title: A novel expression profile of the Loxosceles intermedia spider venomous gland revealed by transcriptome analysis.
abstract: Spiders of the Loxosceles genus are cosmopolitan, and their venom components possess remarkable biological properties associated with their ability to act upon different molecules and receptors. Accidents with Loxosceles intermedia specimens are recognized as a public health problem in the south of Brazil. To describe the transcriptional profile of the L. intermedia venom gland, we generated a wide cDNA library, and its transcripts were functionally and structurally analyzed. After initial analyses, 1843 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) produced readable sequences that were grouped into 538 clusters, 281 of which were singletons. 985 reads (53% of total ESTs) matched to known proteins. Similarity searches showed that toxin-encoding transcripts account for 43% of the total library and comprise a great number of ESTs. The most frequent toxins were from the LiTx family, which are known for their insecticidal activity. Both phospholipase D and astacin-like metalloproteases toxins account for approximately 9% of total transcripts. Toxins components such as serine proteases, hyaluronidases and venom allergens were also found but with minor representation. Almost 10% of the ESTs encode for proteins involved in cellular processes. These data provide an important overview of the L. intermedia venom gland expression scenario and revealed significant differences from profiles of other spiders from the Loxosceles genus. Furthermore, our results also confirm that this venom constitutes an amazing source of novel compounds with potential agrochemical, industrial and pharmacological applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiza Helena
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Gremski
authors.forename: Rafael Bertoni
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: da Silveira
authors.forename: Olga Meiri
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Chaim
authors.forename: Christian Macagnan
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Probst
authors.forename: Valéria Pereira
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Ferrer
authors.forename: Jenifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nowatzki
authors.forename: Hellen Chris
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Weinschutz
authors.forename: Humberto Maciel
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Madeira
authors.forename: Waldemiro
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gremski
authors.forename: Helena Bonciani
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Nader
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Senff-Ribeiro
authors.forename: Silvio Sanches
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Veiga
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000825:Animal Structures / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015723:Gene Library; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013111:Spider Venoms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D013112:Spiders / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D013111:Spider Venoms