Shotgun cloning of toxin genes in a marine gastropod Gemmula speciosa (Reeve 1842)

• Main Authors: Heralde, Francisco M., Lapid, Carlo S., Concepcion, Gisela P., Olivera, Baldomero M., Santos, Ameurfina D.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2007
• Subjects: Turridae—Venom; Marine toxins; Biology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/6859
• Institution: De La Salle University

Turridae forms the largest family of venomous gastropods (Powel 1964, Bouchet 2002) where Gemmula speciose (Reeve 1843) belongs. Unlike Conidae (cone snails), however, the turrid toxicology rests on its primal stages where enormous opportunity for the study emerges more so with the up-and-coming advances in molecular techniques (Olivera 1999, Watkins et al 2006). Our laboratory has been engaged in the characterization of various toxins present in marine gastropods. We have employed genes specific primers based on conotoxins to fish out toxin genes via RT-PCR and more recently, through the use of cDNA libraries and shotgun cloning. Gemmula speciosa is one of our species of interest, as it is collected in reasonable quantity in Batangas-Cavite area at depths of 50-100 meters by trawl fishing (Olivera 2005). Live specimens have allowed us to isolate total RNA from the venom duct tissues for cDNA library construction.