The Predatory Stink Bug Arma custos (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Produces a Complex Proteinaceous Venom to Overcome Caterpillar Prey.

ABSTRACT: Predatory stink bugs capture prey by injecting salivary venom from their venom glands using specialized stylets. Understanding venom function has been impeded by a scarcity of knowledge of their venom composition. We therefore examined the proteinaceous components of the salivary venom of the predatory stink bug Arma custos (Fabricius, 1794) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). We used gland extracts and venoms from fifth-instar nymphs or adult females to perform shotgun proteomics combined with venom gland transcriptomics. We found that the venom of A. custos comprised a complex suite of over a hundred individual proteins, including oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, ligases, protease inhibitors, and recognition, transport and binding proteins. Besides the uncharacterized prot

SUBMITTER: Qu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10215959 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature