The cylindrospermopsin alkaloids Literature review

The cylindrospermopsin alkaloids - Literature review Example CYN is a natural toxin which is usually produced by certain cyanobacteria species majorly Cylindrospermopsin raciborskii and Umezakia natans among others (Masten 2000). The presence of CYN in drinking or recreational water poses a serious environmental and health risk. CYN was initially isolated in 1992 following a suspected outbreak in Palm Island; Australia. Since its isolation and classification, various techniques have been used to isolate, detect, analyze and purify Cylindrospermopsin (Moore, Ohtani and Runnegar 1992). Some of the common techniques include; High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with Photodiode Array Detector (HPLC-PDA), Enzyme Linked Immuno-sorbent Assay (ELISA), NMR/Mass Spectrometry (MS), filtration and adsorption techniques among others Masten 2000). This paper shall describe how to grow CYN using bioreactor, analysis using ELISA and HPLC, purification of CYN and analysis using NMR/MS. Detection of Cylindrospermopsin in surface water is important sin ce it acts as the major source of drinking and recreational water for a large percentage of people throughout the world. The Cylindrospermopsins should be constantly removed from water to prevent contamination from toxins which are known to cause hepatotoxicity among other toxic effects (Fastner et al. 2003).Cylindrospermopsin is produced by various cyanobacteria species commonly known as blue-green-algae which are mostly found in fresh water. Some variants of Cylindrospermopsin raciborskii commonly found in U.S., Australia and Hungary, Umezakia natans isolated in Japan and Aphanizomenon ovalisporum found in Israel and Australia produce Cylindrospermopsin (Fastner et al. 2003). Human poisoning which occurs through ingestion of water or food contaminated with Cylindrospermopsin producing strains is the most common problem associated with the toxins. It has been suggested that toxicity by Cylindrospermopsins is majorly mediated through inhibition of protein synthesis which causes loss of liver functioning leading to death of cells. Use of a bioreactor in growing CYN Bioreactors can be used in the growth and isolation of CYN due to their ability to allow controlled growth of the organism under specific conditions. A bioreactor can be used to characterize CYN in terms of its relative biological and chemical components while allowing reproducible generation of the target compound. Bioreactors enable the proliferation of the CYN cells by controlling the environment under which the cells are cultured. Typically, a bioreactor for CYN should alloy control of certain environmental conditions that favor the growth of the organism. Using a bioreactor, conditions like oxygen concentration, temperature, stress and PH as well as sterility are maintained during the procedure (McMahon et al. 2008). The proliferation of CYN cells is also facilitated by the availability of essential nutrients alongside the removal of harmful toxins that can inhibit the growth of the cells. Biore actors enable different operations to be undertaken including fed-batch, batch and continuous cultivation (Choo et al. 2007). Continuous perfusion allows the growth of CYN cells under stable and controlled environmental situations. Isolation of CYN using charcoal filtration method Studies have demonstrated that CYN can be isolated successfully through adsorption techniques utilizing various sediments. Powdered Activated Charcoal (PAC) has been found effective in removing CYN from