Toxin of the week
Here you will find short descriptions of natural toxins. Each week will bring a new description as 'Toxin of the week' (except for breaks during summer vacation etc). All 15 fellows and other members of the NaToxAq consortium will contribute. For each description the author will be indicated.
The toxins are listed below according to date, and in the menu to the left they are sorted alphabetically.
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Cocaine – a tropane alkaloid
2020.05.18 -
Forsythoside
2020.05.11 -
Psolaren
2020.05.05 -
Toxic hypoglycin in ackee. Wait until it is ripe!
2020.04.21 -
Artemisinin
2020.03.30 -
Menthol
2020.03.23 -
Parthenin: A toxin from Parthenium weed
2020.03.16 -
Vicine and convicine - the main anti-nutritional factors restriciting faba bean usage
2020.03.10 -
Picrocrocin – Saffron’s taste
2020.03.02 -
Cyclopamine
2020.02.24 -
Weed – cannabinoids
2020.02.17 -
Cryptophycin – a potent cytotoxic agent
2020.01.31 -
Sanguinarine
2020.01.27 -
Colchicine - lethal confusion with wild garlic
2020.01.20 -
Oxalyldiaminopropionic acid
2020.01.13 -
Botulinum toxin – deadly but useful
2020.01.06 -
Physostigmine – a natural carbamate derivate and an indole alkaloid
2019.12.16 -
Caudatoside – an unfamiliar terpene glycoside from ferns
2019.12.06 -
Salicin
2019.12.03 -
Brevetoxins: Looks colourful but it is harmful
2019.11.27 -
Pyrethrum – the natural role model for the synthetic pyrethroid insecticides
2019.11.18 -
Atropine
2019.11.11 -
Aesculine
2019.11.04 -
Patulin - can apple juice be dangerous?
2019.10.28 -
Nutmeg - The dose makes a Toxin
2019.10.21 -
Gelsemine - from yellow jasmine and Arthur Conan Doyles' self-poisoning experience
2019.10.07 -
Paclitaxel - a “friendly” toxin that helps you with cancer
2019.09.30 -
Microviridin – the largest known cyanopeptide
2019.09.23 -
Rutecarpine - not all toxins are bad
2019.09.16 -
Skimmianine - a natural alkaloid from family Rutaceae
2019.09.09 -
S-methylcysteine sulfoxide – the Kale anaemia factor
2019.09.02 -
Amygdalin – sweet sugar and lethal cyanide in one molecule
2019.08.26 -
Cytisine - a quinolizidine alkaloid
2019.06.24 -
Echimidine - A weed by any other name – Paterson’s Curse or Salvation Jane?
2019.06.17 -
Tannins - protein binding polyphenolics
2019.05.27 -
Kahweol: It's Qahweh
2019.05.20 -
Gramine – fighting natural toxins with natural toxins
2019.05.13 -
Aristolochic acids - the culprit behind Balkan endemic nephropathy
2019.05.06 -
Catechins - benefits of green tea
2019.04.29 -
Muscarine - mushroom hunting can be a dangerous sport
2019.04.08 -
Caffeine – the most widely consumed psychoactive drug
2019.04.01 -
Brucine – another neurotoxic alkaloid present in the Nux-vomica tree
2019.03.25 -
Microginin – a toxin or a potential drug?
2019.03.18 -
Lycorine - is making daffodils inedible
2019.03.11 -
Xanthotoxol - a secondary product originated from imperatorin
2019.03.04 -
Maitotoxin – the heavyweight of nonbiopolymeric toxins
2019.02.25 -
Ptesculentoside – an unfamiliar terpene glycoside from ferns
2019.01.07 -
Helenalin – a toxic sesquiterpene lactone
2018.12.17 -
Rotenone - a natural pesticide
2018.12.12 -
Menisdaurin – deck the halls with boughs of holly
2018.12.03 -
Digoxin – the cardenolide that may give you van Gogh’s “yellow vision”
2018.11.26 -
Cucurbitacin - the bitter end
2018.11.19 -
Retinoic acid and its relatives - I can't live with or without you
2018.11.12 -
Carboxyatractyloside – the toxin produced by the common cockleburs
2018.11.05 -
Cyclamide – a wealth of different bioactivities
2018.10.29 -
Geosmin and 2-Methylisoborneol – nontoxic but stinky terpenoids that make your drinking water unpalatable
2018.10.22 -
Ophobiolin A - a toxic fungal sesterterpenoid toxin.
