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X Demographics
Mendeley readers
Attention Score in Context
| Title |
Echidna Venom Gland Transcriptome Provides Insights into the Evolution of Monotreme Venom
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
PLOS ONE, November 2013
|
| DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0079092 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Emily S. W. Wong, Stewart Nicol, Wesley C. Warren, Katherine Belov |
| Abstract |
Monotremes (echidna and platypus) are egg-laying mammals. One of their most unique characteristic is that males have venom/crural glands that are seasonally active. Male platypuses produce venom during the breeding season, delivered via spurs, to aid in competition against other males. Echidnas are not able to erect their spurs, but a milky secretion is produced by the gland during the breeding season. The function and molecular composition of echidna venom is as yet unknown. Hence, we compared the deeply sequenced transcriptome of an in-season echidna crural gland to that of a platypus and searched for putative venom genes to provide clues into the function of echidna venom and the evolutionary history of monotreme venom. We found that the echidna venom gland transcriptome was markedly different from the platypus with no correlation between the top 50 most highly expressed genes. Four peptides found in the venom of the platypus were detected in the echidna transcriptome. However, these genes were not highly expressed in echidna, suggesting that they are the remnants of the evolutionary history of the ancestral venom gland. Gene ontology terms associated with the top 100 most highly expressed genes in echidna, showed functional terms associated with steroidal and fatty acid production, suggesting that echidna "venom" may play a role in scent communication during the breeding season. The loss of the ability to erect the spur and other unknown evolutionary forces acting in the echidna lineage resulted in the gradual decay of venom components and the evolution of a new role for the crural gland. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 24 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 6 | 25% |
| Australia | 4 | 17% |
| Thailand | 1 | 4% |
| Canada | 1 | 4% |
| Japan | 1 | 4% |
| Comoros | 1 | 4% |
| Russia | 1 | 4% |
| Unknown | 9 | 38% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 19 | 79% |
| Scientists | 4 | 17% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 4% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 52 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 51 | 98% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 17 | 33% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 7 | 13% |
| Student > Master | 6 | 12% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 4 | 8% |
| Student > Postgraduate | 2 | 4% |
| Other | 5 | 10% |
| Unknown | 11 | 21% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 24 | 46% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 8 | 15% |
| Computer Science | 2 | 4% |
| Engineering | 2 | 4% |
| Chemistry | 2 | 4% |
| Other | 2 | 4% |
| Unknown | 12 | 23% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 63. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 18 October 2023.
All research outputs
#688,199
of 25,791,949 outputs
Outputs from PLOS ONE
#9,169
of 224,877 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#5,772
of 225,683 outputs
Outputs of similar age from PLOS ONE
#264
of 5,159 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,791,949 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 224,877 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 15.8. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 225,683 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 5,159 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.