Snake Venoms Share More Deadly Ingredients Than Previously Thought
December 21st, 2007 Posted by: Dr. Cox
(Ivanhoe Newswire) â Different snake families may share more ingredients in their venom than researchers once thought.
A new study unexpectedly finds a toxin from a different snake family in the rare Desert Massasauga Rattlesnake, as well as a new type of toxin.
Researchers from Singapore and the University of Northern Colorado created a genetic library of the Massasauga snakeâs venom gland and created 576 tagged sequences. The venom showed several known sequences, but it also had three-finger toxins â a family of poisons thought to only be in the Elapidae snake family.
The study also found a new toxin-like sequence generated by the fusion of two separate toxin genes â a mechanism not seen before in toxin evolution.
In the past scientists have identified venom compounds using chemistry or individual gene cloning methods but less abundant toxins were often missed. The library method used in this study revealed new toxin genes as well as new families of toxins.
The difference between venoms â even those within snake families â can make treating victims of snake bites quite complicated. But the findings from this research could help lead to the development of new treatments.
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SOURCE: BMC Molecular Biology, published online Dec. 19, 2007