Partial Purification of Sea Nettle (Chrysaora quinquecirrha) Nematocyst Toxin

Abstract

Soluble toxin was released from fresh Chrysaora quinquecirrha (sea nettle) nematocysts by gentle grinding or sonic treatment in distilled water. The lethal activity was not decreased by three cycles of freezing and thawing nor by lyophilization. Organic solvents such as acetone, ether, alcohol, and dimethylsulfoxide inactivated the toxin. Passage of the toxin through Sephadex gel results in partial purification and separation of the lethal activity into at least 2 fractions which are presumably proteinaceous.