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Category

Guanidine alkaloids

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tetrodotoxin
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin. Its name derives from Tetraodontiformes, an order that includes pufferfish, porcupinefish, ocean sunfish, and triggerfish; several of these species carry the toxin. Although tetrodotoxin was discovered in these fish, it is found in several other animals (e.g., in blue-ringed octopuses, rough-skinned newts, and moon snails). It is also produced by certain infectious or symbiotic bacteria like Pseudoalteromonas, Pseudomonas, and Vibrio as well as other species found in symbiotic relationships with animals and plants.
saxitoxin
Saxitoxin (STX) is a potent neurotoxin and the best-known paralytic shellfish toxin. Ingestion of saxitoxin by humans, usually by consumption of shellfish contaminated by toxic algal blooms, is responsible for the illness known as paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP).
palauamine
'''Palau'amine' is a toxic chlorinated alkaloid compound synthesized naturally by certain species of sea sponges. The name of the molecule derives from the island nation of Palau, near where the first sponge species discovered to produce it, Stylotella agminata, is found. It has since been isolated in other sponges, including Stylissa massa''.
cylindrospermopsin
Cylindrospermopsin (abbreviated to CYN, or CYL) is a cyanotoxin produced by a variety of freshwater cyanobacteria. CYN is a polycyclic uracil derivative containing guanidino and sulfate groups. It is also zwitterionic, making it highly water soluble. CYN is toxic to liver and kidney tissue and is thought to inhibit protein synthesis and to covalently modify DNA and/or RNA. It is not known whether cylindrospermopsin is a carcinogen, but it appears to have no tumour-initiating activity in mice.
Alchorneine
Alchorneine is an imidazopyrimidine alkaloid found in trees in the genus Alchornea such as Alchornea castaneifolia, Alchornea floribunda or Alchornea cordifolia.
galegine
Galegine is a toxic chemical compound that has been isolated from Galega officinalis. It has also been found to be the principal cause of the toxicity of poison sedge (Schoenus asperocarpus).