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Oliveira LD, Nachtigall PG, Vialla VL, Campos PF, Costa-Neves AD, Zaher H, Silva NJD, Grazziotin FG, Wilkinson M, Junqueira-de-Azevedo ILM. Comparing morphological and secretory aspects of cephalic glands among the New World coral snakes brings novel insights on their biological roles. Toxicon 2023; 234:107285. [PMID: 37683698 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023]
Abstract
Oral and other cephalic glands have been surveyed by several studies with distinct purposes. Despite the wide diversity and medical relevance of the New World coral snakes, studies focusing on understanding the biological roles of the glands within this group are still scarce. Specifically, the venom glands of some coral snakes were previously investigated but all other cephalic glands remain uncharacterized. In this sense, performing morphological and molecular analysis of these glands may help better understand their biological role. Here, we studied the morphology of the venom, infralabial, rictal, and harderian glands of thirteen species of Micrurus and Micruroides euryxanthus. We also performed a molecular characterization of these glands from selected species of Micrurus using transcriptomic and proteomic approaches. We described substantial morphological variation in the cephalic glands of New World coral snakes and structural evidence for protein-secreting cells in the inferior rictal glands. Our molecular analysis revealed that the venom glands, as expected, are majorly devoted to toxin production, however, the infralabial and inferior rictal glands also expressed some toxin genes at low to medium levels, despite the marked morphological differences. On the other hand, the harderian glands were dominated by the expression of lipocalins, but do not produce toxins. Our integrative analysis, including the prediction of biological processes and pathways, helped decipher some important traits of cephalic glands and better understand their biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo de Oliveira
- Laboratório de Toxinologia Aplicada, Centre of Toxins, Immune-Response and Cell Signaling (CeTICS), Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, 05503-900, Brazil; Herpetology, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
| | - Pedro Gabriel Nachtigall
- Laboratório de Toxinologia Aplicada, Centre of Toxins, Immune-Response and Cell Signaling (CeTICS), Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, 05503-900, Brazil
| | - Vincent Louis Vialla
- Laboratório de Toxinologia Aplicada, Centre of Toxins, Immune-Response and Cell Signaling (CeTICS), Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, 05503-900, Brazil
| | - Pollyanna F Campos
- Laboratório de Toxinologia Aplicada, Centre of Toxins, Immune-Response and Cell Signaling (CeTICS), Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, 05503-900, Brazil
| | | | - Hussam Zaher
- Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Nazaré 481, Ipiranga, 04263-000, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Nelson Jorge da Silva
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Ambientais e Saúde, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, 74605-140, Brazil
| | - Felipe G Grazziotin
- Laboratório de Coleções Zoológicas, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, 05503-900, Brazil
| | - Mark Wilkinson
- Herpetology, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
| | - Inácio L M Junqueira-de-Azevedo
- Laboratório de Toxinologia Aplicada, Centre of Toxins, Immune-Response and Cell Signaling (CeTICS), Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, 05503-900, Brazil
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Abstract
As in previous contributions to the JVATiTD, the aim of this
note is to bring some general information on a particular aspect of the scorpion
biology. An attempt is made to explain the possible coevolution of telson
morphology and venom glands, which took place during several hundred million
years and in particular since scorpions migrated from aquatic to terrestrial
environments. Three components can be directly associated with predation and
defensive behaviours: (1) morphology of the chelae and structure of the chelae
fingers granulations; (2) morphology of the metasoma and in particular of the
telson; (3) evolution of tegumentary glands in the telson toward different types
of venom glands. Since a number of recent contributions already treated some of
these aspects, I will limit my comments to the possible evolution of the telson
in relation to the evolution of venom glands. As in previous contributions, the
content of this article is basically addressed to non-specialists on scorpions
whose research embraces scorpions in several fields such as venom toxins and
public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wilson R Lourenço
- Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), UMR7205-CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Paris, France
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3
