saxitoxin

American  

[sak-si-tok-sin] / ˌsæk sɪˈtɒk sɪn /

noun

1. a powerful neurotoxin, C 1 0 H 1 7 N 7 O 4 , produced by the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax catenella, the causative agent of red tide.

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Etymology

Origin of saxitoxin

1960–65; < New Latin Saxi ( domus ), a clam genus infected by the dinoflagellates (equivalent to Latin sax ( um ) stone + -i- -i- + domus house) + toxin

Example Sentences

To determine which organism was responsible for saxitoxin, the U-M team collected samples directly from HABs as they appeared in the lake.

From Science Daily

Two years later, in the summer of 2017, saxitoxin emerged as a suspect in the strange behavior of a walrus that pulled out on the northern Bering Sea island of Little Diomede.

From Seattle Times

The poison in the shellfish is … called saxitoxin.

From Nature

More recently, the identification of the cyanobacterial genes encoding the biosynthetic machinery that produces saxitoxin, a highly potent PST, have enabled a molecular understanding of PST assembly9.

From Nature

One such compound is saxitoxin, a neurotoxin that tends to affect humans when they consume contaminated shellfish.

From The Guardian