Hiroyuki Ueda, Masaaki Ito, Ryo Yonezawa, Kentaro Hayashi, Taiga Tomonou, Maho Kashitani, Hikaru Oyama, Kyoko Shirai, Rei Suo, Kazutoshi Yoshitake, Shigeharu Kinoshita, Shuichi Asakawa, Shiro Itoi
Tetrodotoxin (TTX), known as pufferfish toxin, is a potent neurotoxin blocking sodium channels in muscle and nerve tissues. TTX has been detected in various taxa other than pufferfish, including marine polyclad flatworms, suggesting that pufferfish toxin accumulates in fish bodies via food webs. The composition of TTX and its analogs in the flatworm Planocera multitentaculata was identical to those in wild grass puffer Takifugu alboplumbeus. Previously, Planocera sp. from Okinawa Island, Japan, were reported to possess high level of TTX, but no information was available on TTX analogs in this species...
April 17, 2024: Marine Biotechnology