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Transcriptomic Analysis Of The Venom Gland Of The Red-Headed Krait (Bungarus Flaviceps) Using Expressed Sequence Tags, Ang Swee Siang, Robin Doley, Freek J. Vonk, R. Manjunatha Kini
Transcriptomic Analysis Of The Venom Gland Of The Red-Headed Krait (Bungarus Flaviceps) Using Expressed Sequence Tags, Ang Swee Siang, Robin Doley, Freek J. Vonk, R. Manjunatha Kini
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Publications
Background
The Red-headed krait (Bungarus flaviceps, Squamata: Serpentes: Elapidae) is a medically important venomous snake that inhabits South-East Asia. Although the venoms of most species of the snake genus Bungarus have been well characterized, a detailed compositional analysis of B. flaviceps is currently lacking.
Results
Here, we have sequenced 845 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from the venom gland of a B. flaviceps. Of the transcripts, 74.8% were putative toxins; 20.6% were cellular; and 4.6% were unknown. The main venom protein families identified were three-finger toxins (3FTxs), Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitors (including chain B of β-bungarotoxin), phospholipase A …