Biofactories Applied to Future Antivenom Production

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  Image Credit: By Ssiltane - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52242648 Biofactories Applied to Future Antivenom Production Abstract Background: Accidents caused by the  Loxosceles laeta  spider constitute a health problem in South America. Envenomation can lead to severe systemic manifestations, eventually compromising the patient’s life. Most regional health authorities consider antivenom administration the basis of effective treatment in the most serious cases. The availability of spider venom is the primary bottleneck for antivenom production. Herein, we present a novel biotechnological approach, based on the expression of recombinant versions of the most relevant toxin in loxoscelism, sphingomyelinase D (SphD), in insect larvae ( Spodoptera frugiperda ).  Methods: We produced two versions of SphD: one conserving its biological activities (wtSphD) and a second alternative that was designed to be genetically detoxified (dSphD...

A new wolf spider species of Wadicosa (Araneae, Lycosidae) from Western Ghats of India

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A new wolf spider species of Wadicosa (Araneae, Lycosidae) from Western Ghats of India

Abstract

The new wolf spider species Wadicosa intermediata sp. n. belongs to W. quadrifera species-group is
described based on both sexes collected from Idukki district of Kerala, southern India.

Abhijith RS, Sudhikumar AV (2024) A new wolf spider species of Wadicosa (Araneae, Lycosidae) from
Western Ghats of India. Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa” 67(2): 173–181. https://doi.org/10.3897/travaux.67.e101496