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A symmetry or asymmetry: Functional and compositional comparison of venom from the left and right glands of the Indochinese spitting cobra (Naja siamensis)

Contralaterally positioned maxillary (upper jaw) venom glands in snakes are mechanically independent, being able to discharge venom from either gland separately. This has led some studies to test venom function and composition of each contralaterally positioned venom gland to investigate any differe...

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Autores principales: Harris, Richard J., Zdenek, Christina N., Nouwens, Amanda, Sweeney, Charlotte, Dunstan, Nathan, Fry, Bryan G.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7334600/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32642644
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.toxcx.2020.100050
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author Harris, Richard J.
Zdenek, Christina N.
Nouwens, Amanda
Sweeney, Charlotte
Dunstan, Nathan
Fry, Bryan G.
author_facet Harris, Richard J.
Zdenek, Christina N.
Nouwens, Amanda
Sweeney, Charlotte
Dunstan, Nathan
Fry, Bryan G.
author_sort Harris, Richard J.
collection PubMed
description Contralaterally positioned maxillary (upper jaw) venom glands in snakes are mechanically independent, being able to discharge venom from either gland separately. This has led some studies to test venom function and composition of each contralaterally positioned venom gland to investigate any differences. However, the data on the subject to-date derives from limited sample sizes, appearing somewhat contradictory, and thus still remains inconclusive. Here, we tested samples obtained from the left and right venom glands of four N. siamensis specimens for their relative binding to the orthosteric site of amphibian, lizard, snake, bird, and rodent alpha-1 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. We also show the relative proteomic patterns displayed by reversed phase liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry. Our results indicate that three of the venom gland sets showed no difference in both functional binding and composition, whilst one venom gland set showed a slight difference in functional binding (but not in specificity patterns between prey types) or venom composition. We hypothesise that these differences in functional binding may be due to one gland having previously ejected venom at some time prior to venom extraction, whilst its contralateral counterpart did not. This might cause the differential rate of toxin replenishment to be unequal between glands, thus instigating the difference in potency, likely due to uneven toxin proportions between glands at the time of venom extraction. These results demonstrate that the separate venom producing glands in snakes remain under the same genetic control elements and produce identical venom components.
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spelling pubmed-73346002020-07-07 A symmetry or asymmetry: Functional and compositional comparison of venom from the left and right glands of the Indochinese spitting cobra (Naja siamensis) Harris, Richard J. Zdenek, Christina N. Nouwens, Amanda Sweeney, Charlotte Dunstan, Nathan Fry, Bryan G. Toxicon X Venomics at the crossroads between ecological and clinical toxinology, Edited by: Dr. Juan Calvete, Dr.Jose Maria Gutiérrez and Dr. Cleópatra A.S. Caldeira Contralaterally positioned maxillary (upper jaw) venom glands in snakes are mechanically independent, being able to discharge venom from either gland separately. This has led some studies to test venom function and composition of each contralaterally positioned venom gland to investigate any differences. However, the data on the subject to-date derives from limited sample sizes, appearing somewhat contradictory, and thus still remains inconclusive. Here, we tested samples obtained from the left and right venom glands of four N. siamensis specimens for their relative binding to the orthosteric site of amphibian, lizard, snake, bird, and rodent alpha-1 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. We also show the relative proteomic patterns displayed by reversed phase liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry. Our results indicate that three of the venom gland sets showed no difference in both functional binding and composition, whilst one venom gland set showed a slight difference in functional binding (but not in specificity patterns between prey types) or venom composition. We hypothesise that these differences in functional binding may be due to one gland having previously ejected venom at some time prior to venom extraction, whilst its contralateral counterpart did not. This might cause the differential rate of toxin replenishment to be unequal between glands, thus instigating the difference in potency, likely due to uneven toxin proportions between glands at the time of venom extraction. These results demonstrate that the separate venom producing glands in snakes remain under the same genetic control elements and produce identical venom components. Elsevier 2020-07-01 /pmc/articles/PMC7334600/ /pubmed/32642644 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.toxcx.2020.100050 Text en © 2020 The Author(s) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Venomics at the crossroads between ecological and clinical toxinology, Edited by: Dr. Juan Calvete, Dr.Jose Maria Gutiérrez and Dr. Cleópatra A.S. Caldeira
Harris, Richard J.
Zdenek, Christina N.
Nouwens, Amanda
Sweeney, Charlotte
Dunstan, Nathan
Fry, Bryan G.
A symmetry or asymmetry: Functional and compositional comparison of venom from the left and right glands of the Indochinese spitting cobra (Naja siamensis)
title A symmetry or asymmetry: Functional and compositional comparison of venom from the left and right glands of the Indochinese spitting cobra (Naja siamensis)
title_full A symmetry or asymmetry: Functional and compositional comparison of venom from the left and right glands of the Indochinese spitting cobra (Naja siamensis)
title_fullStr A symmetry or asymmetry: Functional and compositional comparison of venom from the left and right glands of the Indochinese spitting cobra (Naja siamensis)
title_full_unstemmed A symmetry or asymmetry: Functional and compositional comparison of venom from the left and right glands of the Indochinese spitting cobra (Naja siamensis)
title_short A symmetry or asymmetry: Functional and compositional comparison of venom from the left and right glands of the Indochinese spitting cobra (Naja siamensis)
title_sort symmetry or asymmetry: functional and compositional comparison of venom from the left and right glands of the indochinese spitting cobra (naja siamensis)
topic Venomics at the crossroads between ecological and clinical toxinology, Edited by: Dr. Juan Calvete, Dr.Jose Maria Gutiérrez and Dr. Cleópatra A.S. Caldeira
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7334600/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32642644
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.toxcx.2020.100050
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