fragmentation pattern than those of TTX. We conclude that C. maenas paralysis and death likely emanate from a compound <5 kDa, and via a different mechanism of action than that of TTX. The similarity in mass between TTX and the Vibrio-produced low-molecular-weight, non-toxic compound invokes that thorough analysis is required when assessing TTX production. Based on our findings, we suggest that re-examination of some published claims of TTX production may be warranted.

Keywords

LC-MS; mucus; axonal conductance; Vibrio; nemertean; tetrodotoxin

Published in

Marine Drugs
2016, volume: 14, number: 4, article number: 63
Publisher: MDPI AG

SLU Authors

• Strand, Malin

  • SLU Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Uppsala University

Associated SLU-program

Coastal and sea areas
Biodiversity

UKÄ Subject classification

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/md14040063

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/81086