Hadrurid Scorpion Toxins: Evolutionary Conservation and Selective Pressures.

ABSTRACT: Scorpion toxins are thought to have originated from ancestral housekeeping genes that underwent diversification and neofunctionalization, as a result of positive selection. Our understanding of the evolutionary origin of these peptides is hindered by the patchiness of existing taxonomic sampling. While recent studies have shown phylogenetic inertia in some scorpion toxins at higher systematic levels, evolutionary dynamics of toxins among closely related taxa remain unexplored. In this study, we used new and previously published transcriptomic resources to assess evolutionary relationships of closely related scorpions from the family Hadruridae and their toxins. In addition, we surveyed the incidence of scorpine-like peptides (SLP, a type of potassium channel toxin), which were previously k

SUBMITTER: Santibanez-Lopez CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6891616 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature