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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Foodborne Toxin Detection and Prevention Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #331280
Research Project: Advance the Development of Technologies for Detecting and Determining the Stability and Bioavailability of Toxins that Impact Food Safety and Food Defense

Location: Foodborne Toxin Detection and Prevention Research

Title: Historical perspectives and guidelines for botulinum neurotoxin subtype nomenclature

Author
item PECK, MICHAEL - Institute Of Food Research - United Kingdom
item SMITH, TERESA - Us Army Medical Research Institute
item ANNIBALLI, FABRIZIO - Istituto Superiore Di Sanita
item ARNON, STEPHEN - California Department Of Health
item AUSTIN, JOHN - Health Canada
item BANO, LUCA - Istituto Zooprofilattico
item BRADSHAW, MARITE - University Of Wisconsin
item CUERVO, MARIA - Cuyo University
item Cheng, Luisa
item DERMAN, YAGMUR - University Of Helsinki
item DORNER, BRIGITTE - Robert Koch Institute
item DOVER, NIR - California Department Of Health
item FISCHER, AUDREY - Johns Hopkins University
item HILL, KAREN - Los Alamos National Research Laboratory
item KALB, SUZANNE - Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) - United States
item KORKEALA, HANNU - University Of Helsinki
item LINDSTROM, MIA - University Of Helsinki
item LISTA, FLORIGIO - Istituto Superiore Di Sanita
item LUQUEZ, CAROLINA - Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) - United States
item MAZUET, CHRISTELLE - Institut Pasteur - France
item PELLETT, SABINE - University Of Wisconsin
item PIRAZZINI, MARCO - Universita Di Padova
item POPOFF, MICHEL - Institut Pasteur - France
item RASETTI-ESCARGUEIL, CHRISTINE - Institute Of Food Research - United Kingdom
item ROSSETTO, ORNELLA - Universita Di Padova
item RUMMEL, ANDREAS - University Of Hannover
item SESARDIC, THEA - Institute Of Food Research - United Kingdom
item SINGH, BAL RAM - Dartmouth University
item STRINGER, SANDRA - Institute Of Food Research - United Kingdom

Submitted to: Toxins
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/7/2017
Publication Date: 1/18/2017
Citation: Peck, M.W., Smith, T.J., Anniballi, F., Arnon, S.S., Austin, J.W., Bano, L., Bradshaw, M., Cuervo, M.P., Cheng, L.W., Derman, Y., Dorner, B., Dover, N., Fischer, A., Hill, K.K., Kalb, S., Korkeala, H., Lindstrom, M., Lista, F., Luquez, C., Mazuet, C., Pellett, S., Pirazzini, M., Popoff, M.R., Rasetti-Escargueil, C., Rossetto, O., Rummel, A., Sesardic, T., Singh, B., Stringer, S.C. 2017. Historical perspectives and guidelines for botulinum neurotoxin subtype nomenclature. Toxins. 9(1):38. doi: 10.3390/toxins9010038.

Interpretive Summary: There are at least seven botulinum neurotoxins and 40 known subtypes of these toxins. Many new toxin subtypes are continuously being discovered worldwide. In order to prevent confusion and repetition in the naming of newly discovered toxins, a committee of scientists from the botulinum community was convened to develop new naming guidelines. This manuscript describes the history of how botulinum neurotoxins have been named and classified, and sets out new guidelines and criteria for the future naming of new toxin serotypes or subtypes.

Technical Abstract: Botulinum neurotoxins are diverse proteins. They are currently represented by at least seven serotypes and 40 subtypes. New clostridial strains that produce novel neurotoxin variants are being identified with increasing frequency, which presents challenges when organizing the nomenclature surrounding these neurotoxins. Worldwide, researchers are faced with the possibility that toxins having identical sequences may be given different designations, or novel toxins having unique sequences may be given the same designations on publication. In order to minimize these problems, an ad hoc committee consisting of over 20 researchers in the field of botulinum neurotoxin research was convened to discuss clarification of the issues involved in botulinum neurotoxin nomenclature. This publication presents a historical overview of the issues and provides guidelines for botulinum neurotoxin nomenclature in the future.