Snake venoms are complex mixtures
mainly composed of proteins and
small peptides. Crotoxin is one of the most studied components from Crotalus venoms, but many other components are less known
due to their low abundance. The venome of Crotalus durissus
terrificus, the most lethal Brazilian snake, was investigated
by combining its venom gland transcriptome and proteome to create
a holistic database of venom compounds unraveling novel toxins. We
constructed a cDNA library from C. d. terrificus venom
gland using the Illumina platform and investigated its venom proteome
through high resolution liquid chromotography–tandem mass spectrometry.
After integrating data from both data sets, more than 30 venom components
classes were identified by the transcriptomic analysis and 15 of them
were detected in the venom proteome. However, few of them (PLA2, SVMP, SVSP, and VEGF) were relatively abundant. Furthermore,
only seven expressed transcripts contributed to ∼82% and ∼73%
of the abundance in the transcriptome and proteome, respectively.
Additionally, novel venom proteins are reported, and we highlight
the importance of using different databases to perform the data integration
and discuss the structure of the venom components-related transcripts
identified. Concluding, this research paves the way for novel investigations
and discovery of future pharmacological agents or targets in the antivenom
therapy.
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