Aky. Lam et al., BIOTRANSFORMATION OF THE CYANOBACTERIAL HEPATOTOXIN MICROCYSTIN-LR, AS DETERMINED BY HPLC AND PROTEIN PHOSPHATASE BIOASSAY, Environmental science & technology, 29(1), 1995, pp. 242-246
Microcystin-LR (MCLR) is a cyclic hepatotoxin and tumor promotor produ
ced by some freshwater cyanobacteria. The occurrence of microcystin-co
ntaining blooms in freshwater has been implicated in animal and human
poisonings worldwide. To assess the fate of MCLR in a heterotrophic mi
crobial population, purified MCLR was incubated with a microbial commu
nity orginating from the Edmonton wastewater treatment plant. After 10
days of aerobic incubation, a significant decrease in MCLR concentrat
ion was observed. Analysis of the culture supernatant by highperforman
ce liquid chromatograph, monitoring absorbance at 210 and 238 nm, sugg
ested that the heptapeptide ring of MCLR and its Adda group had been m
odified, respectively. The transformed product(s) of MCLR, unlike the
parent toxin, did not inhibit protein phosphatase activity. There was
no difference in the bacterial counts in effluent spiked with MCLR as
compared with effluent without MCLR. Based on first-order kinetics, th
e half-life of MCLR under our laboratory conditions ranged from 0.2 to
3.6 d.