Publication
Title
High throughput techniques to reveal the molecular physiology and evolution of digestion in spiders
Author
Abstract
Background: Spiders are known for their predatory efficiency and for their high capacity of digesting relatively large prey. They do this by combining both extracorporeal and intracellular digestion. Whereas many high throughput ("-omics") techniques focus on biomolecules in spider venom, so far this approach has not yet been applied to investigate the protein composition of spider midgut diverticula (MD) and digestive fluid (DF). Results: We here report on our investigations of both MD and DF of the spider Nephilingis (Nephilengys) cruentata through the use of next generation sequencing and shotgun proteomics. This shows that the DF is composed of a variety of hydrolases including peptidases, carbohydrases, lipases and nuclease, as well as of toxins and regulatory proteins. We detect 25 astacins in the DF. Phylogenetic analysis of the corresponding transcript(s) in Arachnida suggests that astacins have acquired an unprecedented role for extracorporeal digestion in Araneae, with different orthologs used by each family. The results of a comparative study of spiders in distinct physiological conditions allow us to propose some digestion mechanisms in this interesting animal taxon. Conclusion: All the high throughput data allowed the demonstration that DF is a secretion originating from the MD. We identified enzymes involved in the extracellular and intracellular phases of digestion. Besides that, data analyses show a large gene duplication event in Araneae digestive process evolution, mainly of astacin genes. We were also able to identify proteins expressed and translated in the digestive system, which until now had been exclusively associated to venom glands.
Language
English
Source (journal)
BMC genomics. - London
Publication
London : 2016
ISSN
1471-2164
DOI
10.1186/S12864-016-3048-9
Volume/pages
17 (2016) , 19 p.
Article Reference
716
ISI
000383470100002
Pubmed ID
27604083
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 02.12.2016
Last edited 09.10.2023
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