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Botulinum toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum (an anaerobic, gram-positive bacterium) is the cause of botulism. [26] Humans most commonly ingest the toxin from eating improperly canned foods in which C. botulinum has grown. However, the toxin can also be introduced through an infected wound.
Botulinum toxin produced by C. botulinum is often believed to be a potential bioweapon as it is so potent that it takes about 75 nanograms to kill a person (LD 50 of 1 ng/kg, [41] assuming an average person weighs ~75 kg); 1 kilogram of it would be enough to kill the entire human population.
The toxin is the protein botulinum toxin produced under anaerobic conditions (where there is no oxygen) [38] by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. [39] Clostridium botulinum is a large anaerobic Gram-positive bacillus that forms subterminal endospores. [40] There are eight serological varieties of the bacterium denoted by the letters A to H.
Endotoxins most commonly refer to the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or lipooligosaccharide (LOS) that are in the outer plasma membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. The botulinum toxin, which is primarily produced by Clostridium botulinum and less frequently by other Clostridium species, is the most toxic substance known in the world. [1]
This figure shows that exotoxins are secreted by bacterial cells, Clostridium botulinum for example, and are toxic to somatic cells. Somatic cells have antibodies on the cell wall to target exotoxins and bind to them, preventing the invasion of somatic cells. The binding of the exotoxin and antibody forms an antigen-antibody interaction and the ...
Tetanus toxin (TeNT) is an extremely potent neurotoxin produced by the vegetative cell of Clostridium tetani [1] in anaerobic conditions, causing tetanus. It has no known function for clostridia in the soil environment where they are normally encountered. It is also called spasmogenic toxin, tentoxilysin, tetanospasmin, or tetanus neurotoxin.
The toxins, named mycotoxins, deter other organisms from consuming the food the fungi colonise. As with bacterial toxins, there is a wide array of fungal toxins. Arguably one of the more dangerous mycotoxins is aflatoxin produced by certain species of the genus Aspergillus (notably A. flavus). If ingested repeatedly, this toxin can cause ...
However, the genus does contain some human pathogens (outlined below). The toxins produced by certain members of the genus Clostridium are among the most dangerous known. Examples are tetanus toxin (known as tetanospasmin) produced by C. tetani and botulinum toxin produced by C. botulinum.