Dataset Information

Snake venomics of Bothrops punctatus, a semiarboreal pitviper species from Antioquia, Colombia.

ABSTRACT: Bothrops punctatus is an endangered, semi-arboreal pitviper species distributed in Panamá, Colombia, and Ecuador, whose venom is poorly characterized. In the present work, the protein composition of this venom was profiled using the 'snake venomics' analytical strategy. Decomplexation of the crude venom by RP-HPLC and SDS-PAGE, followed by tandem mass spectrometry of tryptic digests, showed that it consists of proteins assigned to at least nine snake toxin families. Metalloproteinases are predominant in this secretion (41.5% of the total proteins), followed by C-type lectin/lectin-like proteins (16.7%), bradykinin-potentiating peptides (10.7%), phospholipases A2 (93%), serine proteinases (5.4%), disintegrins (38%), L-amino acid oxidases (3.1%), vascular endothelial growth factors (17%), and cysteine-rich secretory proteins (1.2%). Altogether, 6.6% of the proteins were not identified. In vitro, the venom exhibited proteolytic, phospholipase A2, and L-amino acid oxidase activities, as well as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory activity, in agreement with the obtained proteomic profile. Cytotoxic activity on murine C2C12 myoblasts was negative, suggesting that the majority of venom phospholipases A2 likely belong to the acidic type, which often lack major toxic effects. The protein composition of B. punctatus venom shows a good correlation with toxic activities here and previously reported, and adds further data in support of the wide diversity of strategies that have evolved in snake venoms to subdue prey, as increasingly being revealed by proteomic analyses.

SUBMITTER: Fernandez Culma M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3912449 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Snake venomics of Bothrops punctatus, a semiarboreal pitviper species from Antioquia, Colombia.

Fernández Culma Maritza M Andrés Pereañez Jaime J Núñez Rangel Vitelbina V Lomonte Bruno B

PeerJ 20140122

Bothrops punctatus is an endangered, semi-arboreal pitviper species distributed in Panamá, Colombia, and Ecuador, whose venom is poorly characterized. In the present work, the protein composition of this venom was profiled using the 'snake venomics' analytical strategy. Decomplexation of the crude venom by RP-HPLC and SDS-PAGE, followed by tandem mass spectrometry of tryptic digests, showed that it consists of proteins assigned to at least nine snake toxin families. Metalloproteinases are predom ...[more]

PMID: 24498576

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Project description:Information on demographic, genetic, and environmental parameters of wild and captive animal populations has proven to be crucial to conservation programs and strategies. Genetic approaches in conservation programs of Brazilian snakes remain scarce despite their importance for critically endangered species, such as Bothrops insularis, the golden lancehead, which is endemic to Ilha da Queimada Grande, coast of São Paulo State, Brazil. This study aims to (a) characterize the genetic diversity of ex situ and in situ populations of B. insularis using heterologous microsatellites; (b) investigate genetic structure among and within these populations; and (c) provide data for the conservation program of the species. Twelve informative microsatellites obtained from three species of the B. neuwiedi group were used to access genetic diversity indexes of ex situ and in situ populations. Low-to-medium genetic diversity parameters were found. Both populations showed low-albeit significant-values of system of mating inbreeding coefficient, whereas only the in situ population showed a significant value of pedigree inbreeding coefficient. Significant values of genetic differentiation indexes suggest a small differentiation between the two populations. Discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) recovered five clusters. No geographic relationship was found in the island, suggesting the occurrence of gene flow. Also, our data allowed the establishment of six preferential breeding couples, aiming to minimize inbreeding and elucidate uncertain parental relationships in the captive population. In a conservation perspective, continuous monitoring of both populations is demanded: it involves the incorporation of new individuals from the island into the captive population to avoid inbreeding and to achieve the recommended allelic similarity between the two populations. At last, we recommend that the genetic data support researches as a base to maintain a viable and healthy captive population, highly genetically similar to the in situ one, which is crucial for considering a reintroduction process into the island.

Dataset Information

Snake venomics of Bothrops punctatus, a semiarboreal pitviper species from Antioquia, Colombia.

Publications

Snake venomics of Bothrops punctatus, a semiarboreal pitviper species from Antioquia, Colombia.

Similar Datasets

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