Current progress in isolation and characterization of toxins isolated from Pfiesteria piscicida.
Publication: Environmental Health Perspectives
Volume 109, Issue suppl 5
Pages 739 - 743
Abstract
The isolation and partial purification of toxic substances derived from Pfiesteria piscicida Steidinger & Burkholder extracts is described. Four distinct bioassay systems were used to monitor bioactivity of the P. piscicida extracts, including a high throughput cell cytotoxicity assay and a reporter gene assay as well as assays using brine shrimp and fish. Using these bioassays to guide fractionation, we have isolated two distinct, active fractions from Pfiesteria culture medium and cell mass extracts on the basis of their solubility characteristics. We have identified and characterized a bioactive lipophilic substance from Pfiesteria-derived extracts as di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, a commonly used plasticizer. The source of this typically man-made substance has been identified as originating from Instant Ocean (Aquarium Systems, Mentor, OH, USA), a commercially available seawater salt mixture used to prepare our mass culture growth medium. We have developed chromatographic methodology to isolate a bioactive polar compound isolated from extracts of Pfiesteria culture and presently report the characterization of the activity of this substance. The molecular structural analysis of the polar active component(s) using mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is currently under way.
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Published In
Environmental Health Perspectives
Volume 109 • Issue suppl 5 • October 2001
Pages: 739 - 743
PubMed: 11677183
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EHP is an open-access journal published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. All content is public domain unless otherwise noted.
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Published online: 1 October 2001
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