The Venom Proteome of the Ecologically Divergent Australian Elapid, Southern Death Adder <i>Acanthophis antarcticus</i>
The composition of Australian snake venoms is the least well-known of any continent. We characterised the venom proteome of the southern death adder <i>Acanthophis antarcticus</i>—one of the world’s most morphologically and ecologically divergent elapids. Using a combined bottom-up prote...
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2025-07-01
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| author | Theo Tasoulis C. Ruth Wang Shaun Ellis Tara L. Pukala Joanna Sumner Kate Murphy Nathan Dunstan Geoffrey K. Isbister |
| author_facet | Theo Tasoulis C. Ruth Wang Shaun Ellis Tara L. Pukala Joanna Sumner Kate Murphy Nathan Dunstan Geoffrey K. Isbister |
| author_sort | Theo Tasoulis |
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| description | The composition of Australian snake venoms is the least well-known of any continent. We characterised the venom proteome of the southern death adder <i>Acanthophis antarcticus</i>—one of the world’s most morphologically and ecologically divergent elapids. Using a combined bottom-up proteomic and venom gland transcriptomic approach employing reverse-phase chromatographic and gel electrophoretic fractionation strategies in the bottom-up proteomic workflow, we characterised 92.8% of the venom, comprising twelve different toxin identification hits belonging to seven toxin families. The most abundant protein family was three-finger toxins (3FTxs; 59.8% whole venom), consisting mostly of one long-chain neurotoxin, alpha-elapitoxin-Aa2b making up 59% of the venom and two proteoforms of another long-chain neurotoxin. Phospholipase A<sub>2</sub>s (PLA<sub>2</sub>s) were the second most abundant, with four different toxins making up 22.5% of the venom. One toxin was similar to two previous non-neurotoxic PLA<sub>2</sub>s, making up 16% of the venom. The remaining protein families present were CTL (3.6%), NGF (2.5%), CRiSP (1.8%), LAAO (1.4%), and AChE (0.8%). <i>A. antarcticus</i> is the first Australian elapid characterised that has a 3FTx dominant venom, a composition typical of elapids on other continents, particularly cobras <i>Naja</i> sp. The fact that <i>A. antarcticus</i> has a venom composition similar to cobra venom while having a viper-like ecology illustrates that similar venom expressions can evolve independently of ecology. The predominance of post-synaptic neurotoxins (3FTxs) and pre-synaptic neurotoxins (PLA<sub>2</sub>) is consistent with the neurotoxic clinical effects of envenomation in humans. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | DOAJ |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
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| series | Toxins |
| spelling | doaj-art-106bb56f569947e7bede1de1d289f82a2025-08-20T02:47:18ZengMDPI AGToxins2072-66512025-07-0117735210.3390/toxins17070352The Venom Proteome of the Ecologically Divergent Australian Elapid, Southern Death Adder <i>Acanthophis antarcticus</i>Theo Tasoulis0C. Ruth Wang1Shaun Ellis2Tara L. Pukala3Joanna Sumner4Kate Murphy5Nathan Dunstan6Geoffrey K. Isbister7Clinical Toxicology Research Group, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, AustraliaDepartment of Chemistry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5000, AustraliaDepartment of Chemistry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5000, AustraliaDepartment of Chemistry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5000, AustraliaMuseums Victoria, Melbourne, VIC 5053, AustraliaClinical Toxicology Research Group, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, AustraliaVenom Supplies, Tanunda, Adelaide, SA 5352, AustraliaClinical Toxicology Research Group, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, AustraliaThe composition of Australian snake venoms is the least well-known of any continent. We characterised the venom proteome of the southern death adder <i>Acanthophis antarcticus</i>—one of the world’s most morphologically and ecologically divergent elapids. Using a combined bottom-up proteomic and venom gland transcriptomic approach employing reverse-phase chromatographic and gel electrophoretic fractionation strategies in the bottom-up proteomic workflow, we characterised 92.8% of the venom, comprising twelve different toxin identification hits belonging to seven toxin families. The most abundant protein family was three-finger toxins (3FTxs; 59.8% whole venom), consisting mostly of one long-chain neurotoxin, alpha-elapitoxin-Aa2b making up 59% of the venom and two proteoforms of another long-chain neurotoxin. Phospholipase A<sub>2</sub>s (PLA<sub>2</sub>s) were the second most abundant, with four different toxins making up 22.5% of the venom. One toxin was similar to two previous non-neurotoxic PLA<sub>2</sub>s, making up 16% of the venom. The remaining protein families present were CTL (3.6%), NGF (2.5%), CRiSP (1.8%), LAAO (1.4%), and AChE (0.8%). <i>A. antarcticus</i> is the first Australian elapid characterised that has a 3FTx dominant venom, a composition typical of elapids on other continents, particularly cobras <i>Naja</i> sp. The fact that <i>A. antarcticus</i> has a venom composition similar to cobra venom while having a viper-like ecology illustrates that similar venom expressions can evolve independently of ecology. The predominance of post-synaptic neurotoxins (3FTxs) and pre-synaptic neurotoxins (PLA<sub>2</sub>) is consistent with the neurotoxic clinical effects of envenomation in humans.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/17/7/352snake venomtoxinsproteomicsvenomephospholipaseecology |
| spellingShingle | Theo Tasoulis C. Ruth Wang Shaun Ellis Tara L. Pukala Joanna Sumner Kate Murphy Nathan Dunstan Geoffrey K. Isbister The Venom Proteome of the Ecologically Divergent Australian Elapid, Southern Death Adder <i>Acanthophis antarcticus</i> Toxins snake venom toxins proteomics venome phospholipase ecology |
| title | The Venom Proteome of the Ecologically Divergent Australian Elapid, Southern Death Adder <i>Acanthophis antarcticus</i> |
| title_full | The Venom Proteome of the Ecologically Divergent Australian Elapid, Southern Death Adder <i>Acanthophis antarcticus</i> |
| title_fullStr | The Venom Proteome of the Ecologically Divergent Australian Elapid, Southern Death Adder <i>Acanthophis antarcticus</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Venom Proteome of the Ecologically Divergent Australian Elapid, Southern Death Adder <i>Acanthophis antarcticus</i> |
| title_short | The Venom Proteome of the Ecologically Divergent Australian Elapid, Southern Death Adder <i>Acanthophis antarcticus</i> |
| title_sort | venom proteome of the ecologically divergent australian elapid southern death adder i acanthophis antarcticus i |
| topic | snake venom toxins proteomics venome phospholipase ecology |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/17/7/352 |
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