New predatory interaction of Trichonephila clavipes (Araneae: Nephilidae) on Fidicinini (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in a forest fragment of the Neotropical region

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  New predatory interaction of Trichonephila clavipes (Araneae: Nephilidae) on Fidicinini (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in a forest fragment of the Neotropical region Abstract Trichonephila clavipes (Araneae: Nephilidae) is an orb web-building spider whose diet is primarily based on flying insects. This note aims to report the first predatory interaction of T. clavipes on a cicada of the genus Fidicina (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in a fragment of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. The predation event was observed (ad libitum) in the Benjamin Maranhão Botanical Garden situated in the Mata do Buraquinho Wildlife Refuge, northeastern Brazil. A specimen of Fidicina sp. was found freshly dead and trapped in the web of T. clavipes. The nephilid was observed moving slowly between the ventral and dorsal regions of the Fidicina sp. without weaving a web around the cicadid. Then, T. clavipes was observed perched on the left side of the Fidicina sp., with its pedipalps and chelicerae manipulating the thorax ...

Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses Reveal the Diverse Components in the Venom of a Recently Described Spider Species Macrothele Washanensis

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Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses Reveal the Diverse Components in the Venom of a Recently Described Spider Species Macrothele Washanensis

Abstract

Spider venom has been shown to possess a variety of pharmacological activities with promising applications in biomedical and agricultural sciences. However, the molecular structure and functions of these toxins have only been revealed for a few species. In this study, we unveiled the venom composition of Macrothele washanensis venom for the first-time using transcriptomics, proteomics, and bioinformatic analyses. A total of 17,051,2372 Illumina valid reads were obtained from the transcriptome of the venom glands, and 3,010,024 unigenes were assembled to predict 69 putative toxin sequences, which were classified into 25 toxin superfamilies based on cysteine motifs. Venom proteomics analysis identified 43 toxin proteins, including 15 peptide toxins and 28 proteases, including the CAP (CRISP/Allergen/PR) protein family, acetylcholinesterase, metalloproteinases, hyaluronidase, and dermonecrotic toxin. In conclusion, the results of the present study revealed the composition of the venom of M. washanensis, and several peptide toxins with potential medical, such work provides the foundation for further research on the molecular functions of these venom components as well as applied studies for the use of such compounds.

Meng-meng, Zhang and Yang, Zizhong and Cai, Wenzheng and Meng-hui, Yang and Meng-ying, Zhang and Tembrock, Luke R. and Yang, Zhi-bin and Liu, Heng, Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses Reveal the Diverse Components in the Venom of a Recently Described Spider Species Macrothele Washanensis. 

Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5011606 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5011606

Additional Information and data on this species description: Two new species of the genus Macrothele Ausserer, 1871 (Araneae, Macrothelidae) from China (2022) https://bdj.pensoft.net/article/90967/