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Harris RJ, Zdenek CN, Nouwens A, Sweeney C, Dunstan N, Fry BG. A symmetry or asymmetry: Functional and compositional comparison of venom from the left and right glands of the Indochinese spitting cobra ( Naja siamensis). Toxicon X 2020; 7:100050. [PMID: 32642644 PMCID: PMC7334600 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxcx.2020.100050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 06/19/2020] [Accepted: 06/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Contralaterally positioned maxillary (upper jaw) venom glands in snakes are mechanically independent, being able to discharge venom from either gland separately. This has led some studies to test venom function and composition of each contralaterally positioned venom gland to investigate any differences. However, the data on the subject to-date derives from limited sample sizes, appearing somewhat contradictory, and thus still remains inconclusive. Here, we tested samples obtained from the left and right venom glands of four N. siamensis specimens for their relative binding to the orthosteric site of amphibian, lizard, snake, bird, and rodent alpha-1 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. We also show the relative proteomic patterns displayed by reversed phase liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry. Our results indicate that three of the venom gland sets showed no difference in both functional binding and composition, whilst one venom gland set showed a slight difference in functional binding (but not in specificity patterns between prey types) or venom composition. We hypothesise that these differences in functional binding may be due to one gland having previously ejected venom at some time prior to venom extraction, whilst its contralateral counterpart did not. This might cause the differential rate of toxin replenishment to be unequal between glands, thus instigating the difference in potency, likely due to uneven toxin proportions between glands at the time of venom extraction. These results demonstrate that the separate venom producing glands in snakes remain under the same genetic control elements and produce identical venom components. No differences in venom profile by contralateral venom glands of Naja siamensis. No differences in alpha-1 binding potency by contralateral N. siamensis venom glands. A single outlier in the data showed a small difference in relative potency. Potency is likely affected by differential replenishment rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Harris
- Venom Evolution Lab, University of Queensland, Biological Sciences, St. Lucia, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
| | - Christina N Zdenek
- Venom Evolution Lab, University of Queensland, Biological Sciences, St. Lucia, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
| | - Amanda Nouwens
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Charlotte Sweeney
- Translational Research Institute, University of Queensland, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Nathan Dunstan
- Venom Supplies Pty Ltd, Tanunda, South Australia, Australia
| | - Bryan G Fry
- Venom Evolution Lab, University of Queensland, Biological Sciences, St. Lucia, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
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Paiva ALB, Mudadu MA, Pereira EHT, Marri CA, Guerra-Duarte C, Diniz MRV. Transcriptome analysis of the spider Phoneutria pertyi venom glands reveals novel venom components for the genus Phoneutria. Toxicon 2019; 163:59-69. [PMID: 30902682 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2019.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2019] [Revised: 03/11/2019] [Accepted: 03/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Phoneutria nigriventer spider venom has been studied for more than 40 years and several components with pharmacological potential have been described in it. However, studies on venoms from other species of the Phoneutria genus are scarce. In this work, a conventional cDNA library from the species Phoneutria pertyi venom glands was constructed, aiming to identify novel putative cysteine-rich peptide toxins for the genus Phoneutria. 296 unique sequences were identified and 51 sequences corresponded to putative cysteine-rich peptide toxins. Besides cysteine-rich peptide toxins, other putative venom components such as protease inhibitors, defensins and serine proteinases were identified. Furthermore, by manual curation of the sequences with no match at UniProt, we were able to identify glycine-rich proteins (GRP), a class of venom component never described in Phoneutria genus. This work describes the first complete sequences of toxins from the venom of P. pertyi and reveals that, despite most of the retrieved toxins show a high identity to toxins identified in Phoneutria genus, novel putative toxins remains to be described.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana L B Paiva
- Diretoria de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento, Fundação Ezequiel Dias, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
| | - Mauricio A Mudadu
- Diretoria de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento, Fundação Ezequiel Dias, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Elaine H T Pereira
- Diretoria de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento, Fundação Ezequiel Dias, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Camila A Marri
- Diretoria de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento, Fundação Ezequiel Dias, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Clara Guerra-Duarte
- Diretoria de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento, Fundação Ezequiel Dias, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Marcelo R V Diniz
