Functional venomics of the adder (Vipera berus) in Germany: Casting light on the composition, function and ecological plasticity of venom in a native model species

德国蝰蛇（Vipera berus）的功能毒液组学：揭示本土模式物种毒液的成分、功能和生态可塑性

• 批准号: 505696476
• 负责人: Dr. Tim Lueddecke, Ph.D.
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Institut für Insektenbiotechnologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/505696476?language=en
• 关键词: Functional; venomics; adder; Vipera; berus

Venoms are key evolutionary innovations that serve predation, defense and competitor deterrence in a wide variety of animal lineages. They are chemically complex mixtures that consist of toxic proteins and peptides. They are transferred into other organisms where they interfere with vital physiological processes and thus cause damaging effects. Traditionally venoms were considered rather static and the chemical profile within the venom of a given species was often characterized by selected lead components. However, recent studies recovered, that venoms instead represent very dynamic systems and that their chemical profiles can differ substantially intraspecifically with venoms of some species differing between life history stages, sex and habitat types. Particularly, snake venoms seem to display intraspecific venom variability quite regularly and it has been proposed that alterations in prey spectra lead to those changes. This project aims to investigate the degree of chemical intraspecific variability in venoms, the resulting functional consequences and their interconnection with prey spectra. Therefore, the adder (Vipera berus) will be used as a native model species. The study is based on a combinatorial approach that merges quantitative proteomics with bioassays and DNA-barcoding, thus following a three-step workflow. At first, chemical profiles of adder venoms from different life history stages, sex and habitat types across Germany are analyzed and compared by proteomics for quantitative plus qualitative differences. Next, the venoms are subjected to a diverse array of bioassays to understand their bioactivities. Their comparison enables us to set the afore discovered chemical differences into a functional context. Lastly, prey spectra of the animals are investigated by DNA-barcoding, allowing us to test the proposed hypothesis that prey availability drives venom profiles in snakes. The results gained by this study enable us to better understand the complex biology of venom, in particular within our native fauna. The project will provide valuable insights upon the role of predator-prey interactions as a potential driver of complex phenotypes such as venom, how they manifest and what functional consequences they bear for the organism. Finally, the project adds valuable insights to the variability of snake venoms, which could play a role in optimizing care for snakebite patients and developing better antivenoms.

毒液是进化的关键创新，在各种动物谱系中起到捕食、防御和竞争对手威慑的作用。它们是由有毒蛋白质和肽组成的化学复杂混合物。它们被转移到其他生物体中，干扰重要的生理过程，从而造成破坏性影响。传统上，毒液被认为是相当静态的，特定物种毒液中的化学成分通常以选定的铅成分为特征。然而，最近的研究恢复，毒液，而不是代表非常动态的系统，其化学配置文件可以有很大的不同种内与毒液的生活史阶段，性别和栖息地类型之间的一些物种。特别是，蛇毒似乎显示种内毒液的变异相当定期，有人提出，猎物光谱的改变导致这些变化。该项目旨在调查毒液中化学种内变异的程度，由此产生的功能后果及其与猎物光谱的相互关系。因此，蝰蛇（蝰蛇berus）将被用作本地模式物种。该研究基于一种组合方法，将定量蛋白质组学与生物测定和DNA条形码结合在一起，因此遵循三步工作流程。首先，通过蛋白质组学分析和比较德国不同生活史阶段、性别和栖息地类型的蝰蛇毒液的化学特征，以获得定量和定性的差异。接下来，对毒液进行各种生物测定，以了解它们的生物活性。它们的比较使我们能够将先前发现的化学差异置于功能背景中。最后，猎物光谱的动物进行了研究，通过DNA条形码，使我们能够测试所提出的假设，即猎物的可用性驱动蛇的毒液配置文件。这项研究的结果使我们能够更好地了解毒液的复杂生物学，特别是在我们的本土动物群中。该项目将提供有价值的见解捕食者-猎物相互作用的作用作为复杂的表型，如毒液的潜在驱动力，它们如何表现以及它们对生物体的功能后果。最后，该项目为蛇毒的变异性增加了有价值的见解，这可能在优化蛇咬伤患者的护理和开发更好的抗蛇毒血清方面发挥作用。