AI Article Synopsis
- This study investigates how snake venom changes as snakes grow, focusing on variations in venom composition among different-sized individuals.
- Researchers decoded venom gland transcripts from six snakes and analyzed venom proteins from 19, identifying 125 toxin transcripts, with only 10 linked to growth changes.
- The findings indicate that larger snakes primarily produce myotoxic phospholipases A, while smaller snakes have venom that is more hemorrhagic and pro-coagulant due to unique metalloproteinases, showing that transcriptional changes play a key role in venom variability.
Article Abstract
Ontogenetic changes in venom composition have been described in snakes, but only a few studies have attempted to identify the targeted paralogues or the molecular mechanisms involved in modifications of gene expression during ontogeny. In this study, we decoded venom gland transcripts from six specimens of varying sizes and analyzed the variability in the composition of independent venom proteomes from 19 individuals. We identified 125 distinct putative toxin transcripts, and of these, 73 were detected in venom proteomes and only 10 were involved in the ontogenetic changes. Ontogenetic variability was linearly related to snake size and did not correspond to the maturation of the reproductive stage. Changes in the transcriptome were highly predictive of changes in the venom proteome. The basic myotoxic phospholipases A (PLAs) were the most abundant components in larger snakes, while in venoms from smaller snakes, PIII-class SVMPs were the major components. The snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs) identified corresponded to novel sequences and conferred higher pro-coagulant and hemorrhagic functions to the venom of small snakes. The mechanisms modulating venom variability are predominantly related to transcriptional events and may consist of an advantage of higher hematotoxicity and more efficient predatory function in the venom from small snakes.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7763748 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins12120791 | DOI Listing |
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