On Botulinum Neurotoxin Variability

ABSTRACT  The rapidly growing number of botulinum neurotoxin sequences poses the problem of the possible evolutionary significance of the variability of these superpotent neurotoxins for toxin-producing Clostridium species. To progress in the understanding of this remarkable phenomenon, we suggest t...

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Auteurs principaux: Cesare Montecucco, Maria Berica Rasotto
Format: article
Langue:EN
Publié: American Society for Microbiology 2015
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:e5a8f9da2fc945eb95583530f11b6d402021-11-15T15:41:19ZOn Botulinum Neurotoxin Variability10.1128/mBio.02131-142150-7511https://doaj.org/article/e5a8f9da2fc945eb95583530f11b6d402015-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.02131-14https://doaj.org/toc/2150-7511ABSTRACT  The rapidly growing number of botulinum neurotoxin sequences poses the problem of the possible evolutionary significance of the variability of these superpotent neurotoxins for toxin-producing Clostridium species. To progress in the understanding of this remarkable phenomenon, we suggest that researchers should (i) abandon an anthropocentric view of these neurotoxins as human botulism-causing agents or as human therapeutics, (ii) begin to investigate in depth the role of botulinum neurotoxins in animal botulism in the wilderness, and (iii) devote large efforts to next-generation sequencing of soil samples to identify novel botulinum neurotoxins. In order to compare the fitness of the different toxins, we suggest that assays of all the steps from toxin production to animal death should be performed.Cesare MontecuccoMaria Berica RasottoAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleMicrobiologyQR1-502ENmBio, Vol 6, Iss 1 (2015)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Microbiology
QR1-502
spellingShingle Microbiology
QR1-502
Cesare Montecucco
Maria Berica Rasotto
On Botulinum Neurotoxin Variability
description ABSTRACT  The rapidly growing number of botulinum neurotoxin sequences poses the problem of the possible evolutionary significance of the variability of these superpotent neurotoxins for toxin-producing Clostridium species. To progress in the understanding of this remarkable phenomenon, we suggest that researchers should (i) abandon an anthropocentric view of these neurotoxins as human botulism-causing agents or as human therapeutics, (ii) begin to investigate in depth the role of botulinum neurotoxins in animal botulism in the wilderness, and (iii) devote large efforts to next-generation sequencing of soil samples to identify novel botulinum neurotoxins. In order to compare the fitness of the different toxins, we suggest that assays of all the steps from toxin production to animal death should be performed.
format article
author Cesare Montecucco
Maria Berica Rasotto
author_facet Cesare Montecucco
Maria Berica Rasotto
author_sort Cesare Montecucco
title On Botulinum Neurotoxin Variability
title_short On Botulinum Neurotoxin Variability
title_full On Botulinum Neurotoxin Variability
title_fullStr On Botulinum Neurotoxin Variability
title_full_unstemmed On Botulinum Neurotoxin Variability
title_sort on botulinum neurotoxin variability
publisher American Society for Microbiology
publishDate 2015
url https://doaj.org/article/e5a8f9da2fc945eb95583530f11b6d40
work_keys_str_mv AT cesaremontecucco onbotulinumneurotoxinvariability
AT mariabericarasotto onbotulinumneurotoxinvariability
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