The biology and evolution of spider venoms

Abstract

Spiders are diverse, predatory arthropods that have inhabited Earth for around 400 million years. They are well known for their complex venom systems that are used to overpower their prey. Spider venoms contain many proteins and peptides with highly specific and potent activities suitable for biomedical or agrochemical applications, but the key role of venoms as an evolutionary innovation is often overlooked, even though this has enabled spiders to emerge as one of the most successful animal lineages. In this review, we discuss these neglected biological aspects of spider venoms. We focus on the morphology of spider venom systems, their major components, biochemical and chemical plasticity, as well as ecological and evolutionary trends. We argue that the effectiveness of spider venoms is due to their unprecedented complexity, with diverse components working synergistically to increase the overall potency. The analysis of spider venoms is difficult to standardize because they are dynamic systems, fine‐tuned and modified by factors such as sex, life‐history stage and biological role. Finally, we summarize the mechanisms that drive spider venom evolution and highlight the need for genome‐based studies to reconstruct the evolutionary history and physiological networks of spider venom compounds with more certainty.

Venomics of the Central European Myrmicine Ants Myrmica rubra and Myrmica ruginodis

“…These form part of a diverse family of metazoan peptide hormones that are also venom components in anemones and ants [ 14 , 22 , 31 , 46 , 47 ]. EGF-like peptides therefore provide another example of the “toxipotent” nature of peptide hormones and their potential to become weaponized as venom components [ 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ].…”

“…The strict division of venom components into unique functional categories may not be possible, and it may be more valuable to interpret venom exochemistry in a context-dependent manner. Indeed, the multifunctional nature of venom components has been reported for several venomous animals, including some ants [ 49 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ].…”

Chromosomal‐level genome of a sheet‐web spider provides insight into the composition and evolution of venom

“…Spiders are one of the most successful venomous animals with approximately 50,000 species, which is probably larger than the total number of venomous predators in all other terrestrial animals (Lüddecke et al, 2021;Windley et al, 2012; https://wsc.nmbe. ch/).…”

“…Spiders are one of the most successful venomous animals with approximately 50,000 species, which is probably larger than the total number of venomous predators in all other terrestrial animals (Lüddecke et al, 2021; Windley et al, 2012; https://wsc.nmbe.ch/). The evolutionary success of spiders is largely due to the evolution of pharmacologically complex venom that guarantees rapid immobilization for predation and defence (King & Hardy, 2013).…”

Spider Toxin Peptide-Induced NIR Gold Nanocluster Fabrication for GSH-Responsive Cancer Cell Imaging and Nuclei Translocation

“…Natural toxin peptides are functional peptides with different biological activities and site specificity in the venoms of poisonous animals (including spiders, snakes, centipedes, snails, etc.). As molecular probes, they play important roles in the treatment and mechanism research of various diseases ( Lüddecke et al, 2021 ). In our early work, lycosin-I, a toxin peptide from the Lycosa singoriensis spider, was found to possess an efficient and selective anticancer activity, which has great potential in the molecular design of new antitumor drugs.…”