Molecular diversity and evolutionary trends of cysteine-rich peptides from the venom glands of Chinese spider Heteropoda venatoria

Jie Luo,Jinjun Chen,Kezhi Chen,Tiaoyi Xiao,Xuewen Zhang,Zhihao Peng,Yiying Ding

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-82668-5

Abstract

Heteropoda venatoria in the family Sparassidae is highly valued in pantropical countries because the species feed on domestic insect pests. Unlike most other species of Araneomorphae, H. venatoria uses the great speed and strong chelicerae (mouthparts) with toxin glands to capture the insects instead of its web. Therefore, H. venatoria provides unique opportunities for venom evolution research. The venom of H. venatoria was explored by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization tandem time-of-flight and analyzing expressed sequence tags. The 154 sequences coding cysteine-rich peptides (CRPs) revealed 24 families based on the phylogenetic analyses of precursors and cysteine frameworks in the putative mature regions. Intriguingly, four kinds of motifs are first described in spider venom. Furthermore, combining the diverse CRPs of H. venatoria with previous spider venom peptidomics data, the structures of precursors and the patterns of cysteine frameworks were analyzed. This work revealed the dynamic evolutionary trends of venom CRPs in H. venatoria: the precursor has evolved an extended mature peptide with more cysteines, and a diminished or even vanished propeptides between the signal and mature peptides; and the CRPs evolved by multiple duplications of an ancestral ICK gene as well as recruitments of non-toxin genes.

Highlights

Heteropoda venatoria in the family Sparassidae is highly valued in pantropical countries because the species feed on domestic insect pests
The cDNA sequences of cysteine-rich peptides (CRPs) have been submitted into the public database
Since the transcript of H. venatoria venom gland was investigated for the first time, the traditional Sanger sequencing technology was employed

Summary

Introduction

Heteropoda venatoria in the family Sparassidae is highly valued in pantropical countries because the species feed on domestic insect pests. Unlike most other species of Araneomorphae, H. venatoria uses the great speed and strong chelicerae (mouthparts) with toxin glands to capture the insects instead of its web. Combining the diverse CRPs of H. venatoria with previous spider venom peptidomics data, the structures of precursors and the patterns of cysteine frameworks were analyzed. The male has a slender body and long legs, a distinctive pattern on his carapace This species is found in many tropical and subtropical regions globally and can’t survive outside during sub-freezing temperatures. The phylogenetic relationships amongst the spider families whose venom CRPs have been well described show H. venatoria (in Sparassidae) locate between Theraphosidae and Lycosidae (Fig. 1). Unlike web-forming spiders (A. ventricosus, A. orientalis et al.) that weave cobwebs before prey and eat after wrapping its prey with cobwebs

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