ArticleBMC biology2020
Some like it hot: population-specific adaptations in venom production to abiotic stressors in a widely distributed cnidarian.
Article in BMC biology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Scorpionism at the human-environment interface: an eco-epidemiological synthesis and conceptual framework.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Stable yet shifting: Early toxin dynamics in typical and atypical clownfish-anemone symbioses.Toxicon: X · 2026Article
- Diversity and Bioprospection of Functional Proteins from Sea AnemoneMarine drugs · 2026Article
- Is a Commensal Here, a Pathogen There? Genotype Specific Responses by the Sea Anemone Nematostella vectensis to Vibrio Species.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- A Matter of Degrees: Latitudinal Variation in the Transcriptional Response to High and Low Temperatures in an Estuarine Cnidarian.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
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- Heat Stress Drives Rapid Viral and Antiviral Innate Immunity Activation in Hexacorallia.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Anthozoan Chemical Defenses: Integrating Compounds, Enzymatic Activities, and Omics-Based Discoveries.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
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- Hypoxia Disrupts Sex-Specific Physiology and Gene Expression Leading to Decreased Fitness in the Estuarine Sea Anemone Nematostella vectensis.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Anemonefish use sialic acid metabolism as Trojan horse to avoid giant sea anemone stinging.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Proteomic Analysis Is Needed to Understand the Vulnerability ofJournal of proteome research · 2025Article
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- Molecular Insights into the Low Complexity Secreted Venom of Calliactis polypus.Genome biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Sea Anemone Membrane Attack Complex/Perforin Superfamily Demonstrates an Evolutionary Transitional State between Venomous and Developmental Functions.Molecular biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Towards the Exploration and Evolution of Insulin-like Venoms in Actiniaria (Marine drugs · 2024Review
- Venom trade-off shapes interspecific interactions, physiology, and reproduction.Science advances · 2024Article
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- Micro and macroevolution of sea anemone venom phenotype.Nature communications · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn cnidarians, antagonistic interactions with predators and prey are mediated by their venom, whose synthesis may be metabolically expensive. The potentially high cost of venom production has been hypothesized to drive population-specific variation in venom expression due to differences in abiotic conditions. However, the effects of environmental factors on venom production have been rarely demonstrated in animals. Here, we explore the impact of specific abiotic stresses on venom production of distinct populations of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis (Actiniaria, Cnidaria) inhabiting estuaries over a broad geographic range where environmental conditions such as temperatures and salinity vary widely.
resultsWe challenged Nematostella polyps with heat, salinity, UV light stressors, and a combination of all three factors to determine how abiotic stressors impact toxin expression for individuals collected across this species' range. Transcriptomics and proteomics revealed that the highly abundant toxin Nv1 was the most downregulated gene under heat stress conditions in multiple populations. Physiological measurements demonstrated that venom is metabolically costly to produce. Strikingly, under a range of abiotic stressors, individuals from different geographic locations along this latitudinal cline modulate differently their venom production levels.
conclusionsWe demonstrate that abiotic stress results in venom regulation in Nematostella. Together with anecdotal observations from other cnidarian species, our results suggest this might be a universal phenomenon in Cnidaria. The decrease in venom production under stress conditions across species coupled with the evidence for its high metabolic cost in Nematostella suggests downregulation of venom production under certain conditions may be highly advantageous and adaptive. Furthermore, our results point towards local adaptation of this mechanism in Nematostella populations along a latitudinal cline, possibly resulting from distinct genetics and significant environmental differences between their habitats.
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