Isolation of satratoxins from the bedding straw of a sheep flock with fatal stachybotryotoxicosis

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Abstract
During a period of several weeks, more than 100 sheep died at a Hungarian farm. The animals exhibited fleece loosing, and hemorrhaging was the most important autopsy finding. Pasteurella haemolytica was cultured from various organs. The bedding straw was abundantly covered with Stachybotrys atra, and removal of the straw stopped the disease. Methanol extraction of the bedding straw followed by solvent partitioning, column chromatography, preparative thin-layer chromatography, and high-pressure liquid chromatography led to the isolation of satratoxins G and H, which were characterized by thin-layer chromatography, high-pressure liquid chromatography, and mass spectroscopy. This is the first isolation and characterization of toxins from a field sample of material responsible for an outbreak of stachybotryotoxicosis.