RT journal article
T1 Conotoxin Diversity in Chelyconus ermineus (Born, 1778) and the Convergent Origin of Piscivory in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Cones
A1 Abalde, Samuel
A1 Jiménez Tenorio, Manuel
A1 Afonso, CarlosM.L
A1 Zardoya, Rafael
A2 Ciencia de los Materiales e Ingeniería Metalúrgica y Química Inorgánica
K1 conotoxin
K1 conopeptide
K1 convergence
K1 transcriptome
K1 Conidae
K1 expression
AB The transcriptome of the venom duct of the Atlantic piscivorous cone species Chelyconus ermineus (Born, 1778) wasdetermined. The venom repertoire of this species includes at least 378 conotoxin precursors, which could be ascribed to33 known and 22 new (unassigned) protein superfamilies, respectively.Most abundant superfamilies were T,W, O1, M, O2,and Z, accounting for 57% of all detected diversity. A total of three individuals were sequenced showing considerableintraspecific variation: each individual had many exclusive conotoxin precursors, and only 20% of all inferred maturepeptides were common to all individuals. Three different regions (distal, medium, and proximal with respect to the venombulb) of the venom duct were analyzed independently. Diversity (in terms of number of distinct members) of conotoxinprecursor superfamilies increased toward the distal region whereas transcripts detected toward the proximal region showedhigher expression levels. Only the superfamilies A and I3 showed statistically significant differential expression across regionsof the venom duct. Sequences belonging to the alpha (motor cabal) and kappa (lightning-strike cabal) subfamilies of thesuperfamily A were mainly detected in the proximal region of the venom duct. The mature peptides of the alpha subfamilyhad the a4/4 cysteine spacing pattern, which has been shown to selectively target muscle nicotinic-acetylcholine receptors,ultimately producing paralysis. This function is performed by mature peptides having a a3/5 cysteine spacing pattern inpiscivorous cone species from the Indo-Pacific region, thereby supporting a convergent evolution of piscivory in cones.
PB OXFORD UNIV PRESS
SN 1759-6653
YR 2018
FD 2018-10
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/21847
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/21847
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 21-sep-2026