For the first time, tetrodotoxin (TTX) was detected in a bacterial strain after five years of cultivation in laboratory conditions since its isolation from the animal host. A reliable method suitable for bacterial samples, high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry, was used for toxin detection in spore and vegetative cultures of Bacillus sp. 1839. TTX was detected in a spore culture of the strain.
Keywords: Bacillus; HPLC-MS/MS; TTX; TTX-producing bacteria; spores; tetrodotoxin.