Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
pharmacology, toxicology and pharmaceutics
Nitrogen starvation of cyanobacteria results in the production of β-N-methylamino-L-alanine
Toxicon, Volume 58, No. 2, Year 2011
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
β-N-methylamino-L-alanine, an unusual amino acid implicated in neurodegenerative disease, has been detected in cultures of nearly all genera of environmentally ubiquitous cyanobacteria tested. The compound is present within cyanobacterial cells in free and protein-associated forms, with large variations occurring in the concentration of these pools between species as well as within single strains. With a lack of knowledge and supporting data on the regulation of BMAA production and the role of this compound in cyanobacteria, the association between BMAA and cyanobacteria is still subject to debate. In this study we investigated the biosynthesis of BMAA in axenic non-diazotrophic cyanobacterial cultures using the stable isotope 15N. Nitrogen starvation of nutritionally replete cells resulted in an increase in free cellular 15N BMAA suggesting that BMAA may be the result of catabolism to provide nitrogen or that BMAA is synthesised to serve a functional role in the cell in response to nitrogen deprivation. The addition of NO 3- and NH 4+ to the culture medium following starvation resulted in a decrease of free cellular BMAA without a corresponding increase in the protein-associated fraction. The use of ammonia as a nitrogen source resulted in a more rapid reduction of BMAA when compared to nitrate. This study provides the first data regarding the regulation of intracellular BMAA concentrations in cyanobacteria with results conclusively showing the production of 15N BMAA by an axenic cyanobacterial culture. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
Authors & Co-Authors
Downing, Simoné
South Africa, Gqeberha
Nelson Mandela University
Banack, Sandra Anne
United States, Jackson
Institute for Ethnomedicine
Metcalf, James S.
United States, Jackson
Institute for Ethnomedicine
Cox, Paul Alan
United States, Jackson
Institute for Ethnomedicine
Downing, Timothy Grant
South Africa, Gqeberha
Nelson Mandela University
Statistics
Citations: 111
Authors: 5
Affiliations: 2
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.toxicon.2011.05.017
ISSN:
00410101