Plant Toxins

Natural Toxins in Plant Foodstuffs

Since food plants are mixtures of large numbers of chemical compounds and since any substance is toxic in a high enough dose, it is not surprising that natural food plants are toxic under certain conditions. Toxicity from common natural foods has resulted from long-term consumption of a single food item or from short periods of consumption of foods containing unusually high levels of a toxic su...

Introduction to the Toxins Special Issue on Plant Toxins

Inhibiting Microbial Toxins Using Plant-Derived Compounds and Plant Extracts

Many pathogenic bacteria and fungi produce potentially lethal toxins that cause cytotoxicity or impaired cellular function either at the site of colonization or other locations in the body through receptor-mediated interactions. Various factors, including biotic and abiotic environments, competing microbes, and chemical cues affect toxin expression in these pathogens. Recent work suggests that ...

Plant Insecticidal Toxins in Ecological Networks

Plant secondary metabolites play a key role in plant-insect interactions, whether constitutive or induced, C- or N-based. Anti-herbivore defences against insects can act as repellents, deterrents, growth inhibitors or cause direct mortality. In turn, insects have evolved a variety of strategies to act against plant toxins, e.g., avoidance, excretion, sequestration and degradation of the toxin, ...

The Interactions of Human Neutrophils with Shiga Toxins and Related Plant Toxins: Danger or Safety?

Shiga toxins and ricin are well characterized similar toxins belonging to quite different biological kingdoms. Plant and bacteria have evolved the ability to produce these powerful toxins in parallel, while humans have evolved a defense system that recognizes molecular patterns common to foreign molecules through specific receptors expressed on the surface of the main actors of innate immunity,...