Abstract:

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a kind of amino-perhydrogenated quinazoline compound, which is an alkaloid in dolphin and other organisms. TTX is a strong neurotoxin and can selectively inhibit sodium ion transportation across nerve cell membrane at a low concentration. In this paper, chemical properties and microbial resource of TTX are reviewed. Currently, detailed investigations related to microbial synthesis of TTX have been less reported. However, microorganism synthesis of highly toxic substances such as saxitoxin and gonyautoxin with similar structures and properties as TTX has been reported to implement through arginine and acetate metabolisms. These previous investigations will also provide references for microorganism synthesis of TTX. Similarly, summarizing these achievements relative to microorganism degradation, a possibility or developing trend to degrade tetrodotoxin from high toxicity to low or no toxicity through microorganism transformation is proposed.

Key words: microbial synthesis, tetrodotoxin, transformation, degradation