- Diretoria de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento, Fundação Ezequiel Dias, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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Yang H, Peng Y, Shi Y, Tian J, Wang J, Song Q, Lv Z, Xie C, Wang Z. Transcriptome analysis provides insights into the immunity function of venom glands in Pardosa pseudoannulata in responses to cadmium toxicity. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2018; 25:23875-23882. [PMID: 29881962 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-2468-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2017] [Accepted: 06/01/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Due to some similarity of innate immunity between insects and mammals, the study of the molecular mechanism of innate immunity in insects has become a focus of research. However, the exact molecular and cellular basis of immune system in insect remains poorly understood. Characterization of the transcriptomic response to Cd of spider is an effective approach to understanding the innate immunity mechanisms. In this study, we carried out transcriptome sequencing and gene expression analyses to develop molecular resources for Pardosa pseudoannulata venom glands with and without Cd treatments. A total of 92,778 assembled unigenes and 237 Cd stress-associated differentially expressed genes between the Cd-treated and control groups were obtained. Expression profile analysis demonstrated that immunity-related genes involved in bacterial invasion of epithelial cells, leukocyte transendothelial migration, platelet activation, apoptosis, phagosome, and Rap1 signaling pathway were upregulated by Cd exposure, except the genes involved in PPAR signaling pathway were downregulated. Our results provide the first comprehensive transcriptome dataset of venom glands in P. pseudoannulata response to Cd, which is valuable for throws light on the immunotoxicity mechanism of Cd, and the innate immunity complexity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huilin Yang
- College of Orient Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, No. 1 Nongda Road, Changsha, 410128, Hunan, China
- College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hunan Agricultural University, No. 1 Nongda Road, Changsha, 410128, Hunan, China
| | - Yuande Peng
- Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, 410205, Hunan, China
| | - Yixue Shi
- College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hunan Agricultural University, No. 1 Nongda Road, Changsha, 410128, Hunan, China
| | - Jianxiang Tian
- College of Continuing Education, Hunan Agricultural University, No. 1 Nongda Road, Changsha, 410128, Hunan, China
| | - Juan Wang
- College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hunan Agricultural University, No. 1 Nongda Road, Changsha, 410128, Hunan, China
| | - Qisheng Song
- Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
| | - Zhiyue Lv
- Department of Parasitology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Chunliang Xie
- Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, 410205, Hunan, China
| | - Zhi Wang
- College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hunan Agricultural University, No. 1 Nongda Road, Changsha, 410128, Hunan, China.
- College of Life Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410006, Hunan, China.
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Shaina H, UlAbdin Z, Webb BA, Arif MJ, Jamil A. De novo sequencing and transcriptome analysis of venom glands of endoparasitoid Aenasius arizonensis (Girault) (=Aenasius bambawalei Hayat) (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae). Toxicon 2016; 121:134-144. [PMID: 27594666 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2016.08.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2016] [Revised: 08/11/2016] [Accepted: 08/31/2016] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Aenasius bambawalei Hayat (Encyrtidae: Hymenoptera) has been synonymized with Aenasius arizonensis (Girault) is a small, newly discovered endoparasitoid of the cotton mealybug Phenacoccuss solenopsis Tinsley (Pseudococcidae: Hemiptera), which completes its life cycle inside the body of its host and it is a potential insect control tool. Despite the acquired knowledge regarding host-parasitoid interaction, little information is available on the factors of parasitoid origin able to modulate mealybug physiology. The components of A. arizonensis venom have not been well studied but venom from other parasitoids and wasps contain biologically active proteins that have potential applications in pest management or may be of medicinal importance. To provide an insight into the transcripts expressed in the venom gland of A. arizonensis, a transcriptomic database was developed utilizing high throughput RNA sequencing approaches to analyze the genes expressed in venom glands of this endoparasitic wasp. The resulting A. arizonensis RNA sequences were assembled de-novo with contigs then blasted against the NCBI non-redundant sequence database. Contigs which matched database sequences were mostly homologous to genes from hymenopteran parasitoids such as Nasonia vitripennis, Copidosoma floridanum, Fopius arsenus and Pteromalas puparium. Further analysis of the A. arizonensis database was then performed which focused on selected genes encoding proteins potentially involved in host developmental arrest, disrupting the host immune system, host paralysis, and transcripts that support these functions. Sequenced mRNAS predicted to encode full length ORFs of Calreticulin, Serine Protease Precursor and Arginine kinase proteins were identified and the tissue specific expression of these putative venom genes was analyzed by RT-PCR. In addition, results also demonstrate that de novo transcriptome assembly allows useful venom gene expression analysis in a species lacking a genome sequence database and may provide useful information for devising control tools for insect pests and other applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hoor Shaina
- Department of Entomology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan
| | - Zain UlAbdin
- Department of Entomology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
| | - Bruce A Webb
- Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA.