2018.10.15 -
Juglone – a toxic chemical from Juglandaceae family
2018.10.08 -
Tutin - sweet poison
2018.10.01 -
Furanocoumarins - the defence of wild Parsnip and Giant Hogweed
2018.09.24 -
Quercetin - creating an estrogenic response
2018.09.17 -
Ergotamine - can cause death of your body tissue
2018.09.10 -
Papaverine - the secret companion of morphine
2018.09.03 -
Emodin – a Natural Anthraquinone Derivative Occurred in Rhubarb
2018.08.27 -
Glycyrrhizin – a sweet poison
2018.08.20 -
Puwainaphycins – when your heart skips a beat
2018.05.22 -
Ricin - it takes so little to get a lethal dose
2018.05.14 -
Anatoxin-a(S) – the currently only naturally occurring organophosphate we know of
2018.05.07 -
Jacobine - one of the reasons behind the toxicity of ragwort
2018.04.30 -
Aeruginosin – a thrombin and trypsin inhibitor
2018.04.24 -
Convallatoxin – the toxin of wild garlic’s deadly doppelganger
2018.04.16 -
Sparteine – another Alkaloid in luteus family
2018.04.09 -
Coumarin – a liver damaging toxin in cheap cinnamon.
2018.04.02 -
Abrin from Rosary Pea - attractive and fatal
2018.03.26 -
Cicutoxin - a cholinergic poison
2018.03.19 -
Genistein - an agent of endocrine disruptive effects and relief of menopausal disorders
2018.03.12 -
Apicidin - a hemorrhagic factor produced by Toxic Fusarium spp.
2018.03.05 -
Nicotine – a natural insecticide
2018.02.26 -
Galanthamine – onions make you cry, others could make you die
2018.02.19 -
Endotoxins - a structural link between cyanobacteria and human pathogens
2018.02.12 -
Strychnine - a highly toxic indole alkaloid
2018.02.05 -
Cylindrospermopsins - alkaloid hepatotoxins beyond the Palm Island mystery disease in the late 1970s
2018.01.29 -
Aconitine – the queen of poison
2018.01.22 -
Anabaenopeptins - versatile in structure and function
2018.01.15 -
Senecionine – a pyrrolizidine alkaloid
2018.01.08 -
Lupinine - the chemical stopping you from eating Lupin
2017.12.11 -
Oleandrin – a powerful cardiac glycoside
2017.12.04 -
Nodularins - hepatotoxic cyclic pentapeptides
2017.11.27 -
Coniine - a piperidine alkaloid
2017.11.20 -
Bergapten – a phototoxic furanocoumarin
2017.11.13 -
Gossypol - a polyphenolic compound
2017.11.06 -
Lyngbyatoxins - the swimmer’s itch disease causing agents.
2017.10.30 -
Aflatoxins - The risk in mold
2017.10.23 -
Saponins - amphipathic glycosides
2017.10.16 -
Saxitoxins – a class of alkaloid neurotoxins produced by diverse algal organisms
2017.10.09 -
Anatoxin-A - a neurotoxic amine
2017.10.02 -
Grayanotoxin - From honey to hospital
2017.09.25 -
Shiga toxins - Stowaways on your sprouts
2017.09.18 -
Cyanopeptolins - cyanotoxins in the shadow of the famous microcystins
2017.09.11 -
Solanine – The reason your mother told you not to eat green potatoes
2017.08.28 -
Formononetin from red clover – is freshwater fish at risk?
2017.08.21 -
Microcystins – hepatotoxic cyclic peptides from blue-green algae (cyanobacteria)
2017.06.25 -
(S)-(-)-Hyoscyamine - a tropane alkaloid
2017.06.19 -
Ouabain – a cardenolide glycoside
2017.06.12 -
Thujone - a terpenoid
2017.06.06 -
Ptaquiloside - a carcinogenic terpene glycoside from ferns
2017.05.29 -
Linamarin - a cyanogenic glucoside
2017.05.22