RUI: Exploring Unknown Diversity of Short Peptide Neurotoxins and Prey Targets of Provisioning Spider Wasps (Pompilidae) of New Mexico

新墨西哥州西部大学自然科学系的生物学家和化学家将合作调查捕食性蜘蛛黄蜂(Pompiidae科)与蜘蛛之间的分子相互作用，这些蜘蛛被它们叮咬并麻痹，用作自己寄生幼虫的活食物。除了收集描述这一特定系统的生物学和进化史的数据外，该项目还解决了关于分子适应、捕食者/猎物和寄生虫/宿主相互作用的分子生理学以及有助于产生生物多样性的机制--如拮抗共同进化--的关键问题。据了解，美国大约有200种蜘蛛蜂。众所周知，这些独居昆虫的毒液相对简单，主要由短肽组成，如PMTX(PMTX)。PMTX是一种神经毒素，与电压门控钠通道蛋白上的已知位置结合，抑制其失活并扰乱神经系统的功能。该项目将使用质谱仪和毒腺转录组测序来表征蜘蛛黄蜂不同样本中的毒肽；并检查靶向蜘蛛钠通道的DNA序列多样性，特别是在PMTX结合的关键部位。由于蜘蛛黄蜂的生存和繁殖取决于其毒液的效力，而目标蜘蛛的生存和繁殖取决于它们对毒素的遗传敏感性(或可能的抵抗力)，因此该项目还将使用物种关系的系统发育树来描述这些分子的进化史及其相互作用，这些分子可能通过自然选择进化。由于动物神经毒素在治疗人类健康疾病方面具有潜在的医疗价值，包括疼痛、癫痫、中风和一些心血管疾病，因此引起了广泛的兴趣。此外，神经科学中的开创性发现源于对神经系统蛋白质(如钠通道)的结构/功能研究，以及它们如何受到天然神经毒素的影响。对于受资助机构，该项目将通过为共享使用的分子生物学仪器提供部分资金来加强研究基础设施，并为本科生参与者提供新的机会，以获得在分子生物学和分析化学中使用的研究技术方面的经验和培训。该项目产生的数据将存入公共数据库，包括NCBI/GenBank、UniProt和PROSE(EMBL-EBI)。用于描述黄蜂毒液和蜘蛛钠通道的凭证标本将保存在新墨西哥州银城西部新墨西哥州大学吉拉自然历史中心的永久收藏品中。

Biologists and chemists from the Department of Natural Sciences at Western New Mexico University will collaborate on an investigation of the molecular interactions between predatory spider wasps (family Pompilidae) and the spiders they sting and paralyze to use as living food provisions for their own parasitic larvae. Beyond gathering data that will describe the biology and evolutionary history of this particular system, the project also addresses key questions about molecular adaptation, the molecular physiology of predator/prey and parasite/host interactions, and the mechanisms that help generate biodiversity - such as antagonistic coevolution. About 200 species of spider wasps are known to occur in the United States. The venoms of these solitary insects are known to be relatively simple, consisting mainly of short peptides such as pompilidotoxins (PMTXs). PMTXs are neurotoxins that bind to a known site on voltage-gated sodium channel proteins, inhibiting their inactivation and disrupting the functions of the nervous system. This project will characterize venom peptides from a diverse sample of spider wasps using mass spectrometry and venom gland transcriptome sequencing; and examine the DNA sequence diversity of targeted spider sodium channels, particularly at sites critical for PMTX binding. Since survival and reproduction of spider wasps depends on the potency of their venoms, while survival and reproduction of targeted spiders depends on their genetic sensitivity (or possible resistance) to the toxins, this project will also use phylogenetic trees of species relationships to describe the evolutionary histories of these molecules and their interactions, which are likely to evolve via natural selection. Animal neurotoxins are of broad interest due to their potential medical value in treating human health conditions including pain, epilepsy, stroke, and some cardiovascular disorders. Additionally, seminal discoveries in neuroscience emerged from structure/function studies of nervous system proteins such as sodium channels, and how they are affected by natural neurotoxins. For the grantee institution, this project will enhance research infrastructure via partial funding for shared-use molecular biology instrumentation and provide new opportunities for undergraduate participants to gain experience and training in research techniques used in molecular biology and analytical chemistry. Data generated by the project will be deposited into public databases including NCBI/GenBank, UniProt, and PRIDE (EMBL-EBI). Voucher specimens used in the characterizations of wasp venoms and spider sodium channels will be deposited into the permanent collections of the Gila Center for Natural History at Western New Mexico University in Silver City, NM.