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Toxins
Special Issues
Molecular Evolution of Toxins in Invertebrates
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Molecular Evolution of Toxins in Invertebrates

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Venoms".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 May 2023) | Viewed by 6319

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Matthew Cordes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Arizona, 1041 E Lowell St., Tucson, AZ 857218, USA
Interests: biophysics; protein and membrane biochemistry; spectroscopy/molecular structure; structural biology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The wide scattering of invertebrate animals, for example, some species of mollusc, arthropod, cnidarian, sea urchins, ribbon worm, and starfish, carries biological toxins. Some of these animals can deliver toxins in the form of venom for the purpose of predation, defense, or competitor deterrence. Invertebrate toxins have potential applications in human medicine and agriculture and are of basic interest to evolutionary scientists due to their potential for rapid and/or extensive evolutionary changes and for arms races. This Special Issue contains articles relating to numerous aspects of the molecular evolution of invertebrate animal toxins: 1) convergent recruitment of protein toxins into venom; 2) the deep evolutionary history of toxin families; 3) adaptive divergent evolution of venom toxins; 4) acquisition of toxin genes by horizontal transfer; 5) directed evolution and engineering of invertebrate toxins for applications in medicine, agriculture, and other fields. Articles in this issue may also focus on the discovery of toxins in animal lineages that are not previously known to harbor them.

Dr. Matthew Cordes
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • invertebrate animals
  • Invertebrate toxins
  • molecular evolution
  • protein toxins
  • adaptive evolution
  • gene transfer
  • directed evolution

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 5342 KiB  
Article
Localization of Multiple Jellyfish Toxins Shows Specificity for Functionally Distinct Polyps and Nematocyst Types in a Colonial Hydrozoan
by Anna M. L. Klompen, Matthew K. Travert and Paulyn Cartwright
Toxins 2023, 15(2), 149; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15020149 - 13 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3419
Abstract
Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus is a colonial hydrozoan that displays a division of labor through morphologically distinct and functionally specialized polyp types. As with all cnidarians, their venoms are housed in nematocysts, which are scattered across an individual. Here, we investigate the spatial distribution of [...] Read more.
Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus is a colonial hydrozoan that displays a division of labor through morphologically distinct and functionally specialized polyp types. As with all cnidarians, their venoms are housed in nematocysts, which are scattered across an individual. Here, we investigate the spatial distribution of a specific protein family, jellyfish toxins, in which multiple paralogs are differentially expressed across the functionally specialized polyps. Jellyfish toxins (JFTs) are known pore-forming toxins in the venoms of medically relevant species such as box jellyfish (class Cubozoa), but their role in other medusozoan venoms is less clear. Utilizing a publicly available single-cell dataset, we confirmed that four distinct H. symbiolongicarpus JFT paralogs are expressed in nematocyst-associated clusters, supporting these as true venom components in H. symbiolongicarpus. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry were used to localize the expression of these JFTs across the colony. These expression patterns, in conjunction with known nematocyst type distributions, suggest that two of these JFTs, HsymJFT1c-I and HsymJFT1c-II, are localized to specific types of nematocysts. We further interpret JFT expression patterns in the context of known regions of nematogenesis and differential rates of nematocyst turnover. Overall, we show that JFT expression patterns in H. symbiolongicarpus are consistent with the subfunctionalization of JFT paralogs across a partitioned venom system within the colony, such that each JFT is expressed within a specific set of functionally distinct polyp types and, in some cases, specific nematocyst types. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Evolution of Toxins in Invertebrates)
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11 pages, 2033 KiB  
Article
Discovery of the Nicotinic Receptor Toxin Anabaseine in a Polystiliferan Nemertean
by William R. Kem, James R. Rocca, Jodie V. Johnson and Juan Junoy
Toxins 2023, 15(1), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15010046 - 5 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2059
Abstract
Nemerteans (also called Nemertines) are a phylum of predominantly marine worms that use toxins to capture prey and to defend themselves against predators. Hoplonemerteans have a proboscis armed with one or more stylets used in prey capture and are taxonomically divided into Order [...] Read more.
Nemerteans (also called Nemertines) are a phylum of predominantly marine worms that use toxins to capture prey and to defend themselves against predators. Hoplonemerteans have a proboscis armed with one or more stylets used in prey capture and are taxonomically divided into Order Monostilifera, whose members possess a single large proboscis stylet, and Order Polystilifera, whose members have multiple small stylets. Many monostiliferans contain alkaloidal toxins, including anabaseine, that stimulate and then desensitize nicotinic acetylcholine receptors that are present in all animals. These compounds also interact with pyridyl chemoreceptors in crustaceans, reducing predation and larval settlement. Anabaseine has been a lead compound in the design of alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists like GTS-21 (also called DMXBA) to treat disorders of cognition such as Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. These drug candidates also display anti-inflammatory activities of potential medical importance. Most polystiliferans live deep in open oceans and are relatively inaccessible. We fortunately obtained two live specimens of a large benthic polystiliferan, Paradrepanophorus crassus (Pc), from the coast of Spain. MS and NMR analyses of the Ehrlich’s reagent derivative allowed identification of anabaseine. A spectrophotometric assay for anabaseine, also based on its reaction with Ehrlich’s reagent, revealed high concentrations of anabaseine in the body and proboscis. Apparently, the biosynthetic mechanism for producing anabaseine was acquired early in the evolution of the Hoplonemertea, before the monostiliferan-polystiliferan divergence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Evolution of Toxins in Invertebrates)
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