mytilotoxinn.
/ˌmɪtᵻlə(ʊ)ˈtɒksɪn/, /ˌmɪtl̩ə(ʊ)ˈtɒksɪn/, U.S. /ˌmɪdələˈtɑks(ə)n/ Chemistry and Biology.
A poisonous alkaloid produced by certain planktonic organisms and sometimes present in mussels.
ΚΠ
1886 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 50 634 During the writing of this paper, Brieger has described a very poisonous leucomaïne, of the composition C6H15NO2, obtained from poisonous mussel, which he calls mytilotoxine.
1886 Science 7 May 413/2 The poison in mussels has been isolated, and described as a ptomaine under the name of mytilotoxin.
1960 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 90 843 In 1885 a mass intoxication from eating mussels, Mytilus edulis, occurred near Wilhelmshavem, Germany, and Brieger claimed to have isolated from the toxic mussels a poisonous substance in the form of a gold salt, which he called ‘mytilotoxin’.
1995 Cytobios 81 49 Food poisoning in humans results from eating bivalves which have absorbed mytilotoxins or the plankta which produce them.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1886