Diversity of Conopeptides and Conoenzymes from the Venom Duct of the Marine Cone Snail as Determined from Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses.

Marine cone snails are predatory gastropods characterized by a well-developed venom apparatus and highly evolved hunting strategies that utilize toxins to paralyze prey and defend against predators. The venom of each species of cone snail has a large number of pharmacologically active peptides known as conopeptides or conotoxins that are usually unique in each species. Nevertheless, venoms of only very few species have been characterized so far by transcriptomic approaches.