Molecular diversity and evolutionary trends of cysteine-rich peptides from the venom glands of Chinese spider Heteropoda venatoria.

ABSTRACT: Heteropoda venatoria in the family Sparassidae is highly valued in pantropical countries because the species feed on domestic insect pests. Unlike most other species of Araneomorphae, H. venatoria uses the great speed and strong chelicerae (mouthparts) with toxin glands to capture the insects instead of its web. Therefore, H. venatoria provides unique opportunities for venom evolution research. The venom of H. venatoria was explored by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization tandem time-of-flight and analyzing expressed sequence tags. The 154 sequences coding cysteine-rich peptides (CRPs) revealed 24 families based on the phylogenetic analyses of precursors and cysteine frameworks in the putative mature regions. Intriguingly, four kinds of motifs are first described in spider venom. Fu

SUBMITTER: Luo J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7865051 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature