The Birth and Death of Toxins with Distinct Functions: A Case Study in the Sea Anemone Nematostella

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dc.contributor.authorSachkova, Maria Y.
dc.contributor.authorSinger, Shir A.
dc.contributor.authorMacrander, Jason
dc.contributor.authorReitzel, Adam M.
dc.contributor.authorPeigneur, Steve
dc.contributor.authorTytgat, Jan
dc.contributor.authorMoran, Yehu
dc.date.accessioned2022-09-29T21:11:46Z
dc.date.available2022-09-29T21:11:46Z
dc.date.issued2019-09
dc.description.abstractThe cnidarian Nematostella vectensis has become an established lab model, providing unique opportunities for venom evolution research. The Nematostella venom system is multimodal: involving both nematocytes and ectodermal gland cells, which produce a toxin mixture whose composition changes throughout the life cycle. Additionally, their modes of interaction with predators and prey vary between eggs, larvae, and adults, which is likely shaped by the dynamics of the venom system. Nv1 is a major component of adult venom, with activity against arthropods (through specific inhibition of sodium channel inactivation) and fish. Nv1 is encoded by a cluster of at least 12 nearly identical genes that were proposed to be undergoing concerted evolution. Surprisingly, we found that Nematostella venom includes several Nv1 paralogs escaping a pattern of general concerted evolution, despite belonging to the Nv1-like family. Here, we show two of these new toxins, Nv4 and Nv5, are lethal for zebrafish larvae but harmless to arthropods, unlike Nv1. Furthermore, unlike Nv1, the newly identified toxins are expressed in early life stages. Using transgenesis and immunostaining, we demonstrate that Nv4 and Nv5 are localized to ectodermal gland cells in larvae. The evolution of Nv4 and Nv5 can be described either as neofunctionalization or as subfunctionalization. Additionally, the Nv1-like family includes several pseudogenes being an example of nonfunctionalization and venom evolution through birth-and-death mechanism. Our findings reveal the evolutionary history for a toxin radiation and point toward the ecological function of the novel toxins constituting a complex cnidarian venom. (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.)en_US
dc.identifier.citationSachkova, M. Y., Singer, S. A., Macrander, J., Reitzel, A. M., Peigneur, S., Tytgat, J., & Moran, Y. (2019). The Birth and Death of Toxins with Distinct Functions: A Case Study in the Sea Anemone Nematostella. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 36(9), 2001–2012. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msz132en_US
dc.identifier.issn0737-4038
dc.identifier.urihttps://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=mdc&AN=31134275&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s5615486
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11416/798
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msz132
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherOxford University Pressen_US
dc.subjectSea anemonesen_US
dc.subjectEvolutionen_US
dc.subjectGeneticsen_US
dc.titleThe Birth and Death of Toxins with Distinct Functions: A Case Study in the Sea Anemone Nematostellaen_US
dc.title.alternativeOxford University Pressen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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