Gonyautoxin-1 (GTX₁), one of the major components of paralytic shellfish poison, was isolated from the toxic digestive gland of scallop Patinopecten yessoensis by a method consisting of activated charcoal treatment and three types of column chromatography: on Bio-Gel P-2, Amberlite CG-50, and Bio-Rex 70.
The scallop GTX₁ thus obtained was homogeneous both in TLC and in cellulose acetate membrane electrophoresis. Elemental analysis and IR spectrometry indicated the presence of one mole of -OSO₃^- per mole of the toxin. This, together with the ¹H-NMR and ¹³C-NMR spectra, suggested that the structure of GTX₁ is 11-(OSO₃) neosaxitoxin.
The specific toxicity was determined to be 5, 000 MU/mg, which is comparable to that of saxitoxin, gonyautoxin-2, or tetrodotoxin.