| | | | - Amer Jamil
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan
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7
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Laurino S, Grossi G, Pucci P, Flagiello A, Bufo SA, Bianco G, Salvia R, Vinson SB, Vogel H, Falabella P. Identification of major Toxoneuron nigriceps venom proteins using an integrated transcriptomic/proteomic approach. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 2016; 76:49-61. [PMID: 27388778 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2016.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2016] [Revised: 06/28/2016] [Accepted: 07/03/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Endoparasitoids in the order Hymenoptera are natural enemies of several herbivorous insect pest species. During oviposition they inject a mixture of factors, which include venom, into the host, ensuring the successful parasitism and the development of their progeny. Although these parasitoid factors are known to be responsible for host manipulation, such as immune system suppression, little is known about both identity and function of the majority of their venom components. To identify the major proteins of Toxoneuron nigriceps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) venom, we used an integrated transcriptomic and proteomic approach. The tandem-mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) data combined with T. nigriceps venom gland transcriptome used as a reference database resulted in the identification of a total of thirty one different proteins. While some of the identified proteins have been described in venom from several parasitoids, others were identified for the first time. Among the identified proteins, hydrolases constituted the most abundant family followed by transferases, oxidoreductases, ligases, lyases and isomerases. The hydrolases identified in the T. nigriceps venom glands included proteases, peptidases and glycosidases, reported as common components of venom from several parasitoid species. Taken together, the identified proteins included factors that could potentially inhibit the host immune system, manipulate host physiological processes and host development, as well as provide nutrients to the parasitoid progeny, degrading host tissues by specific hydrolytic enzymes. The venom decoding provides us with information about the identity of candidate venom factors which could contribute to the success of parasitism, together with other maternal and embryonic factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simona Laurino
- Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy
| | - Gerarda Grossi
- Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy
| | - Pietro Pucci
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Ceinge Biotecnologie Avanzate, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Cintia 6, 80126, Napoli, Italy
| | - Angela Flagiello
- Ceinge Biotecnologie Avanzate, Via Gaetano Salvatore 482, 80131, Napoli, Italy
| | - Sabino Aurelio Bufo
- Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy
| | - Giuliana Bianco
- Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy
| | - Rosanna Salvia
- Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy
| | - S Bradleigh Vinson
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-2475, USA
| | - Heiko Vogel
- Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Straße 8, D-07745, Jena, Germany.
| | - Patrizia Falabella
- Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy.
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Manzoor A, UlAbdin Z, Webb BA, Arif MJ, Jamil A. De novo sequencing and transcriptome analysis of female venom glands of ectoparasitoid Bracon hebetor (Say.) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Comp Biochem Physiol Part D Genomics Proteomics 2016; 20:101-110. [PMID: 27636656 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbd.2016.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2016] [Revised: 08/19/2016] [Accepted: 08/21/2016] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Venom is a key-factor in the regulation of host physiology by parasitic Hymenoptera and a potentially rich source of novel bioactive substances for biotechnological applications. The limited study of venom from the ectoparasitoid Bracon hebetor, a tiny wasp that attacks larval pest insects of field and stored products and is thus a potential insect control agent, has not described the full complement and composition of these biomolecules. To have a comprehensive picture of genes expressed in the venom glands of B. hebetor, a venom gland transcriptome was assembled by using next generation sequencing technologies followed by de novo assemblies of the 10.81 M sequence reads yielded 22,425 contigs, of which 10,581 had significant BLASTx hits to know genes. The majority of hits were to Diachasma alloeum, an ectoparasitoid from same taxonomic family, as well as other wasps. Gene ontology grouped the sequences into molecular functions in which catalytic activity with 42.2% was maximum, cellular components in which cells with 33.8% and biological processes among which metabolic process with 30% had the most representatives. In this study, we highlight the most abundant sequences, and those that are likely to be functional components of the venom for parasitization. Full length ORFs of Calreticulin, Venom Acid Phosphatase Acph-1 like protein and arginine kinase proteins were isolated and their tissue specific expression was studied by RT-PCR. Our report is the first to characterize components of the B. hebetor venom glands that may be useful for developing control tools for insect pests and other applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atif Manzoor
- Department of Entomology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan
| | - Zain UlAbdin
- Department of Entomology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
| | - Bruce A Webb
- Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA.
| | | | - Amer Jamil
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan
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