Create a list of articles to read later. You will be able to access your list from any article in Discover.
You don't have any saved articles.
Centipedes shown to have incorporated the weapons of bacteria and fungi into their venoms
Venom expert Dr Ronald Jenner from the Natural History Museum together with his colleague Dr Eivind Undheim, who is associated with The University of Oslo and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, have uncovered secrets of centipede venom.
As part of an ongoing, wider study into centipede venoms, the researchers set out to discover whether centipede venom toxins may have evolved elsewhere in the tree of life, in places other than their direct, arthropod ancestors.
They soon unveiled that centipedes have repeatedly stocked their venoms with proteins that independently evolved within bacteria and fungi. The centipedes have acquired these toxin components through a process known as 'horizontal gene transfer'.
Horizontal gene transfer is a process by which genetic material moves between distantly related organisms, in this case between bacteria and fungi, and centipedes. It is distinguished from the movement of genetic material from parents to offspring and from ancestors to direct descendants, which is known as vertical gene transfer.
Dr Ronald Jenner, researcher in the Life Sciences department of the Natural History Museum said, 'this discovery is remarkable. It reveals the largest, most diversely sourced contribution of horizontal gene transfer to the evolution of animal venom composition known to date.'
Many studies have been carried out into the venoms of various creatures: snakes, scorpions, spiders, often because they are dangerous to humans. However, as centipedes are not dangerous to humans, their venoms have been neglected in terms of research. But interest is rising and the complex processes happening within centipede venom evolution show it is fertile ground for investigating phenomena such as horizontal gene transfer.
As the team began to look at specific proteins within these centipede venoms they made some significant further discoveries. As Dr Ronald Jenner explains, 'three of the five venom protein families that centipedes have acquired by horizontal gene transfer are used by bacteria explicitly to exploit their hosts', including by damaging their cells by the formation of pores.
They also noticed "three protein families were each horizontally transferred twice which shows that horizontal gene transfer is an unexpectedly important factor in the evolution of centipede venoms." While the mechanisms behind horizontal gene transfer, especially from bacteria to animals, are not well understood, it is known to have contributed a range of adaptive benefits to different groups of animals.
The paper was published in Nature Communications on Friday 5 February.
Notes for editors
Media contact: Tel: +44 (0)779 969 0151 Email: press@nhm.ac.uk
For extra resources regarding this paper please click HERE.
About the Natural History Museum:
The Natural History Museum is both a world-leading science research centre and the most-visited natural history museum in Europe. With a vision of a future in which both people and the planet thrive, it is uniquely positioned to be a powerful champion for balancing humanity’s needs with those of the natural world.
It is custodian of one of the world’s most important scientific collections comprising over 80 million specimens. The scale of this collection enables researchers from all over the world to document how species have and continue to respond to environmental changes - which is vital in helping predict what might happen in the future and informing future policies and plans to help the planet.
The Museum’s 300 scientists continue to represent one of the largest groups in the world studying and enabling research into every aspect of the natural world. Their science is contributing critical data to help the global fight to save the future of the planet from the major threats of climate change and biodiversity loss through to finding solutions such as the sustainable extraction of natural resources.
The Museum uses its enormous global reach and influence to meet its mission to create advocates for the planet - to inform, inspire and empower everyone to make a difference for nature. We welcome over five million visitors each year; our digital output reaches hundreds of thousands of people in over 200 countries each month and our touring exhibitions have been seen by around 30 million people in the last 10 years.