Editing Cyanotoxin (section)

===Microcystins===
[[File:Microcystin-LR.svg|thumb|[[Microcystin LR]]]]

As with other cyanotoxins, [[microcystin]]s were named after the first organism discovered to produce them, ''Microcystis aeruginosa''. However it was later found other cyanobacterial genera also produced them.<ref name="Chorus&Bartram" /> There are about 60 known variants of microcystin, and several of these can be produced during a bloom. The most reported variant is [[microcystin-LR]], possibly because the earliest commercially available chemical standard analysis was for microcystin-''LR''.<ref name="Chorus&Bartram">{{Cite book |last1=Chorus |first1=Ingrid |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781003081449 |title=Toxic Cyanobacteria in Water: A Guide to Their Public Health Consequences, Monitoring and Management |last2=Welker |first2=Martin |date=2021-03-07 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-003-08144-9 |edition=2 |location=London |language=en |doi=10.1201/9781003081449}}</ref>

Blooms containing microcystin are a problem worldwide in freshwater ecosystems.<ref name="PelaezAntoniou2010">{{Cite book|last1=Pelaez|first1=Miguel|title=Xenobiotics in the Urban Water Cycle|last2=Antoniou|first2=Maria G.|last3=He|first3=Xuexiang|last4=Dionysiou|first4=Dionysios D.|last5=de la Cruz|first5=Armah A.|last6=Tsimeli|first6=Katerina|last7=Triantis|first7=Theodoros|last8=Hiskia|first8=Anastasia|last9=Kaloudis|first9=Triantafyllos|last10=Williams|first10=Christopher|last11=Aubel|first11=Mark|last12=Chapman|first12=Andrew|last13=Foss|first13=Amanda|last14=Khan|first14=Urooj|last15=O’Shea|first15=Kevin E.|last16=Westrick|first16=Judy|chapter=Sources and Occurrence of Cyanotoxins Worldwide |display-authors=6|volume=16|year=2010|pages=101–127|issn=1566-0745|doi=10.1007/978-90-481-3509-7_6|series=Environmental Pollution|isbn=978-90-481-3508-0}}</ref> Microcystins are cyclic peptides and can be very toxic for plants and animals including humans. They bioaccumulate in the [[liver]] of fish, in the [[hepatopancreas]] of mussels, and in zooplankton. They are [[hepatotoxic]] and can cause serious damage to the liver in humans.<ref name="Chorus&Bartram" /> In this way they are similar to the nodularins (below), and together the microcystins and nodularins account for most of the toxic cyanobacterial blooms in fresh and brackish waters.<ref name="Sivonen&Jones" /> In 2010, a number of [[sea otter]]s were poisoned by microcystin. Marine [[bivalve]]s were the likely source of hepatotoxic [[shellfish poisoning]]. This was the first confirmed example of a marine mammal dying from ingesting a cyanotoxin.<ref name=Milleretal>{{cite journal  |vauthors=Miller MA, Kudela RM, Mekebri A, Crane D, Oates SC, etal | year = 2010 | title = Evidence for a Novel Marine Harmful Algal Bloom: Cyanotoxin (Microcystin) Transfer from Land to Sea Otters | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 5 | issue = 9| page = e12576 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0012576 | editor1-last = Thompson | editor1-first = Ross | pmid=20844747 | pmc=2936937|bibcode = 2010PLoSO...512576M | doi-access = free }}</ref>

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