TY - JOUR

T1 - Divergence of the Venom Exogene Repertoire in Two Sister Species of Turriconus

AU - Li, Qing

AU - Barghi, Neda

AU - Lu, Aiping

AU - Fedosov, Alexander E

AU - Bandyopadhyay, Pradip K

AU - Lluisma, Arturo O

AU - Concepcion, Gisela P

AU - Yandell, Mark

AU - Olivera, Baldomero M

AU - Safavi-Hemami, Helena

N1 - © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - The genus Conus comprises approximately 700 species of venomous marine cone snails that are highly efficient predators of worms, snails, and fish. In evolutionary terms, cone snails are relatively young with the earliest fossil records occurring in the Lower Eocene, 55 Ma. The rapid radiation of cone snail species has been accompanied by remarkably high rates of toxin diversification. To shed light on the molecular mechanisms that accompany speciation, we investigated the toxin repertoire of two sister species, Conus andremenezi and Conus praecellens, that were until recently considered a single variable species. A total of 196 and 250 toxin sequences were identified in the venom gland transcriptomes of C. andremenezi and C. praecellens belonging to 25 and 29 putative toxin gene superfamilies, respectively. Comparative analysis with closely (Conus tribblei and Conus lenavati) and more distantly related species (Conus geographus) suggests that speciation is associated with significant diversification of individual toxin genes (exogenes) whereas the expression pattern of toxin gene superfamilies within lineages remains largely conserved. Thus, changes within individual toxin sequences can serve as a sensitive indicator for recent speciation whereas changes in the expression pattern of gene superfamilies are likely to reflect more dramatic differences in a species' interaction with its prey, predators, and competitors.

AB - The genus Conus comprises approximately 700 species of venomous marine cone snails that are highly efficient predators of worms, snails, and fish. In evolutionary terms, cone snails are relatively young with the earliest fossil records occurring in the Lower Eocene, 55 Ma. The rapid radiation of cone snail species has been accompanied by remarkably high rates of toxin diversification. To shed light on the molecular mechanisms that accompany speciation, we investigated the toxin repertoire of two sister species, Conus andremenezi and Conus praecellens, that were until recently considered a single variable species. A total of 196 and 250 toxin sequences were identified in the venom gland transcriptomes of C. andremenezi and C. praecellens belonging to 25 and 29 putative toxin gene superfamilies, respectively. Comparative analysis with closely (Conus tribblei and Conus lenavati) and more distantly related species (Conus geographus) suggests that speciation is associated with significant diversification of individual toxin genes (exogenes) whereas the expression pattern of toxin gene superfamilies within lineages remains largely conserved. Thus, changes within individual toxin sequences can serve as a sensitive indicator for recent speciation whereas changes in the expression pattern of gene superfamilies are likely to reflect more dramatic differences in a species' interaction with its prey, predators, and competitors.

KW - Amino Acid Sequence

KW - Animals

KW - Conotoxins/genetics

KW - Conus Snail/classification

KW - Phylogeny

KW - Sequence Alignment

KW - Species Specificity

KW - Transcriptome

U2 - 10.1093/gbe/evx157

DO - 10.1093/gbe/evx157

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 28922871

VL - 9

SP - 2211

EP - 2225

JO - Genome Biology and Evolution

JF - Genome Biology and Evolution

SN - 1759-6653

IS - 9

ER -