title: Identification of Cyclopropylacetyl-(R)-carnitine, a Unique Chemical Marker of the Fatally Toxic Mushroom Russula subnigricans.
abstract: A toxic mushroom, Russula subnigricans, causes fatal poisoning by mistaken ingestion. In spite of the potent bioactivity, the responsible toxin had not been identified for about 50 years since its first documentation. Recently, we isolated an unstable toxin and determined the structure. The slow elucidation was partly due to the instability of the toxin and also due to misidentification of R. subnigricans for similar mushrooms. To discriminate genuine Russula subnigricans from similar unidentified Russula species, we searched for a unique chemical marker contained in the mushroom. Cyclopropylacetyl-(R)-carnitine specific to R. subnigricans was identified as a novel compound whose (1)H-NMR signals appearing in the upfield region were easily recognizable among the complicated signals of the crude extract.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.forename: Suguru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saikawa
authors.forename: Masaya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.forename: Kimiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
mesh_terms: D000363:Agaricales / Q000737:chemistry*; D002331:Carnitine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis; D015394:Molecular Structure; D066244:Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013237:Stereoisomerism
chemical_list: D002331:Carnitine