Abstract
Animal venom components are of considerable interest to researchers across a wide variety of disciplines, including molecular biology, biochemistry, medicine, and evolutionary genetics. The three-finger family of snake venom peptides is a particularly interesting and biochemically complex group of venom peptides, because they are encoded by a large multigene family and display a diverse array of functional activities. In addition, understanding how this complex and highly varied multi-gene family evolved is an interesting question to researchers investigating the biochemical diversity of these peptides and their impact on human health. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to investigate the long-term evolutionary patterns exhibited by these snake venom toxins to understand the mechanisms by which they diversified into a large, biochemically diverse, multigene family. Our results show a much greater diversity of family members than was previously known, including a number of subfamilies that did not fall within any previously identified groups with characterized activities. In addition, we found that the long-term evolutionary processes that gave rise to the diversity of three-finger toxins are consistent with the birth-and-death model of multigene family evolution. It is anticipated that this "three-finger toxin toolkit" will prove to be useful in providing a clearer picture of the diversity of investigational ligands or potential therapeutics available within this important family.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 110-129 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Journal of Molecular Evolution |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 1 2003 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- Elapidae
- Multigene family
- Three-finger toxin
- Venom
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Genetics
- Biochemistry
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Genetics(clinical)
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Molecular Biology
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
Cite this
Molecular evolution and phylogeny of elapid snake venom three-finger toxins. / Fry, Bryan Grieg; Wüster, W.; Kini, R. M.; Brusic, V.; Khan, A.; Venkataraman, D.; Rooney, A. P.
In: Journal of Molecular Evolution, Vol. 57, No. 1, 01.07.2003, p. 110-129.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Molecular evolution and phylogeny of elapid snake venom three-finger toxins
AU - Fry, Bryan Grieg
AU - Wüster, W.
AU - Kini, R. M.
AU - Brusic, V.
AU - Khan, A.
AU - Venkataraman, D.
AU - Rooney, A. P.
PY - 2003/7/1
Y1 - 2003/7/1
N2 - Animal venom components are of considerable interest to researchers across a wide variety of disciplines, including molecular biology, biochemistry, medicine, and evolutionary genetics. The three-finger family of snake venom peptides is a particularly interesting and biochemically complex group of venom peptides, because they are encoded by a large multigene family and display a diverse array of functional activities. In addition, understanding how this complex and highly varied multi-gene family evolved is an interesting question to researchers investigating the biochemical diversity of these peptides and their impact on human health. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to investigate the long-term evolutionary patterns exhibited by these snake venom toxins to understand the mechanisms by which they diversified into a large, biochemically diverse, multigene family. Our results show a much greater diversity of family members than was previously known, including a number of subfamilies that did not fall within any previously identified groups with characterized activities. In addition, we found that the long-term evolutionary processes that gave rise to the diversity of three-finger toxins are consistent with the birth-and-death model of multigene family evolution. It is anticipated that this "three-finger toxin toolkit" will prove to be useful in providing a clearer picture of the diversity of investigational ligands or potential therapeutics available within this important family.
AB - Animal venom components are of considerable interest to researchers across a wide variety of disciplines, including molecular biology, biochemistry, medicine, and evolutionary genetics. The three-finger family of snake venom peptides is a particularly interesting and biochemically complex group of venom peptides, because they are encoded by a large multigene family and display a diverse array of functional activities. In addition, understanding how this complex and highly varied multi-gene family evolved is an interesting question to researchers investigating the biochemical diversity of these peptides and their impact on human health. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to investigate the long-term evolutionary patterns exhibited by these snake venom toxins to understand the mechanisms by which they diversified into a large, biochemically diverse, multigene family. Our results show a much greater diversity of family members than was previously known, including a number of subfamilies that did not fall within any previously identified groups with characterized activities. In addition, we found that the long-term evolutionary processes that gave rise to the diversity of three-finger toxins are consistent with the birth-and-death model of multigene family evolution. It is anticipated that this "three-finger toxin toolkit" will prove to be useful in providing a clearer picture of the diversity of investigational ligands or potential therapeutics available within this important family.
KW - Elapidae
KW - Multigene family
KW - Three-finger toxin
KW - Venom
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0042171600&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0042171600&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00239-003-2461-2
DO - 10.1007/s00239-003-2461-2
M3 - Article
VL - 57
SP - 110
EP - 129
JO - Journal of Molecular Evolution
JF - Journal of Molecular Evolution
SN - 0022-2844
IS - 1
ER -