Abstract

The giant triton snail (Charonia tritonis) is one of the few natural predators of the adult Crown-of-Thorns starfish (COTS), a corallivore that has been damaging to many reefs in the Indo-Pacific. Charonia species have large salivary glands (SGs) that are suspected to produce either a venom and/or sulphuric acid which can immobilize their prey and neutralize the intrinsic toxic properties of COTS. To date, there is little information on the types of toxins produced by tritons. In this paper, the predatory behaviour of the C. tritonis is described. Then, the C. tritonis SG, which itself is made up of an anterior lobe (AL) and posterior lobe (PL), was analyzed using an integrated transcriptomics and proteomics approach, to identify putative toxin- and feeding-related proteins. A de novo transcriptome database and in silico protein analysis predicts that ~3800 proteins have features consistent with being secreted. A gland-specific proteomics analysis confirmed the presence of numerous SG-AL and SG-PL proteins, including those with similarity to cysteine-rich venom proteins. Sulfuric acid biosynthesis enzymes were identified, specific to the SG-PL. Our analysis of the C. tritonis SG (AL and PL) has provided a deeper insight into the biomolecular toolkit used for predation and feeding by C. tritonis.

Details

Title
Multiomics analysis of the giant triton snail salivary gland, a crown-of-thorns starfish predator
Author
Bose, U 1 ; Wang, T 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zhao, M 2 ; Motti, C A 3 ; Hall, M R 3 ; Cummins, S F 2 

 Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, Genecology Research Center, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, Queensland, Australia; Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia 
 Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, Genecology Research Center, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, Queensland, Australia 
 Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia 
Pages
1-14
Publication year
2017
Publication date
Jul 2017
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
1956166485
Copyright
© 2017. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.