Transcriptome analysis revealed novel possible venom components and cellular processes of the tarantula Chilobrachys jingzhao venom gland

Chen, Jinjun; Zhao, Li‐Xia; Jiang, Liping; Meng, Er; Zhang, Yongqun; Xiong, Xingjiang; Liang, Songping

doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2008.08.003

Cited by 44 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…This finding was in agreement with previous data [13], [27], [28]. According to annotations from GO analyses (Figure 2), transcripts were categorized into 73 biological processes.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Toxin Diversity Revealed by a Transcriptomic Study of Ornithoctonus huwena

Zhang

Huang

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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Spider venom comprises a mixture of compounds with diverse biological activities, which are used to capture prey and defend against predators. The peptide components bind a broad range of cellular targets with high affinity and selectivity, and appear to have remarkable structural diversity. Although spider venoms have been intensively investigated over the past few decades, venomic strategies to date have generally focused on high-abundance peptides. In addition, the lack of complete spider genomes or representative cDNA libraries has presented significant limitations for researchers interested in molecular diversity and understanding the genetic mechanisms of toxin evolution. In the present study, second-generation sequencing technologies, combined with proteomic analysis, were applied to determine the diverse peptide toxins in venom of the Chinese bird spider Ornithoctonus huwena. In total, 626 toxin precursor sequences were retrieved from transcriptomic data. All toxin precursors clustered into 16 gene superfamilies, which included six novel superfamilies and six novel cysteine patterns. A surprisingly high number of hypermutations and fragment insertions/deletions were detected, which accounted for the majority of toxin gene sequences with low-level expression. These mutations contribute to the formation of diverse cysteine patterns and highly variable isoforms. Furthermore, intraspecific venom variability, in combination with variable transcripts and peptide processing, contributes to the hypervariability of toxins in venoms, and associated rapid and adaptive evolution of toxins for prey capture and defense.

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“…This finding was in agreement with previous data [13], [27], [28]. According to annotations from GO analyses (Figure 2), transcripts were categorized into 73 biological processes.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Toxin Diversity Revealed by a Transcriptomic Study of Ornithoctonus huwena

Zhang

Huang

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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“…Chitinase might thus be involved in the spread of venom components throughout the prey. Chitinase has been reported from spiders Chen et al, 2008) to parasitoid wasps (Vincent et al, 2010;de Graaf et al, 2010). Since arthropods use extra-oral digestion as a means of consuming relatively large prey with intractable cuticles through injection of proteolytic enzymes (Cohen, 1995;(McCormick and Polis, 1990), the venom chitinases found here may complement the action of the digestive system.…”

Section: Other Putative Venom Componentsmentioning

confidence: 79%

The transcriptome recipe for the venom cocktail of Tityus bahiensis scorpion

Oliveira

Cândido

Dorce

et al. 2015

Toxicon

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Scorpion venom is a mixture of peptides, including antimicrobial, bradykinin-potentiating and anionic peptides and small to medium proteins, such as ion channel toxins, metalloproteinases and phospholipases that together cause severe clinical manifestation. Tityus bahiensis is the second most medically important scorpion species in Brazil and it is widely distributed in the country with the exception of the North Region. Here we sequenced and analyzed the transcripts from the venom glands of T. bahiensis, aiming at identifying and annotating venom gland expressed genes. A total of 116,027 long reads were generated by pyrosequencing and assembled in 2891 isotigs. An annotation process identified transcripts by similarity to known toxins, revealing that putative venom components represent 7.4% of gene expression. The major toxins identified are potassium and sodium channel toxins, whereas metalloproteinases showed an unexpected high abundance. Phylogenetic analysis of deduced metalloproteinases from T. bahiensis and other scorpions revealed a pattern of ancient and intraspecific gene expansions. Other venom molecules identified include antimicrobial, anionic and bradykinin-potentiating peptides, besides several putative new venom components. This report provides the first attempt to massively identify the venom components of this species and constitutes one of the few transcriptomic efforts on the genus Tityus.

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“…Conotoxins are notable for their rapid evolution and the extreme divergence among paralogs within a species at the amino acid level [56]. Similarly, sequencing of spider venom gland transcripts has revealed single species ICK toxin libraries containing more than 100 distinct members [12, 57]. While ICK toxin sequences can also differ dramatically among spiders, clades of more closely related sequences also occur in some spider species, and likely represent more recent, species-specific gene family diversification [45].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dramatic expansion of the black widow toxin arsenal uncovered by multi-tissue transcriptomics and venom proteomics

et al. 2014

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BackgroundAnimal venoms attract enormous interest given their potential for pharmacological discovery and understanding the evolution of natural chemistries. Next-generation transcriptomics and proteomics provide unparalleled, but underexploited, capabilities for venom characterization. We combined multi-tissue RNA-Seq with mass spectrometry and bioinformatic analyses to determine venom gland specific transcripts and venom proteins from the Western black widow spider (Latrodectus hesperus) and investigated their evolution.ResultsWe estimated expression of 97,217 L. hesperus transcripts in venom glands relative to silk and cephalothorax tissues. We identified 695 venom gland specific transcripts (VSTs), many of which BLAST and GO term analyses indicate may function as toxins or their delivery agents. ~38% of VSTs had BLAST hits, including latrotoxins, inhibitor cystine knot toxins, CRISPs, hyaluronidases, chitinase, and proteases, and 59% of VSTs had predicted protein domains. Latrotoxins are venom toxins that cause massive neurotransmitter release from vertebrate or invertebrate neurons. We discovered ≥ 20 divergent latrotoxin paralogs expressed in L. hesperus venom glands, significantly increasing this biomedically important family. Mass spectrometry of L. hesperus venom identified 49 proteins from VSTs, 24 of which BLAST to toxins. Phylogenetic analyses showed venom gland specific gene family expansions and shifts in tissue expression.ConclusionsQuantitative expression analyses comparing multiple tissues are necessary to identify venom gland specific transcripts. We present a black widow venom specific exome that uncovers a trove of diverse toxins and associated proteins, suggesting a dynamic evolutionary history. This justifies a reevaluation of the functional activities of black widow venom in light of its emerging complexity.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-366) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Transcriptome analysis revealed novel possible venom components and cellular processes of the tarantula Chilobrachys jingzhao venom gland

Cited by 44 publications

References 38 publications

Toxin Diversity Revealed by a Transcriptomic Study of Ornithoctonus huwena

Toxin Diversity Revealed by a Transcriptomic Study of Ornithoctonus huwena

The transcriptome recipe for the venom cocktail of Tityus bahiensis scorpion

Dramatic expansion of the black widow toxin arsenal uncovered by multi-tissue transcriptomics and venom proteomics

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