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Genome of Clostridium botulinum reveals the background to world's deadliest toxin

05-25-2007 · EurekAlert!

The genome of the organism that produces the world’s most lethal toxin is revealed today. This toxin is the one real weapon in the genome of Clostridium botulinum and less than 2 kg -- the weight of two bags of sugar -- is enough to kill every person on the planet. Very small amounts of the same toxin are used in medical treatments, one of which is known as Botox.

Keywords: genome, clostridium, botulinum, reveals, background, world, deadliest, toxin, reveal

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Botulism bug has few genome wrinkles
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The genome of the organism that produces the world's most lethal toxin is revealed today. This toxin is the major weapon in the genome of Clostridium botulinum: less than two kg is enough to kill every person on the planet. The results, reported in Genome Research, show that C. botulinum doesn't have subtle tools to evade our human defences or tricky methods of acquiring resistance to antibiotics, but hits its host with a microbial sledgehammer.
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Wound botulism
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