Diversity and Impact of Prokaryotic Toxins on Aquatic Environments A Review.docVIP

Toxins 2010, 2, 2359-2410; doi:10.3390/toxins2102359 OPEN ACCESS toxins ISSN 2072-6651 /journal/toxins Review Diversity and Impact of Prokaryotic Toxins on Aquatic Environments: A Review Elisabete Valério 1, Sandra Chaves 2 and Rogério Tenreiro 2,* 1 Centro de Recursos Microbiológicos (CREM), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Quinta da Torre, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal; E-Mail: evalerio@fct.unl.pt 2 Centro de Biodiversidade, Genómica Integrativa e Funcional (BioFIG), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Edificio ICAT, Campus da FCUL, Campo Grande, 1740-016 Lisboa, Portugal; E-Mail: sichaves@fc.ul.pt * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: rptenreiro@fc.ul.pt; Tel.: +351-21-750-00-06; Fax: +351-21-750-0172. Received: 21 August 2010; in revised form: 1 October 2010 / Accepted: 13 October 2010 / Published: 18 October 2010 Abstract: Microorganisms are ubiquitous in all habitats and are recognized by their metabolic versatility and ability to produce many bioactive compounds, including toxins. Some of the most common toxins present in water are produced by several cyanobacterial species. As a result, their blooms create major threats to animal and human health, tourism, recreation and aquaculture. Quite a few cyanobacterial toxins have been described, including hepatotoxins, neurotoxins, cytotoxins and dermatotoxins. These toxins are secondary metabolites, presenting a vast diversity of structures and variants. Most of cyanobacterial secondary metabolites are peptides or have peptidic substructures and are assumed to be synthesized by non-ribosomal peptide synthesis (NRPS), involving peptide synthetases, or NRPS/PKS, involving peptide synthetases and polyketide synthases hybrid pathways. Besides cyanobacteria, other bacteria associated with aquatic environments are recognized as significant toxin producers, representing important