title: A rational nomenclature for naming peptide toxins from spiders and other venomous animals.
abstract: Molecular toxinology research was initially driven by an interest in the small subset of animal toxins that are lethal to humans. However, the realization that many venomous creatures possess a complex repertoire of bioactive peptide toxins with potential pharmaceutical and agrochemical applications has led to an explosion in the number of new peptide toxins being discovered and characterized. Unfortunately, this increased awareness of peptide-toxin diversity has not been matched by the development of a generic nomenclature that enables these toxins to be rationally classified, catalogued, and compared. In this article, we introduce a rational nomenclature that can be applied to the naming of peptide toxins from spiders and other venomous animals.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, 306 Carmody Road, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. glenn.king@imb.uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Glenn F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Margaret C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gentz
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Escoubas
authors.forename: Graham M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Nicholson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016208:Databases, Factual; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification*; D012605:Scorpions / Q000378:metabolism; D012615:Sea Anemones / Q000378:metabolism; D012908:Snails / Q000378:metabolism; D012911:Snakes / Q000378:metabolism; D013111:Spider Venoms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification*; D013112:Spiders / Q000378:metabolism*; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014116:Toxicology / Q000379:methods*; D014688:Venoms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification*
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D013111:Spider Venoms; D014688:Venoms