Structural elucidation of a new cytotoxin isolated from mussels of the Adriatic sea.

A detailed analysis of the toxic composition in the hepatopancreas of mussels from northern Adriatic sea has been performed. Along with some polyether toxins of DSP (diarrhetic shellfish poisoning) type, such as yessotoxin and its analogues, which are responsible for a variety of human seafood poisonings throughout the world, we have now isolated a new type of toxin, the chlorosulfolipid 1, which is completely different in structure from the polyether DSP-toxins isolated so far. The structural determination of the new toxin, including its absolute stereochemistry, has been performed by extensive NMR analysis and molecular mechanics and dynamics calculations.