Brevetoxins
Dinoflagellates produce secondary metabolites that are exquisitely complex. The structure of brevetoxin (K. brevis) is shown below. Brevetoxin, and a handful of structurally similar molecules called "polyether ladders" are unique to marine algae. Very little is known about the biogenic origin of these compounds. What we do know, from stable isotope incorporation experiments (done by Shimizu and Nakanishi back in the 1980s), is that they are polyketides. The carbon backbone of all polyketides is constructed by an enzyme called a polyketide synthase (PKS).
In the Rein lab, we we want to develop an understanding of the molecular genetics of dinoflagellate toxin biosynthesis. These studies are highly challenging due to the complexities of the dinoflagellate genome. We were the first to identify dinoflagellate PKS genes (Mar. Biotech. 2003, 5 (1): 1-12). and to associate them with a dinoflagellate (Phytochemistry, 2005, 66(15), 1767-1780).
