title: Unique diversity of the venom peptides from the scorpion Androctonus bicolor revealed by transcriptomic and proteomic analysis.
abstract: Androctonus bicolor is one of the most poisonous scorpion species in the world. However, little has been known about the venom composition of the scorpion. To better understand the molecular diversity and medical significance of the venom from the scorpion, we systematically analyzed the venom components by combining transcriptomic and proteomic surveys. Random sequencing of 1000 clones from a cDNA library prepared from the venom glands of the scorpion revealed that 70% of the total transcripts code for venom peptide precursors. Our efforts led to a discovery of 103 novel putative venom peptides. These peptides include NaTx-like, KTx-like and CaTx-like peptides, putative antimicrobial peptides, defensin-like peptides, BPP-like peptides, BmKa2-like peptides, Kunitz-type toxins and some new-type venom peptides without disulfide bridges, as well as many new-type venom peptides that are cross-linked with one, two, three, five or six disulfide bridges, respectively. We also identified three peptides that are identical to known toxins from scorpions. The venom was also analyzed using a proteomic technique. The presence of a total of 16 different venom peptides was confirmed by LC-MS/MS analysis. The discovery of a wide range of new and new-type venom peptides highlights the unique diversity of the venom peptides from A. bicolor. These data also provide a series of novel templates for the development of therapeutic drugs for treating ion channel-associated diseases and infections caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens, and offer molecular probes for the exploration of structures and functions of various ion channels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science and Technology, School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science and Technology, School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China.
authors.forename: Wanxia
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science and Technology, School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China. Electronic address: xianchun.zeng@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Xian-Chun
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Algal Biology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, PR China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Algal Biology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, PR China.
authors.forename: Mingkun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science and Technology, School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science and Technology, School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China.
authors.forename: Aorigele
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science and Technology, School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China.
authors.forename: Shifen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science and Technology, School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, PR China.
authors.forename: Guoji
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: E
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics*; D020543:Proteome / Q000235:genetics*; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods; D012604:Scorpion Venoms / Q000235:genetics*; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D020543:Proteome; D012604:Scorpion Venoms
keywords: Androctonus bicolor; Ion channels; Scorpion toxin; Transcriptomic and proteomic analysis; Venom composition; Venom peptide