The acetylcholinesterase ichthyotoxin is a common component in the extracellular products of Vibrionaceae strains.

Departamento de Biología Funcional y Ciencias de la Salud, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus de Orense, Universidad de Vigo, As Lagoas, Orense, Spain.

In previous work, it was reported that a strain of Aeromonas hydrophila (B32) produces the most potent lethal toxin with neurotoxic activity described so far for fish. In the present study, the presence and distribution of this acetylcholinesterase toxin lethal for fish were determined in extracellular products (ECP) of 42 Vibrionaceae strains using both immunological and colorimetric methods. This neurotoxin was shown to be present in the majority of the ECP from the Aeromonas and Vibrio strains tested and is responsible for the specific acetylcholinesterase activity. Also, although the Western blot and Ouchterlony techniques are valid as qualitative methods for the detection of this toxin, the Western blot procedure was 100-fold more sensitive than the Ouchterlony technique.

PMID: 15244056 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]