The term "toxin weapon" has been used to describe poisons, classically of natural origin but increasingly accessible by modern synthetic methods, which are suitable for delivery on a battlefield in a form that causes death or severe incapacitation at relatively low concentrations (reviewed in ref. I). Several of the most important toxin weapons are proteins, and these molecules are the focus of...

In yeast, apoptotic cell death can be triggered by various factors such as H2O2, cell aging, or acetic acid. Yeast caspase (Yca1p) and cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) are key regulators of this process. Here, we show that moderate doses of three virally encoded killer toxins (K1, K28, and zygocin) induce an apoptotic yeast cell response, although all three toxins differ significantly in ...

Mycotoxins are low-molecular-weight natural products. That is produced as secondary metabolites by filamentous fungi. Assessment of mycotoxin producing fungi isolated from dried tomatoes chips sold in Keffi, Nigeria. Fungi species were using standard microbiological methods. Sixty (60) dry purchased 5 different shops Keffi market. The percentage occurrence was 73.3 %. highest new market 13(86.6...

We present an OR gate based on monoclonal antibodies for the simultaneous detection of multiple toxins in a single tube. To further simplify the operating procedure, the Boolean rule of simplification was used to guide the selection of a marker toxin among the natural toxin profiles.

Staphylococcus aureus plays a major role as a bacterial pathogen in human medicine, causing diseases that range from superficial skin and wound to systemic nosocomial infections . The majority of S. aureus strains produces a toxin, a proteinaceous exotoxin whose hemolytic, dermonecrotic, and lethal properties have long been known (1-6). The toxin is secreted as a single- chained, nonglycosylate...

Trichothecene mycotoxins, potent translational inhibitors that are associated with human food poisonings and damp-building illnesses, are of considerable concern to animal and human health. Food refusal is a hallmark of exposure of experimental animals to deoxynivalenol (DON) and other Type B trichothecenes but less is known about the anorectic effects of foodborne Type A trichothecenes (e.g., ...

The coral-bleaching bacterium Vibrio shiloi biosynthesizes and secretes an extracellular peptide, referred to as toxin P, which inhibits photosynthesis of coral symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae). Toxin P was produced during the stationary phase when the bacterium was grown on peptone or Casamino Acids media at 29 degrees C. Glycerol inhibited the production of toxin P. Toxin P was purified to hom...

Abstract Clostridioides difficile causes over 200,000 hospitalizations and 13,000 deaths annually in the United States. C. infects large intestine following perturbation of microbiome to cause pathology that ranges severity from diarrhea pseudomembranous colitis. Virulence factors Toxin A B are primarily drivers disease. These toxins damage epithelial barrier leading pathologic inflammation bac...

Toxin weapon research, development, production and the ban on its uses is an integral part of international law, with particular attention paid to the protection against these weapons. In spite of this, hazards associated with toxins cannot be completely excluded. Some of these hazards are also pointed out in the present review. The article deals with the characteristics and properties of natur...

© 2005 The Medicine Publishing Company Ltd 31 MEDICINE 33:7 Diphtheria is caused by superficial infection of the respiratory tract or skin with toxin-producing strains of the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The organisms do not actively invade deep tissue or the blood, but multiply locally, producing diphtheria toxin. This results in necrosis of the mucosal cells and production of a thic...