Structural and functional characterisation of isolated puff adder (Bitis arietans) venom serine proteases

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  Structural and functional characterisation of isolated puff adder (Bitis arietans) venom serine proteases Abstract Serine proteases (SVSPs) are known to play a major role in the haemotoxic actions of viper venom, but compared with those from other medically important vipers, the serine proteases of puff adder venoms have not been extensively characterised. To address this, we isolated, identified and characterised the bioactivity of the serine proteases within the venom of the Nigerian puff adder, which we had previously shown to be especially rich in this class of toxin. Two distinct groups were identified, each with different protein substrate specificities. Both had similar molecular weights of 52-62 kDa, with 4-6 N-glycans, but one group consisted of trypsin-like acidic SVSPs and the other of non-trypsin-like basic SVSPs with a specificity for aliphatic amino acids at the P 1 position. Each acted differently on fibrinogen: the acidic SVSPs showed thrombin-like alpha/beta-fib...

Four new species of Neischnocolus (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae) from Western Ecuador

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Four new species of Neischnocolus (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae) from Western Ecuador

Abstract

Four new species of the small mygalomorph genus Neischnocolus (Theraphosidae) are described from Western Ecuador: N. ballerioi sp. nov. (male); N. pampenita sp. nov. (male, female); N. ruffoi sp. nov. (male, female) and, N. canosita sp. nov. (male). Additionally, the female of Neischnocolus cisnerosi Peñaherrera et al. 2023 is described for the first time.

Dupérré, N. & Tapia, E. (2025) Four new species of Neischnocolus (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae) from Western Ecuador. Zootaxa, 5706 (4), 530–550. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5706.4.4