Publications by authors named "Brieana M Gregg"
Tetanus neurotoxins (TeNT) and botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are closely related ~150 kDa protein toxins that together comprise the group of clostridial neurotoxins (CNTs) expressed by various species of . While TeNT is expressed as a single polypeptide, BoNTs are always produced alongside multiple non-toxic proteins that form a stabilizing complex with BoNT and are encoded in a conserved toxin gene cluster. It is unknown how evolved without a similar gene cluster and why complex-free TeNT is secreted as a stable and soluble protein by , whereas complexing proteins appear to be essential for BoNT stability in culture supernatants of .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are a class of toxins produced by () and other species of . BoNT/X is a putative novel botulinum neurotoxin identified through genome sequencing and capable of SNARE cleavage, but its neurotoxic potential in humans and vertebrates remained unclear. The strain producing BoNT/X, Strain 111, encodes both a plasmid-borne as well as the chromosomal putative .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) from bacteria can cause lethal botulism in humans and animals, mainly through contaminated food consumption.
- Ensuring food safety is vital to prevent botulism, but there are few established guidelines for testing food products against these toxins.
- The study analyzed a mix of ten strains of BoNT-producing bacteria, finding that while some strains compete for growth, the combination still produced high levels of BoNTs.