Fast and direct extraction of cell-associated hepatotoxins from toxic cyanobacteria

Microcystins are an important group of toxins produced by cyanobacteria of different genera. An increasing number of water contaminations by this class of toxins have been reported that are susceptible to generate important public health problems. We designed an efficient method for extracting these toxins on-site for a rapid testing of potentially contaminated water. The extraction parameters have been optimized using Microcystis aeruginosa and the technique successfully applied to different laboratory cultures and field samples. The procedure employs a simple and stable reagent mix of propanol, Tween 20, and trifluoroacetic acid. It is directly active on crude cell suspensions without any pre-treatment. Extraction yields measured by immunological quantification were at least equal to the best values obtained with the most commonly used laboratory techniques. An additional simple concentration/extraction step is also described that allows measurements on samples too dilute for direct detection by immunochromatographic techniques.