Natures wonders: vicious venoms (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, June 24, 2017, 01:19 (2492 days ago) @ David Turell

They appear using genes with other functions, but the scientists guess at the genomic methods by which they arrive, one lucky mutation to change expression:

https://www.quantamagazine.org/moonlighting-genes-evolve-for-a-venomous-job-20170622/?u...

"Venoms are among nature’s fiercest adaptations. The geographer’s cone snail, for example, only injects about a tenth of a milligram of venom when it stings, and yet, this is more than enough to kill a person in under an hour. These chemical cocktails contain some of the most potent compounds known, and their fearsome power has awed people since the dawn of history. It wasn’t until modern advances in genetics, though, that scientists were able to study how the genes encoding for such potent toxins arise, providing glimpses into the workings of evolution at the molecular level. From such studies came the current canonical model of how venom genes evolve through the chance replication and mutation of genes for enzymes, peptides and other proteins.

"But new findings published today in Current Biology challenge this model, finding that the majority of toxin genes for parasitoid wasp species are instead “moonlighting” from other physiological roles. A further exciting implication is that if this discovery is relevant to compounds other than venoms, it might be a pathway that nature uses to develop other evolutionary solutions rapidly.

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“'The venoms of parasitoids are quite different from those of most of the venomous animals that have been studied because they’ve evolved to manipulate metabolism” rather than to kill outright, Werren explained.

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"In stark contrast to studies of other venomous animals, they found that nearly half of the 53 most recently recruited venom genes uncovered through their genetic analyses were single-copy, meaning they were not duplicates of other genes with which evolution had tinkered. In fact, less than 10 percent of the toxin genes clearly arose through duplication and mutation.

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"Instead, Werren likened the functionality of these single-copy genes to “moonlighting” for extra cash, with the genes taking on a “night job” in the venom gland in addition to their “day job” elsewhere in the body. The genes were routinely expressed to some degree in various tissues during stages of larval or adult development. The venom glands simply expressed the genes much more abundantly and steadily. Consequently, the gene’s protein — which had a benign physiological function elsewhere in the wasp body — reached a concentration with toxic properties in the venom. “That’s why a lot of this is expression evolution,” Werren explained. “The protein isn’t changing much. It’s just its expression pattern that’s changing to make it a venom.”

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"But the findings suggest that the wasps don’t need mutations in the venom toxin genes to switch from one host to another, or to keep pace with their current hosts. They just need to be able to co-opt and drop genes for use in making venoms quickly.

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"Gene moonlighting can occur merely through changes in expression, which may result from as little as a single mutation; it does not require the meandering process of random alteration and selection implied by the duplication and neofunctionalization model. Co-option is therefore likely to be a much faster mechanism for adaptation. “For species that have a very rapidly changing environment, this process of co-option of single genes may be fairly important."

Comment: Think about it. The wasps have a very complex lifestyle which involves turning prey into zombies for their larvae to feast on. And just the right single mutation changes gene expression to make just the right brain venom to get just the right zombie control. All by chance? Never!