Algal Toxins

Toxins:

A poison of plant or animal origin, especially one produced by or derived from microorganisms and
acting as an antigen in the body.

Algae

Algae are defined as a group of predominantly aquatic, photosynthetic, and nucleus-bearing organisms
that lack the true roots, stems, leaves, and specialized multicellular reproductive structures of plants.

Algal Toxins

Algal toxins are chemicals that are produced by algae during its life cycle.

Class:

• Microcystins (cyanoginosins):

Microcystins or cyanoginosins are a class of toxins produced by certain freshwater cyanobacteria,

commonly known as blue-green algae. Over 250 different microcystins have been discovered so far, of
which microcystin-LR is the most common. Chemically they are cyclic heptapeptides produced through
nonribosomal peptide synthases.

Toxic part and name:

Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is a toxin produced by cyanobacteria. It is the most toxic of the microcystins.

Toxic mechanism:

Microcystins covalently bond to and inhibit protein phosphatases PP1 and PP2A and can thus cause
pansteatitis. The ADDA residue is key to this functionality: greatly simplified synthetic analogues
consisting of ADDA and one additional amino acid can show the same inhibiting function.

Clinical findings:

Symptoms of microcystin poisoning include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting.

Human health effects upon exposure:

Microcystins cannot be broken down by standard proteases like pepsin, trypsin, collagenase, and
chymotrypsin due to their cyclic chemical nature. They are hepatotoxic, i.e., able to cause serious
damage to the liver. Once ingested, microcystin travels to the liver via the bile acid transport system,
where most is stored, though some remains in the blood stream and may contaminate tissue.

Treatment:

Conventional water treatment (consisting of coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and chlorination) can
generally remove intact cyanobacterial cells and low levels of cyanotoxins from source waters.