Identification of cylindrospermopsin in Aphanizomenon ovalisporum (cyanophyceae) isolated from Lake Kinneret, Israel

Aphanizomenon ovalisporum (Forti) was identified and isolated from Lake Kinneret upon its first appearance as a dominant bloom in late 1994. This cyanobacterial species, not previously known to be toxic, was evaluated by a commonly used mouse bioassay and was demonstrated to induce toxic symptoms that were distinguishable from the typical symptoms of the neurotoxins previously reported in Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (L.) Ralfs. Mice died 5-24 h after crude extracts were injected intraperitoneally, and the LD₅₀ value was estimated as 465 mg dry wt biomass·kg^-1 mouse. A toxicity-guided fractionation of the actire extract indicated that the potent substance is polar in nature. The structure of the active compound was determined by its mass spectrometry and NMR data. The compound was found to be the sulfate-guanidinium zwitterion, cylindrospermopsin, previously isolated from the cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (Woloszynska) and recently also reported in Umezakia natans (Watanabe). This is the first time that Aphanizomenon ovalis-porum has been reported to contain a toxic compound.