Abstract
BackgroundBothrops colombiensis is a highly dangerous pit viper and responsible for over 70 % of snakebites in Venezuela. Although the composition in B. colombiensis venom has been identified using a proteome analysis, the venom gland transcriptome is currently lacking.ResultsWe constructed a cDNA library from the venom gland of B. colombiensis, and a set of 729 high quality expressed sequence tags (ESTs) was identified. A total number of 344 ESTs (47.2 % of total ESTs) was related to toxins. The most abundant toxin transcripts were metalloproteinases (37.5 %), phospholipases A2s (PLA2, 29.7 %), and serine proteinases (11.9 %). Minor toxin transcripts were linked to waprins (5.5 %), C-type lectins (4.1 %), ATPases (2.9 %), cysteine-rich secretory proteins (CRISP, 2.3 %), snake venom vascular endothelium growth factors (svVEGF, 2.3 %), L-amino acid oxidases (2 %), and other putative toxins (1.7 %). While 160 ESTs (22 % of total ESTs) coded for translation proteins, regulatory proteins, ribosomal proteins, elongation factors, release factors, metabolic proteins, and immune response proteins. Other proteins detected in the transcriptome (87 ESTs, 11.9 % of total ESTs) were undescribed proteins with unknown functions. The remaining 138 (18.9 %) cDNAs had no match with known GenBank accessions.ConclusionThis study represents the analysis of transcript expressions and provides a physical resource of unique genes for further study of gene function and the development of novel molecules for medical applications.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12867-016-0059-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Bothrops colombiensis is a highly dangerous pit viper and responsible for over 70 % of snakebites in Venezuela
Sequencing and assembly results The production of this primary cDNA library is an important phase in the upcoming varying field of Bothrops gland genomic investigation, gene expression, molecular markers, gene sequencing for structural analyses and possibly for gene screening
We constructed a cDNA library from the venom glands of a single snake to preclude ambiguity by intraspecies variation in venom components, which will provide interest in the comparison of the genes expressed among closely related species and within the same species for future work
Summary
Bothrops colombiensis is a highly dangerous pit viper and responsible for over 70 % of snakebites in Venezuela. Mainly from Viperidae families are rich reservoirs of metalloproteinases, serine proteinases, and phospholipase A2 (PLA2) [1,2,3,4,5,6], inducing a diversity of hemostatic effects such as blood coagulation, hemorrhage, and platelet aggregation. Hemorrhage is mainly caused by snake venom zinc-dependent metalloproteinases, which digest components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins resulting in bleedings [4]. Bothrops snakes belonging to the family Viperidae are the major cause of snakebite morbidity and mortality in Central and South America [7]. Many biological proteins, mainly metalloproteinases and PLA2, were identified in B. colombiensis venom [11]. Some proteins in small quantity may be difficult to identify using a proteomic approach
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