Transcriptomic-Proteomic Correlation in the Predation-Evoked Venom of the Cone Snail, Conus imperialis

• Published in: Marine drugs Vol. 17; no. 3; p. 177
• Main Authors: Jin, Ai-Hua, Dutertre, Sébastien, Dutt, Mriga, Lavergne, Vincent, Jones, Alun, Lewis, Richard J., Alewood, Paul F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 19.03.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: 454 sequencing; Animals; Biochemistry, Molecular Biology; Biological Variation, Population - physiology; Biosynthetic Pathways - physiology; Chromatography, Liquid - methods; Computational Biology; cone snail venom; conopeptide; conotoxin; Conotoxins - biosynthesis; Conotoxins - chemistry; Conus; Conus imperialis; Conus Snail - physiology; Correlation; Defensive behavior; DNA, Complementary - genetics; Feeding habits; Gastropoda; Gender; Gene Expression Profiling - methods; Gene Expression Regulation - physiology; Genomics; Geographical distribution; Geographical locations; Interspecific relationships; iTRAQ; Labeling; Life Sciences; Marine molluscs; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Mollusks; Peptides; Predation; Predatory Behavior - physiology; Proteome - physiology; Proteomes; Proteomics; Proteomics - methods; Scientific imaging; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Snails; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization - methods; Stabilizing; Toxicology; Toxins; Transcription; Transcriptome - physiology; Transcriptomes; transcriptomics; Venom; Venom gland; venom transcriptome; 454 sequencing; conotoxin; conopeptide; cone snail venom; proteomics; iTRAQ; transcriptomics; mass spectrometry; Conus imperialis; venom transcriptome
• ISSN: 1660-3397; 1660-3397
• DOI: 10.3390/md17030177

Individual variation in animal venom has been linked to geographical location, feeding habit, season, size, and gender. Uniquely, cone snails possess the remarkable ability to change venom composition in response to predatory or defensive stimuli. To date, correlations between the venom gland transcriptome and proteome within and between individual cone snails have not been reported. In this study, we use 454 pyrosequencing and mass spectrometry to decipher the transcriptomes and proteomes of the venom gland and corresponding predation-evoked venom of two specimens of Conus imperialis. Transcriptomic analyses revealed 17 conotoxin gene superfamilies common to both animals, including 5 novel superfamilies and two novel cysteine frameworks. While highly expressed transcripts were common to both specimens, variation of moderately and weakly expressed precursor sequences was surprisingly diverse, with one specimen expressing two unique gene superfamilies and consistently producing more paralogs within each conotoxin gene superfamily. Using a quantitative labelling method, conotoxin variability was compared quantitatively, with highly expressed peptides showing a strong correlation between transcription and translation, whereas peptides expressed at lower levels showed a poor correlation. These results suggest that major transcripts are subject to stabilizing selection, while minor transcripts are subject to diversifying selection.