Evolution of saxitoxin synthesis in cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates.

ABSTRACT: Dinoflagellates produce a variety of toxic secondary metabolites that have a significant impact on marine ecosystems and fisheries. Saxitoxin (STX), the cause of paralytic shellfish poisoning, is produced by three marine dinoflagellate genera and is also made by some freshwater cyanobacteria. Genes involved in STX synthesis have been identified in cyanobacteria but are yet to be reported in the massive genomes of dinoflagellates. We have assembled comprehensive transcriptome data sets for several STX-producing dinoflagellates and a related non-toxic species and have identified 265 putative homologs of 13 cyanobacterial STX synthesis genes, including all of the genes directly involved in toxin synthesis. Putative homologs of four proteins group closely in phylogenies with cyanobacteria and

SUBMITTER: Hackett JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3525144 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature