Biochemical characterisation and substrate-specific proteolytic diversity of venom metalloproteinases in African puff adders

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  By 4028mdk09 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11200575 Biochemical characterisation and substrate-specific proteolytic diversity of venom metalloproteinases in African puff adders Abstract The puff adder ( Bitis arietans ) is a highly venomous viper responsible for many snakebite fatalities in Africa, yet there have been few geographically comprehensive analyses of its venom proteins, particularly of the proteases that play a key role in pathology of envenoming. To address this, we have isolated, identified and characterised the bioactivity of the venom metalloproteases of puff adders obtained from a range of localities. Prominent in all venoms was a PI snake venom metalloproteinase (SVMP), derived from a larger PII precursor. This protein existed as either non-glycosylated (21 kDa) or glycosylated, the latter containing either one (26 kDa) or two N-glycans (30 kDa). All the venoms we tested contained either one or the other form: none had...

New species of Dolomedes (Araneae: Dolomedidae) from Kerala, India with insights on Indian records of the genus

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New species of Dolomedes (Araneae: Dolomedidae) from Kerala, India with insights on Indian records of the genus

Abstract

India is a biodiverse-rich country with four global hotspots and a high level of endemism. These locations continue to be re-counted with new species discoveries. The present exploratory study was conducted at Wayanad, Kerala which is part of the Western Ghats. The genus Dolomedes Latreille, 1804 commonly known as Raft or Fishing spiders belonging to the family Dolomedidae Simon, 1876, is widely distributed across the globe except Antarctica. However, it was only in 2025 a valid study confirmed the presence of the genus and family scientifically from India. However, several checklists and articles have mentioned the presence of this genus in the country before. This study details the first record of a new species Dolomedes indicus sp. nov from both sexes. This study used both classical and molecular taxonomic method for more robust species-level identification. A basic phylogenetic tree of the Dolomedes genus with novel species was created using the MT-CO1 gene.

Cherukutty, A., Krishnan, J.U. New species of Dolomedes (Araneae: Dolomedidae) from Kerala, India with insights on Indian records of the genus. Sci Rep 15, 42253 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-26308-2