Biosynthesis, Accumulation, and Bioactivity of Secondary Metabolites in Cyanobacteria

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine and Freshwater Toxins".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2020) | Viewed by 9802

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Center for Coastal Studies, Texas A&M University‐Corpus Christi, 6300 Ocean Drive, Unit 5866, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USA
Interests: bioactive secondary metabolites in eukaryotic and prokaryotic algae; algal physiology and metabolism; taxonomy of cyanobacteria and eukaryotic marine algae. Techniques include within laboratory LC-MS/MS and UPLC-TOF, as well as university UPLC-fusion tribrid obitrap mass spectrometry

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Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lab 420/Office 495M, Avedisian Hall, University of Rhode Island, 7 Greenhouse Road, Kingston, RI 02881, USA
Interests: isolation and structure characterization of marine natural products; algal toxin detection; secondary metabolite biosynthesis

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Cyanobacterial toxins (cyanotoxins) can pose health risks by contaminating drinking water and recreational waters. Additional socioeconomic costs include negative impacts on fisheries and tourism. This dedicated volume presents current information on cyanobacterial classification, biosynthesis, isolation and characterization of new compounds, and environmental control of cyanotoxin accumulation. While diverse knowledge has already been published on four toxins (microcystins/nodularins, anatoxins, cylindrospermopsins, and saxitoxins), over 150 other classes of cyanobacterial bioactive metabolites are known but are less well characterized with respect to their biological activity, biosynthesis, and potential environmental impact. The co-occurrence of these toxins is widespread, suggesting a possible synergistic bioactivity of toxins that is understudied. Additionally, novel detection methods for new toxins will be addressed.

Prof. Paul V. Zimba
Dr. Matthew J. Bertin
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • biosynthesis
  • cyanotoxins
  • cyanobacteria secondary metabolites
  • toxin classification

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 5501 KiB  
Article
Dereplication of Natural Products with Antimicrobial and Anticancer Activity from Brazilian Cyanobacteria
by Tania Keiko Shishido, Rafael Vicentini Popin, Jouni Jokela, Matti Wahlsten, Marli Fatima Fiore, David P. Fewer, Lars Herfindal and Kaarina Sivonen
Toxins 2020, 12(1), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12010012 - 24 Dec 2019
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 6473
Abstract
Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic organisms that produce a large diversity of natural products with interesting bioactivities for biotechnological and pharmaceutical applications. Cyanobacterial extracts exhibit toxicity towards other microorganisms and cancer cells and, therefore, represent a source of potentially novel natural products for drug discovery. [...] Read more.
Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic organisms that produce a large diversity of natural products with interesting bioactivities for biotechnological and pharmaceutical applications. Cyanobacterial extracts exhibit toxicity towards other microorganisms and cancer cells and, therefore, represent a source of potentially novel natural products for drug discovery. We tested 62 cyanobacterial strains isolated from various Brazilian biomes for antileukemic and antimicrobial activities. Extracts from 39 strains induced selective apoptosis in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cancer cell lines. Five of these extracts also exhibited antifungal and antibacterial activities. Chemical and dereplication analyses revealed the production of nine known natural products. Natural products possibly responsible for the observed bioactivities and five unknown, chemically related chlorinated compounds present only in Brazilian cyanobacteria were illustrated in a molecular network. Our results provide new information on the vast biosynthetic potential of cyanobacteria isolated from Brazilian environments. Full article
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12 pages, 654 KiB  
Article
Accumulation of Microcystin-LR in Grains of Two Rice Varieties (Oryza sativa L.) and a Leafy Vegetable, Ipomoea aquatica
by Menuja M Wijewickrama and Pathmalal M Manage
Toxins 2019, 11(8), 432; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins11080432 - 24 Jul 2019
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3037
Abstract
The potential transfer of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) to humans via crop plants irrigated with MC-contaminated water is causing serious concern. In this study, two Oryza sativa variants, a hybrid (BG358), a traditional (Suwandel) variety, and a leafy green vegetable crop, Ipomoea aquatica, were [...] Read more.
The potential transfer of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) to humans via crop plants irrigated with MC-contaminated water is causing serious concern. In this study, two Oryza sativa variants, a hybrid (BG358), a traditional (Suwandel) variety, and a leafy green vegetable crop, Ipomoea aquatica, were exposed under laboratory conditions to natural blooms of Microcystis aeruginosa sampled from a hypereutrophic lake contaminated with MC-LR (3,197.37 ± 1.04 µg/L). Field samples of O. sativa and I. aquatica were collected from farmlands that had been irrigated from a reservoir, containing MC-LR (180 µg/L). MC-LR was quantified by high performance liquid chromatography followed by photodiode-array detection (HPLC-PDA). From the laboratory study, we calculated the potential human health exposure from BG358, Suwandel and I. aquatica as 2.84 ± 0.01, 0.22 ± 0.01, and 0.06 ± 0.01 µg/kg of body weight/day, respectively, whereas the potential health exposures from BG358, Suwandel and I. aquatica collected from the field were 0.10 ± 0.01, 0.009 ± 0.005, and 0.03 ± 0.01 µg/kg of body weight/day, respectively. In certain instances, the results exceeded the World Health Organization’s (WHO) tolerable daily intake of MC-LR, posing a potential health risk to humans. Thus, our results emphasize the importance of continuous screening programs for cyanotoxins in edible plants in the future to prevent the consumption of contaminated crops. Full article
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