Publications by authors named "Kouki Terada"
Venoms are among the most biologically active secretions known, and are commonly believed to evolve under extreme positive selection. Many venom gene families, however, have undergone duplication, and are often deployed in doses vastly exceeding the LD50 for most prey species, which should reduce the strength of positive selection. Here, we contrast these selective regimes using snake venoms, which consist of rapidly evolving protein formulations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study investigates how snake venom proteins evolve by examining two species of pitvipers and their hybrids, focusing on the relationship between ecology, protein expression levels, and evolutionary rates.
- Researchers found that while the overall composition of protein families in the venoms of different species was similar, specific proteins showed significant differences in abundance, indicating rapid evolution influenced by positive selection.
- The results suggest that the most abundant venom proteins tend to evolve quickly due to adaptive pressures, highlighting a complex interplay between protein abundance and evolutionary adaptation in snake venoms.
Background: Advances in DNA sequencing and proteomics have facilitated quantitative comparisons of snake venom composition. Most studies have employed one approach or the other. Here, both Illumina cDNA sequencing and LC/MS were used to compare the transcriptomes and proteomes of two pit vipers, Protobothrops flavoviridis and Ovophis okinavensis, which differ greatly in their biology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF