Intraspecific variation of the crotamine and crotasin genes in Crotalus durissus rattlesnakes

Oguiura, Nancy; Collares, Maíra A.; Furtado, Maria Cândida de Carvalho; Ferrarezzi, Hebert; Suzuki, Hana

doi:10.1016/j.gene.2009.05.015

Cited by 41 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…23,24,25,26 It is tempting to speculate that crotamine and isoforms 27 or paralogs such as crotasin 28 may have a complementary antimicrobial spectrum.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In vitro antibacterial and hemolytic activities of crotamine, a small basic myotoxin from rattlesnake Crotalus durissus

et al. 2011

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Crotamine, a myotoxin from the venom of South American rattlesnake, is structurally related to b-defensins, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) found in vertebrate animals. Here, we tested the antibacterial properties of crotamine and found that it killed several strains of Escherichia coli, with the MICs ranging from 25 to 100 lg ml À1 . Time-kill and bacterial membrane permeabilization assays revealed that killing of bacteria by crotamine occurred within 1 h and reached the maximum by 2 h. Additionally, the anti-E. coli activity of crotamine was completely abolished with 12.5 mM NaCl. Furthermore, the three intramolecular disulfide bonds of crotamine appeared dispensable for its antibacterial activity. The reduced form of crotamine was active against E. coli as well. However, crotamine showed no or weak activity up to 200 lg ml À1 against other species of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Crotamine showed no appreciable hemolytic activity to erythrocytes. Our studies revealed that crotamine is also an AMP that kills bacteria through membrane permeabilization. However, crotamine appears to have a narrow antibacterial spectrum, distinct from many classical b-defensins, reinforcing the notion that crotamine originated from the b-defensin gene lineage, but has undergone significant functional diversification.

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“…23,24,25,26 It is tempting to speculate that crotamine and isoforms 27 or paralogs such as crotasin 28 may have a complementary antimicrobial spectrum.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In vitro antibacterial and hemolytic activities of crotamine, a small basic myotoxin from rattlesnake Crotalus durissus

et al. 2011

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“…The main difficulty is to define whether the genes are orthologous or paralogous, in order to properly examine the phylogenetic relationships. This is particularly important for understanding the evolution of snake venom proteins, for which an exceptionally high amount of copies have been reported, even in one individual [Fujimi et al, 2004;Oguiura et al, 2009]. A third is the lack of information about colubrid toxins due to the difficulty in obtaining the venom.…”

Section: Toxin Genesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cytogenetics and Molecular Data in Snakes: A Phylogenetic Approach

Oguiura

Ferrarezzi²,

Batistic³

2009

Cytogenet Genome Res

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Snakes are among the most successful groups of reptiles, numbering about 3,000 extant species. In spite of centuries of comparative anatomical and morphological studies, many aspects of snake systematics remain unsolved. To better understand the evolution and diversity of genomic characteristics in Serpentes, we analyzed online sequence data of mitochondrial and nuclear genes, as well as cytogenetic data and reviewed other genomic characteristics such as toxin genes. After the analysis of the whole-genome and chromosomal organization, we find that: (1) cytogenetic comparisons could provide a useful tool to investigate intergeneric and tribal relationships within the extremely diverse neotropical xenodontine snakes; (2) toxin genes could also help to understand snake evolution if special care is taken to choose the sequences because of the difficulty in avoiding paralogs; (3) snake phylogeny based on mitochondrial genome sequences is largely consistent with the relationship obtained using nuclear genes.

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“…The increase in the number of chromosomes is accompanied by an increase in morphological derivations (Oguiura et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Karyotype of Philodryas nattereri and Philodryas olfersii with a comparative analysis of the Dipsadidae family

Nery¹,

Ma²,

Hd³

et al. 2015

Genet. Mol. Res.

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ABSTRACT. Cytogenetic studies of Philodryas nattereri andPhilodryas olfersii revealed a diploid chromosome number 2n = 36 for both species (3 metacentrics, 4 submetacentrics, and 10 acrocentrics, with a fundamental number of 51 and 52, respectively). The results obtained are novel and similar to those previously described for species belonging to the Dipsadidae family. The conventional karyotype is also novel and divergent from other species of the Dipsadidae family, where a higher proportion of macrochromosomes predominate, revealing two distinct groups in this family. The data are reported and discussed considering the cytotaxonomy of the family. These results strongly support the current view that chromosomal alterations, such as centric fusion and Robertsonian's translocations, seems to support the distinct importance of chromosomal rearrangements in speciation within this group.

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Intraspecific variation of the crotamine and crotasin genes in Crotalus durissus rattlesnakes

Cited by 41 publications

References 28 publications

In vitro antibacterial and hemolytic activities of crotamine, a small basic myotoxin from rattlesnake Crotalus durissus

In vitro antibacterial and hemolytic activities of crotamine, a small basic myotoxin from rattlesnake Crotalus durissus

Cytogenetics and Molecular Data in Snakes: A Phylogenetic Approach

Karyotype of Philodryas nattereri and Philodryas olfersii with a comparative analysis of the Dipsadidae family

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