Venom Variation as a Window into the Ecology and Evolution of Snakes

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  Venom Variation as a Window into the Ecology and Evolution of Snakes Abstract Snake venoms are complex biochemical systems that function primarily in prey subjugation and defense, yet their composition varies extensively across individuals, populations, species, and environments. This variation provides a powerful framework for investigating ecological and evolutionary processes. Here, we offer a forward-looking synthesis of snake venom diversity that proposes new research directions and highlights how venom variation can illuminate eco-evolutionary dynamics across biological scales. We review evidence for ten key contexts in which venom variation arises, including within-population differences, sexual dimorphism, geographic structuring, ontogenetic shifts, seasonal changes, interspecific divergence, hybridization, convergent evolution, prey specificity, and venom resistance. Together, these processes demonstrate that venom phenotypes are shaped by interacting selective pressures...

A Structure-Informed Atlas of Venom-Derived Peptides Reveals the Organization of Chemical Space

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A Structure-Informed Atlas of Venom-Derived Peptides Reveals the Organization of Chemical Space

Abstract

Venom-derived peptides are structurally diverse bioactive scaffolds with growing relevance for computational discovery and molecular design. However, their organization within chemical space remains poorly characterized in integrated frameworks. Here, we present a curated, structure-informed venom peptide atlas supported by an integrated descriptor-based framework combining sequence- and structure-derived features across 3,423 peptides. High-confidence AlphaFold models were integrated with physicochemical and structural descriptors to generate a unified molecular representation. Multivariate analyses reveal that venom peptides occupy constrained and interpretable regions of chemical space shaped by disulfide-mediated stabilization, structural compactness, and electrostatic–hydrophobic balance. Functional classes show clear separation, whereas taxonomic origin explains less variance, supporting convergent design principles. This atlas provides a reference resource for comparative analyses, scaffold prioritization, and hypothesis generation in peptide science.

Gonçalves, T. C., Toral Cortez, E. H., & Amaral, D. T. (2026). A Structure-Informed Atlas of Venom-Derived Peptides Reveals the Organization of Chemical Space. Molecular Informatics, 45(5), e70039. https://doi.org/10.1002/minf.70039