Hunting the eagle killer: A cyanobacterial neurotoxin causes vacuolar myelinopathy

Vacuolar myelinopathy is a fatal neurological disease that was initially discovered during a mysterious mass mortality of bald eagles in Arkansas in the United States. The cause of this wildlife disease has eluded scientists for decades while its occurrence has continued to spread throughout freshwa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 371; no. 6536
Main Authors:	Breinlinger, Steffen, Phillips, Tabitha J, Haram, Brigette N, Mareš, Jan, Martínez Yerena, José A, Hrouzek, Pavel, Sobotka, Roman, Henderson, W Matthew, Schmieder, Peter, Williams, Susan M, Lauderdale, James D, Wilde, H Dayton, Gerrin, Wesley, Kust, Andreja, Washington, John W, Wagner, Christoph, Geier, Benedikt, Liebeke, Manuel, Enke, Heike, Niedermeyer, Timo H J, Wilde, Susan B
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States The American Association for the Advancement of Science 26-03-2021
Subjects:	Accipitridae Aetokthonos hydrillicola Animals Anthropogenic factors Aquatic plants Availability Bacterial Toxins - biosynthesis Bacterial Toxins - chemistry Bacterial Toxins - isolation & purification Bacterial Toxins - toxicity Bioaccumulation Bioassays Biological activity Biosynthesis Bird Diseases - chemically induced Birds Birds of prey Brain Bromides - metabolism Bromination Bromine - analysis Caenorhabditis elegans - drug effects Chemical plants Chickens Cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria - genetics Cyanobacteria - growth & development Cyanobacteria - metabolism Demyelinating Diseases - chemically induced Demyelinating Diseases - veterinary Dietary supplements Diquat dibromide Eagles Electric power generation Environmental conditions Environmental factors Environmental Influences Field Studies Food chains Food webs Gene sequencing Genes, Bacterial Herbivorous fish Human influences Hydrilla verticillata Hydrocharitaceae - metabolism Hydrocharitaceae - microbiology Indole Alkaloids - chemistry Indole Alkaloids - isolation & purification Indole Alkaloids - toxicity Invasive plants Laboratories Laboratory culture Lesions Lethal Dose 50 Mass spectrometry Mass spectroscopy Metabolites Multigene Family Neuroimaging Neurological diseases Neuropathy Neurotoxicity Neurotoxins Neurotoxins - biosynthesis Neurotoxins - chemistry Neurotoxins - isolation & purification Neurotoxins - toxicity Potassium Power plants Predators Reptiles & amphibians Southeastern United States Substantia alba Substrates Transmission electron microscopy Tryptophan - metabolism Water treatment Waterfowl Watersheds Waterways Wildlife Zebrafish Southeastern United States United States > US
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Summary:	Vacuolar myelinopathy is a fatal neurological disease that was initially discovered during a mysterious mass mortality of bald eagles in Arkansas in the United States. The cause of this wildlife disease has eluded scientists for decades while its occurrence has continued to spread throughout freshwater reservoirs in the southeastern United States. Recent studies have demonstrated that vacuolar myelinopathy is induced by consumption of the epiphytic cyanobacterial species growing on aquatic vegetation, primarily the invasive Here, we describe the identification, biosynthetic gene cluster, and biological activity of aetokthonotoxin, a pentabrominated biindole alkaloid that is produced by the cyanobacterium We identify this cyanobacterial neurotoxin as the causal agent of vacuolar myelinopathy and discuss environmental factors-especially bromide availability-that promote toxin production.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0036-8075 1095-9203 1095-9203
DOI:	10.1126/science.aax9050