New Publication: Hybridisation in the Tarantula Hobby

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  New Publication: Hybridisation in the Tarantula Hobby I am pleased to share the publication of my latest paper, “Hybridisation in the Tarantula Hobby: Ethical Boundaries and Biological Consequences,” in the Journal of the British Tarantula Society , Volume 41, No. 1, September 2026. The paper addresses an issue that deserves serious consideration within the tarantula community: hybridisation and its potential long-term effects on the integrity of captive lineages. More Than a Breeding Decision The tarantula hobby has changed considerably over the past several decades. What was once a relatively small community has grown into an international network of keepers, breeders, vendors, researchers, and societies. Captive breeding has contributed enormously to that growth, improving husbandry knowledge and increasing the availability of captive-bred animals. With that success comes responsibility for the lineages we maintain. Hybridisation may seem like an isolated breeding experiment,...

Computational engineering of the scorpion venom peptide Ttap3 enhances membrane selectivity and antimicrobial potential

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Computational engineering of the scorpion venom peptide Ttap3 enhances membrane selectivity and antimicrobial potential

Abstract

Venom-derived antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising scaffolds for next-generation antimicrobial agents because of their structural diversity and membrane-targeting mechanisms. Ttap3, a peptide isolated from scorpion venom, exhibits weak antimicrobial activity despite possessing characteristic amphipathic features associated with membrane-active peptides. This study employed a computational engineering strategy to redesign Ttap3 and investigate how sequence modifications influence membrane selectivity and antimicrobial potential. Structural modelling showed that Ttap3 adopted a predominantly α-helical amphipathic conformation with moderate hydrophobic moment and relatively high hydrophobicity. Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated preferential interaction with bacterial membrane models relative to mammalian membranes, although measurable interaction with mammalian bilayers was also observed. Rational sequence modifications involving residue substitution, sequence reversal, and modulation of amphipathicity and flexibility generated analogues with improved predicted selectivity profiles. Multi-scale molecular dynamics simulations revealed distinct membrane interaction behaviours among the redesigned analogues, including surface-associated destabilization, localized pore formation, and insertion-driven membrane perturbation. Coordinated membrane disruption involving hydrogen bond loss, lipid disorder, phospholipid deflection, altered pore radii, and increased water influx was observed predominantly in bacterial membrane systems. Partial reduction in peptide helicity during membrane interaction also appeared to contribute to selective membrane destabilization. These findings demonstrate that rational computational redesign can substantially improve the predicted antimicrobial potential and membrane selectivity of weakly active venom-derived peptides.

Owusu, S.O., Fatao, S., Laryea, M.K. et al. Computational engineering of the scorpion venom peptide Ttap3 enhances membrane selectivity and antimicrobial potential. In Silico Pharmacol. 14, 237 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40203-026-00742-0