ArticleJournal of molecular evolution2008
Rapid evolution by positive selection and gene gain and loss: PLA(2) venom genes in closely related Sistrurus rattlesnakes with divergent diets.
Article in Journal of molecular evolution, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers.
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47 citing papers in PubMed, 118 citations in OpenAlex.
- Venom variation and the future of antivenom design: Integrating population venomics, evolutionary toxinology, and precision therapeutics.Toxicon: X · 2026Review
- Venom Variation as a Window into the Ecology and Evolution of Snakes.Integrative and comparative biology · 2026Review
- Molecular mechanisms underlying early functional divergence in snake venom inferred from the genomes of two pitviper lineages.BMC biology · 2025Article
- A Segregating Structural Variant Defines Novel Venom Phenotypes in the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- VenomCap: An exon-capture probe set for the targeted sequencing of snake venom genes.Molecular ecology resources · 2024Article
- Review
- Where the "ruber" Meets the Road: Using the Genome of the Red Diamond Rattlesnake to Unravel the Evolutionary Processes Driving Venom Evolution.Genome biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Selection Across the Three-Dimensional Structure of Venom Proteins from North American Scolopendromorph Centipedes.Journal of molecular evolution · 2024Article
- Coming of age in venom research.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Towards the Exploration and Evolution of Insulin-like Venoms in Actiniaria (Marine drugs · 2024Review
- Gene Family Expansion during the Adaptation ofJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Varying Modes of Selection Among Toxin Families in the Venoms of the Giant Desert Hairy Scorpions (Hadrurus).Journal of molecular evolution · 2023Article
- Article
- Venom Gene Sequence Diversity and Expression Jointly Shape Diet Adaptation in Pitvipers.Molecular biology and evolution · 2022Article
- Varying Intensities of Introgression Obscure Incipient Venom-Associated Speciation in the Timber Rattlesnake (Toxins · 2021Article
- Venom of the Annulated Sea SnakeToxins · 2021Article
- Venom-gland transcriptomic, venomic, and antivenomic profiles of the spine-bellied sea snake (Hydrophis curtus) from the South China Sea.BMC genomics · 2021Article
- A symphony of destruction: Dynamic differential fibrinogenolytic toxicity by rattlesnake (Crotalus and Sistrurus) venoms.Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Toxicology & pharmacology : CBP · 2021Article
- A Comprehensive Multi-Omic Approach Reveals a Relatively Simple Venom in a Diet Generalist, the Northern Short-Tailed Shrew, Blarina brevicauda.Genome biology and evolution · 2020Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Rapid evolution of snake venom genes by positive selection has been reported previously but key features of this process such as the targets of selection, rates of gene turnover, and functional diversity of toxins generated remain unclear. This is especially true for closely related species with divergent diets. We describe the evolution of PLA(2) gene sequences isolated from genomic DNA from four taxa of Sistrurus rattlesnakes which feed on different prey. We identified four to seven distinct PLA(2 )sequences in each taxon and phylogenetic analyses suggest that these sequences represent a rapidly evolving gene family consisting of both paralogous and homologous loci with high rates of gene gain and loss. Strong positive selection was implicated as a driving force in the evolution of these protein coding sequences. Exons coding for amino acids that make up mature proteins have levels of variation two to three times greater than those of the surrounding noncoding intronic sequences. Maximum likelihood models of coding sequence evolution reveal that a high proportion (approximately 30%) of all codons in the mature protein fall into a class of codons with an estimated d(N)/d(S) (omega) ratio of at least 2.8. An analysis of selection on individual codons identified nine residues as being under strong (p < 0.01) positive selection, with a disproportionately high proportion of these residues found in two functional regions of the PLA(2) protein (surface residues and putative anticoagulant region). This is direct evidence that diversifying selection has led to high levels of functional diversity due to structural differences in proteins among these snakes. Overall, our results demonstrate that both gene gain and loss and protein sequence evolution via positive selection are important evolutionary forces driving adaptive divergence in venom proteins in closely related species of venomous snakes.
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