Identifying the saxitoxin synthesis genes

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Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is a potentially fatal syndrome associated with the consumption of shellfish that have accumulated toxins produced by microscopic algae. Saxitoxin, the most widely known PSP toxin, is produced by a limited number of marine dinoflagellates and freshwater filamentous cyanobacteria. The biosynthetic pathway for saxitoxin synthesis is poorly understood and none of the genes involved in saxitoxin synthesis have been conclusively identified.

In the lab, we are using the latest molecular and computational methods to identify and characterize the genes involved in saxitoxin production, the causative agent of PSP. Our aim is to obtain 20X genome coverage of three strains of toxic cyanobacteria and near complete transcriptome profiling of three toxic dinoflagellates.