Venom regeneration in tarantula spiders—I. analysis of venom produced at different time intervals

Perret, Beat A.

doi:10.1016/0300-9629(77)90294-8

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…As in other venomous animals (including scorpions and snakes), a variety of factors such as age (Malli et al 1993;Herzig et al 2004), sex (Célérier et al 1993;Andrade et al 1999;Oliveira et al 1999;Herzig et al 2002), hunger and breeding temperature (Vapenik and Nentwig 2000), season (Keegan et al 1960;Atkinson and Walker 1985), geographic origin (Binford 2001), and the frequency of milking (Perret 1977;Atkinson 1981) and feeding (Atkinson and Walker 1985) influence venom biosynthesis in spiders, with prey size being an important determinant of venom expenditure in some species, e.g., C. salei (Wigger et al 2002;Kuhn-Nentwig et al 2004). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Venom apparatus of the Brazilian tarantula Vitalius dubius Mello-Leitão 1923 (Theraphosidae)

et al. 2009

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Tarantula venoms are a cocktail of proteins and peptides that have been increasingly studied in recent years. In contrast, less attention has been given to analyzing the structure of the paired cephalic glands that produce the venom. We have used light, electron, and confocal microscopy to study the organization and structure of the venom gland of the Brazilian tarantula Vitalius dubius. The chelicerae are hairy chitinous structures, each with a single curved hollow fang that opens via an orifice on the anterior surface. Internally, each chelicera contains striated muscle fiber bundles that control fang extension and retraction, and a cylindrical conical venom gland surrounded by a thick well-developed layer of obliquely arranged muscle fibers. Light microscopy of longitudinal and transverse sections showed that the gland secretory epithelium consists of a sponge-like network of slender epithelial cell processes with numerous bridges and interconnections that form lacunae containing secretion. This secretory epithelium is supported by a basement membrane containing elastic fibers. The entire epithelial structure of the venom-secreting cells is reinforced by a dense network of F-actin intermediate filaments, as shown by staining with phalloidin. Neural elements (axons and acetylcholinesterase activity) are also associated with the venom gland. Transmission electron microscopy of the epithelium revealed an ultrastructure typical of secretory cells, including abundant rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum, an extensive Golgi apparatus, and numerous mitochondria.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Venom apparatus of the Brazilian tarantula Vitalius dubius Mello-Leitão 1923 (Theraphosidae)

et al. 2009

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“…Both volume and protein mass regeneration slowed two days after initial milking, as no significant differences existed among milking intervals in the 14-day trial. The phenomenon of venom protein regeneration lagging behind volume regeneration appears to be common, as it has been observed in spiders (Perret, 1977;Boeve et al, 1995), scorpions (Nisani et al, 2007), and some snakes (Kochva, 1960;Schenberg et al, 1970;Brown et al, 1975;Willemse et al, 1979;Klauber, 1997). Exceptions, however, were reported for two snakes, the puff adder (Bitis arietans; Currier et al, 2012) and the rhinoceros horned viper (B. nasicornis; Marsh and Glatston, 1974), for which venom protein concentration returned to its initial milking level within one and two days, respectively.…”

Section: Venom Regeneration During the 48-h And 14-day Trialsmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Direct comparisons of rates of venom regeneration among different taxa are limited by factors such as variation in venom composition and size of venom gland(s), and can be complicated by studies in which the potential effects of repeated milkings may confound interpretation of regeneration (e.g., Kochva, 1960;Perret, 1977;Klauber, 1997;Currier et al, 2012). Even so, comparison of S. polymorpha to other animals provides a contextual framework for understanding the dynamics of venom regeneration.…”

Section: Venom Regeneration: Comparison With Other Venomous Animalsmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Venom regeneration in the centipede Scolopendra polymorpha: evidence for asynchronous venom component synthesis

Cooper¹,

Kelln²,

Hayes³

2014

Zoology

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“…Nevertheless, data on other aspects of venom regeneration suggest that spiders incur an ecological cost for venom expenditure. Because venom regeneration may take weeks (Boeve et al 1995;Perret 1977b) to months (Freyvogel et al 1968), and spiders may capture several prey items per day, spiders should modulate venom release to avoid the metabolic expense of regenerating depleted reserves, which could leave the spider vulnerable to predators or unable to deal with subsequent prey (Boeve and Meier 1994;Malli et al 1998). The secondary loss of venom in uloborid spiders, which kill their prey instead by wrapping them tightly in hackled silk, further suggests that venom use comes with a considerable biochemical price (Morgenstern and King 2013).…”

Section: Cost Of Venom In Spidersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Strategic Use of Venom by Spiders

Cooper¹,

Nelsen²,

Hayes³

2015

Evolution of Venomous Animals and Their Toxins

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Understanding the behaviors by which animals deploy their venoms has been largely neglected compared to other aspects of the evolution and biology of venomous organisms and their venoms. Yet, behavior has long been recognized as a pacemaker for the evolution of morphological, ecological, life history, and other traits, in large part because behavioral responses can expose organisms to or protect them from novel selection pressures. The importance of behavior is especially evident in that venom most often functions through a behavioral act that generates a wound in a target animal through which the toxic secretion must be introduced. As a limited and costly commodity, venom should be deployed strategically and judiciously by those animals that possess it. The chapter summarizes the major aspects of adaptive venom use in animals, and highlights the best documented examples of strategic venom deployment among spiders. These animals, like other venomous taxa, exhibit four major behavioral strategies. First, they are often highly selective when using their venom, discharging it only under certain conditions. Second, they can modulate the quantity of venom they expend in both predatory and defensive contexts, delivering multiple bites or variable quantities within individual doses. Third, at least one study suggests that spiders possess venom gland heterogeneity and therefore deliver varying venom composition with successive venom expulsions. Finally, some evidence suggests that spiders can strategically target the delivery of their weapon at a particularly vulnerable region of their target. Collectively, the evidence suggests a common theme among spiders and other venomous animals for economization and optimization of venom deployment.

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Venom regeneration in tarantula spiders—I. analysis of venom produced at different time intervals

Cited by 19 publications

References 24 publications

Venom apparatus of the Brazilian tarantula Vitalius dubius Mello-Leitão 1923 (Theraphosidae)

Venom apparatus of the Brazilian tarantula Vitalius dubius Mello-Leitão 1923 (Theraphosidae)

Venom regeneration in the centipede Scolopendra polymorpha: evidence for asynchronous venom component synthesis

The Strategic Use of Venom by Spiders

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