Proteomic Profile of the Toxic Cyanobacteria Microcystic aeruginosa

Abstract

The production of cyanotoxins in algal blooms has been a major concern for the quality of freshwaters that aquatic species and humans have in contact with. In particular, microcystin is a common yet potent cyanotoxin that is produced by cyanobacteria. In this paper, the mcyE proteome was studied to analyze and gain further knowledge of its role in microcystin production relative to its structure and function. The mcyE gene of the Microcystic aeruginosa was analyzed using the CyanoOmicsDB database. Based on the findings of data mining, the structure of the microcystin is composed of arginine and leucine. The proteins expressed by this gene cluster are diverse with functions relating to the cell's organization and assembly of complex polyketides or nonribosomal polypeptides. However, there is little information as to the association of these proteins to the production of microcystin.