| Title |
Ancient Diversification of Three-Finger Toxins in Micrurus Coral Snakes
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Molecular Evolution, January 2018
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00239-017-9825-5 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Daniel Dashevsky, Bryan G. Fry |
| Abstract |
Coral snakes, most notably the genus Micrurus, are the only terrestrial elapid snakes in the Americas. Elapid venoms are generally known for their potent neurotoxicity which is usually caused by Three-Finger Toxin (3FTx) proteins. These toxins can have a wide array of functions that have been characterized from the venom of other elapids. We examined publicly available sequences from Micrurus 3FTx to show that they belong to 8 monophyletic clades that diverged as deep in the 3FTx phylogenetic tree as the other clades with characterized functions. Functional residues from previously characterized clades of 3FTx are not well conserved in most of the Micrurus toxin clades. We also analyzed the patterns of selection on these toxins and find that they have been diversifying at different rates, with some having undergone extreme diversifying selection. This suggests that Micrurus 3FTx may contain a previously underappreciated functional diversity that has implications for the clinical outcomes of bite victims, the evolution and ecology of the genus, as well as the potential for biodiscovery efforts focusing on these toxins. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 2 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Scientists | 1 | 50% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 50 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 50 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 10 | 20% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 8 | 16% |
| Student > Master | 7 | 14% |
| Researcher | 3 | 6% |
| Other | 3 | 6% |
| Other | 7 | 14% |
| Unknown | 12 | 24% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 11 | 22% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 11 | 22% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 4 | 8% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 2 | 4% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 1 | 2% |
| Other | 5 | 10% |
| Unknown | 16 | 32% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. 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 31 January 2018.
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#19,410,491
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Outputs from Journal of Molecular Evolution
#1,297
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Outputs of similar age from Journal of Molecular Evolution
#11
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