alpha-amanitin

Description: alpha-Amanitin or alpha-amanitin, the main toxin of several deadly poisonous mushrooms, is a cyclic peptide composed of eight amino acids, exerting its toxic function by inhibiting RNA-polymerase II. It is possibly the most deadly of all the amatoxins, toxins found in several species of the mushroom genus Amanita, one being the death cap as well as the destroying angel, a complex of similar species, principally A. virosa and A. bisporigera. It is also found in the mushrooms Galerina marginata and Conocybe filaris. The oral LD?? of amanitin is 0.1 mg/kg for rats, which means 6.2mg is the lethal dose for an average adult human.

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