Enviornmental Biotechnology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Enviornmental Biotechnology - Research Paper Example The contamination of drinking water by these compounds is a major concern, and has led to the development of water treatment strategies aimed at their removal. The EDCs have been implicated in disorders of the neuroendocrine system, specifically on the hypothalamic neurotransmitter system, size of specific hypothalamic region, and the numbers of cells expressing the estrogen receptor ÃŽ ² . Certain chemical groups can disrupt and mimic reproductive hormones of fish, resulting in feminisation and premature egg yolk production in fish. Aside from effects on the reproductive system, these disrupters of hormonal activity have also been related to the prevalence of obesity and lately, schizophrenia. Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) is a freshwater algal toxin that is produced certain cyanobacterial species. The strains producing CYN are widely distributed in different regions of the world. These are Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, Umezakia natans and Aphanizomenon ovalisporum. Cylindrospermopsin is a tricyclic alkaloid with a tricyclic guanidine moiety combined with hydroxymethyluracil. It is considered a globally important freshwater algal toxin. The tolerable daily limit for cylindrospermin is 0.02 g/kg body weight/day (2) . Ingestion of CYN can result in liver and kidney damage with bloody diarrhea and urine (2). Several methods have been developed for the detection of CYN (3). CYN has has a maximum UV absorbance at 262 nm, and an easily identifiable peak. The first screening method for CYN used reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with photo diode array detection.Later HLPC-mass spectrometry with electrospray increased the detection limit to 200 ÃŽ ¼g L-1. With tandem mass spectrometry, 1 Â µg of CYB can be detected. The techniques used earlier were quite expensive and the development of polymerase chain reaction amplification systems were developed so with