Diversity and Novelty of Venom Peptides in Vermivorous Cone Snails, Subgenus <i>Rhizoconus</i> (Gastropoda: Mollusca).

ABSTRACT: A large majority of cone snails (a species in the genus Conus) are vermivorous (worm-hunting), but the diversity and bioactivity of their venom peptides remain largely unexplored. In this study, we report the first venom gland transcriptomes from two species in the Rhizoconus clade, Conus capitaneus and Conus mustelinus, and a new Conus miles transcriptome from a specimen collected in the Philippines. From the set of assembled sequences, a total of 225 C. capitaneus, 121 C. miles, and 168 C. mustelinus putative peptide toxin transcripts were identified, which were assigned to 27 canonical gene superfamilies in C. capitaneus and 24 in C. miles and in C. mustelinus. Most of these venom peptides are novel, and some e

SUBMITTER: Florece CMC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12300008 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature