Are Fireworms Venomous? Evidence for the Convergent Evolution of Toxin Homologs in Three Species of Fireworms (Annelida, Amphinomidae).

ABSTRACT: Amphinomids, more commonly known as fireworms, are a basal lineage of marine annelids characterized by the presence of defensive dorsal calcareous chaetae, which break off upon contact. It has long been hypothesized that amphinomids are venomous and use the chaetae to inject a toxic substance. However, studies investigating fireworm venom from a morphological or molecular perspective are scarce and no venom gland has been identified to date, nor any toxin characterized at the molecular level. To investigate this question, we analyzed the transcriptomes of three species of fireworms-Eurythoe complanata, Hermodice carunculata, and Paramphinome jeffreysii-following a venomics approach to identify putative venom compounds. Our venomics pipeline involved de novo transcriptome assembly, open rea

SUBMITTER: Verdes A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5778601 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature