identification and toxigenic potential of a cyanobacterial strain (stigomena sp.)

cyanobacteria are well known for their production of a multitude of highly toxic substances . the genus stigomena is regarded as good candidates for producing biologically active secondary metabolites, which are highly toxic to humans and other animals. the carcass of a dog was found at the shore of lake ali-abad, iran. biomass from the discovery site appeared to be of cyanobacterial nature. we identified the strain as freshwater bloom-forming representative of the stigomena genus on the basis of its 16s rrna sequence. it carried the mcye gene, as well as a potential cryptic hassallidin gene cluster. these results suggest that microcystin-induced liver damage may have significantly ontributed to the death of the dog. this case is thus the first reported incident of potential microcystin intoxication in a dog in iran.