Convergent evolution of venom gland transcriptomes across Metazoa.

ABSTRACT: Animals have repeatedly evolved specialized organs and anatomical structures to produce and deliver a mixture of potent bioactive molecules to subdue prey or predators-venom. This makes it one of the most widespread, convergent functions in the animal kingdom. Whether animals have adopted the same genetic toolkit to evolved venom systems is a fascinating question that still eludes us. Here, we performed a comparative analysis of venom gland transcriptomes from 20 venomous species spanning the main Metazoan lineages to test whether different animals have independently adopted similar molecular mechanisms to perform the same function. We found a strong convergence in gene expression profiles, with venom glands being more similar to each other than to any other tissue from the same species, a

SUBMITTER: Zancolli G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8740685 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature