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Occurrence of tetrodotoxin in the starfishes Astropecten polyacanthus and A. scoparius in the Seto Inland Sea

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Abstract

Two starfishes, “togemomijigai” Astropecten polyacanthus and “momijigai” A. scoparius were collected from the Seto Inland Sea in October 1983 through November 1984, and assayed for toxicity by the standard method for tetrodotoxin (TTX). Most of the 54 A. polyacanthus specimens assayed were toxic, with the highest toxicity score being 520 mouse units (MU) g-1. All seven A. scoparius were toxic, with the highest score being 46 MU g-1. The toxin from A. polyacanthus was purified by a method which consisted mainly of activated charcoal treatment, and chromatography on CM-Sephadex C-25 and Bio-Rex 70 columns. The purified starfish toxin showed a specific toxicity of 4 700 MU mg-1, a value which was almost comparable to that of authentic TTX. From the thin-layer chromatographic and electrophoretic behavior, along with 1H-NMR spectrum, A. polyacanthus toxin was identified as TTX.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Applied Biological Science, Hiroshima University, 720, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan

    K. Miyazawa

  2. Laboratory of Marine Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tokyo, 113, Tokyo, Japan

    T. Noguchi, J. Maruyama, J. K. Jeon, M. Otsuka & K. Hashimoto

Authors
  1. K. Miyazawa
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  2. T. Noguchi
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  3. J. Maruyama
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  4. J. K. Jeon
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  5. M. Otsuka
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  6. K. Hashimoto
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Communicated by M. Anraku, Hiroshima

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Miyazawa, K., Noguchi, T., Maruyama, J. et al. Occurrence of tetrodotoxin in the starfishes Astropecten polyacanthus and A. scoparius in the Seto Inland Sea. Marine Biology 90, 61–64 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00428215

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00428215

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