The chemical and evolutionary ecology of tetrodotoxin (TTX) toxicity in terrestrial vertebrates

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is widely distributed in marine taxa, however in terrestrial taxa it is limited to a single class of vertebrates (Amphibia). Tetrodotoxin present in the skin and eggs of TTX-bearing amphibians primarily serves as an antipredator defense and these taxa have provided excellent model...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine drugs 2010-03, Vol.8 (3), p.577-593
Main Author: Hanifin, Charles T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amphibia
Amphibians - physiology
Animals
Anura
Atelopus
Biological Evolution
Caudata
Cynops
Ecology
Notophthalmus
Review
Salamandridae
Taricha
tetrodotoxin
Tetrodotoxin - analogs & derivatives
Tetrodotoxin - biosynthesis
Tetrodotoxin - chemistry
Tetrodotoxin - toxicity
TTX
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Summary:Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is widely distributed in marine taxa, however in terrestrial taxa it is limited to a single class of vertebrates (Amphibia). Tetrodotoxin present in the skin and eggs of TTX-bearing amphibians primarily serves as an antipredator defense and these taxa have provided excellent models for the study of the evolution and chemical ecology of TTX toxicity. The origin of TTX present in terrestrial vertebrates is controversial. In marine organisms the accepted hypothesis is that the TTX present in metazoans results from either dietary uptake of bacterially produced TTX or symbiosis with TTX producing bacteria, but this hypothesis may not be applicable to TTX-bearing amphibians. Here I review the taxonomic distribution and evolutionary ecology of TTX in amphibians with some attention to the origin of TTX present in these taxa.
ISSN:1660-3397
1660-3397
DOI:10.3390/md8030577