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Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Rough-skinned newts produce tetrodotoxin (TTX), which is a deadly neurotoxin that blocks voltage-gated sodium channels in predators. However,
so far the origin of the toxin was not clear. Here, Eisthen and colleagues tested whether highly toxic newts harboured TTX-producing bacteria. They cultured isolates of the skin-associated
microbiota from a toxic population and a non-toxic population of newts and identified TTX-producing bacterial strains from four genera in the collected samples, including _Aeromonas_,
_Pseudomonas_, _Shewanella_ and _Sphingopyxis_. This observation suggests that the symbiotic bacteria are the source of TTX toxicity in those animals. Finally, the authors showed that TTX
resistance in toxic newts and other animals was owing to modified TTX binding sites in the sodium channel, which indicates a role of the host-associated bacteria in shaping the evolution of
TTX resistance. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get
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ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support REFERENCES ORIGINAL ARTICLE * Vaelli, P. M. et al. The skin
microbiome facilitates adaptive tetrodotoxin production in poisonous newts. _eLife_ 9, e53898 (2020) Article Google Scholar Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS
* Nature Reviews Microbiology http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/ Andrea Du Toit Authors * Andrea Du Toit View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Andrea Du Toit. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Du Toit, A. Deadly friends. _Nat Rev Microbiol_
18, 316 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-020-0371-6 Download citation * Published: 22 April 2020 * Issue Date: June 2020 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-020-0371-6 SHARE THIS
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