Evolution of venom proteins in sea anemones (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria)

海葵毒液蛋白的进化（刺胞动物门：珊瑚虫门：海葵门）

• 批准号: 1257796
• 负责人: Marymegan Daly
• 金额: $ 45万
• 依托单位: Ohio State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-03-01 至 2017-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1257796&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Evolution; venom; proteins; sea; anemones

The earliest occurrence of venom within the animal tree of life is in Cnidaria, the group that includes corals, sea anemones, and jellyfish. In cnidarians, venom is delivered via microscopic intracellular structures called nematocysts, and is implicated a broad array of physiological functions. The venom of sea anemones is more biochemically stable than that of other cnidarians, and broad-scale studies of its biochemistry and toxicology have shown remarkable diversity in venom proteins. Because the functional specialization of the sea anemone body depends largely on the distribution of nematocysts, the diversification of nematocysts and its venom have likely contributed to the diversification of these animals. Venom itself has been the target of evolutionary change in lineages in which former prey or predators like fish, crabs, or snail have evolved a symbiotic relationship. Venom mediates interactions between sea anemones and the rest of their communities: it defends them from predators, helps them gain prey, and is modified to support symbioses. Understanding the evolution of venom will impact our ability to predict the reactivity and function of venoms within the groups, but will also help us understand how interactions between organisms become codified in genes and how these genes change in response to changes in the organismal interactions.

在动物的生命树中，最早出现毒液的是刺胞动物，包括珊瑚、海葵和水母。 在刺胞动物中，毒液是通过称为刺胞的微观细胞内结构传递的，并且涉及广泛的生理功能。 海葵的毒液比其他刺胞动物的毒液在生物化学上更稳定，对其生物化学和毒理学的大规模研究表明，毒液蛋白质具有显着的多样性。 由于海葵体的功能特化在很大程度上取决于刺丝囊的分布，因此刺丝囊及其毒液的多样性可能有助于这些动物的多样性。 毒液本身一直是进化的目标，在这些谱系中，以前的猎物或捕食者，如鱼、蟹或蜗牛，已经进化出一种共生关系。 毒液介导海葵与其社区其他成员之间的相互作用：它保护它们免受捕食者的侵害，帮助它们获得猎物，并被修改以支持共生。 了解毒液的进化将影响我们预测群体内毒液的反应性和功能的能力，但也将帮助我们了解生物体之间的相互作用如何被编码在基因中，以及这些基因如何响应生物体相互作用的变化而变化。