Season 2 Episode 1 -- Venom Anonymous

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another season of The Entangled Bank. Join Evolution students Amber, Mary, and Kat as they explore all things venom in this fun and fresh new episode.

We are joined in S2E1 by our friends the slow loris, the Indian cobra, and the tarantula hawk wasp, as they embark on a life-changing, healing journey of mutual support for venomous organisms. Dive into this intimate moment where they discuss what it means to be venomous, grappling with all of the challenges that come alongside it in their newly-formed support group. They explore a multitude of questions, including: Where did venom originate? What is it used for? What are venom proteins and what do they do? How is venom delivered?

Slow loris -- www.nationalgeographic.com

First, these deeply disturbed and misunderstood organisms tackle the ever-changing and complex definition of venom--and clarify how it differs from poison. While both are toxic substances, they are employed in different manners. Venom is used in a much more active way (they bite you, you die)--while poison is much more generalized (you bite them, you die). Don’t dare mix these two up, or you may face some very angry support group attendees!

“Venom is a biological substance produced by an organism that contains molecules (“toxins”) which interfere with physiological or biochemical processes in another organism, which has evolved in the venomous organism to provide a benefit to itself once introduced to the other organism. The venom is produced and/or stored in a specialized structure and actively transferred to another organism through an injury by means of a specialized delivery system.”

(Arbuckle 2017)

Tarantula hawk wasp -- http://www.nhm.ac.uk

Moving forward, our venomous friends explore ideas related to the evolutionary history of their favorite toxins--discussing gene duplication, convergence, and their old friends cnidarians and mollusks (the oldest known extant lineage of venomous animals!). Venom has an interesting evolutionary past, originating in a co-opted manner from existing systems and tissues and presenting a really awesome case of convergent evolution in different lineages.

Indian cobra -- https://calphotos.berkeley.edu

Perhaps the most interesting part of this podcast comes as our attendees get into a discussion about the vast array of delivery systems employed by our venomous friends. From modified ovipositors, to fangs, to keratinized spurs and fang-like toothcombs--these animals have it all! Listen in as they describe the origins and the uses, and debate who’s the scariest. Although things may get a little heated, in the end, the slow loris, Indian cobra, and tarantula hawk wasp manage to come together in a heartwarming way to discuss a bigger problem than their own personal issues.

Works Cited

Baracchi, D., S. Francese, and S. Turillazzi. 2011. Beyond the antipredatory defence: Honey bee venom function as a component of social immunity. Toxicon 58:550–557.

Çavasoglu, K., M. Maras, and A. Bayram. 2004. A morphological study of the venom apparatus of the spider Allopecosa fabilis (Araneae, Lycosidae). Turkish Journal of Biology 28:79–83.

Fry, B. G. 2005. From genome to “venome”: Molecular origin and evolution of the snake venom proteome inferred from phylogenetic analysis of toxin sequences and related body proteins. Genome Research 15:403–420.

Ignjatovic, V., N. Vidal, R. Summerhayes, K. Fung, E. Kochva, H. Scheib, J. A. Norman, F. J. Vonk, B. G. Fry, S. Blair Hedges, M. K. Richardson, W. C. Hodgson, S. F. R. Ramjan, and S. Kuruppu. 2005. Early evolution of the venom system in lizards and snakes. Nature 439:584–588.

Jouiaei, M., A. A. Yanagihara, B. Madio, T. J. Nevalainen, P. F. Alewood, and B. G. Fry. 2015. Ancient venom systems: A review on cnidaria toxins. Toxins 7:2251–2271.

Rode-Margono, J. E., and K. A. I. Nekaris. 2015. Cabinet of curiosities: Venom systems and their ecological function in mammals, with a focus on primates. Toxins 7:2639–2658.

Vonk, F. J., J. F. Admiraal, K. Jackson, R. Reshef, M. A. G. de Bakket, K. Vanderschoot, I. van den Berge, M. van Atten, E. Burgerhout, A. Beck, P. J. Mirtschin, E. Kochva, F. Witte, B. G. Fry, A. E. Woods, and M. K. Richardson. 2008. Evolutionary origin and development of snake fangs. Nature 454:630–633.

Wu, J., S. Yan, J. Zhao, and Y. Ye. 2014. Barbs Facilitate the Helical Penetration of Honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica) Stingers. PLoS ONE 9:103823.

Arbuckle, K. 2017. Evolutionary Context of Venom in Animals. Pages 3–31 Evolution of Venomous Animals and Their Toxins. Springer, Liverpool, UK.

Harris, R. J., and K. Arbuckle. 2016. Tempo and mode of the evolution of venom and poison in tetrapods. Toxins 8:1–9.

Casewell, N. R., W. Wüster, F. J. Vonk, R. A. Harrison, and B. G. Fry. 2013. Complex cocktails: The evolutionary novelty of venoms. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 28:219–229.

Wong, E. S. W., and K. Belov. 2012. Venom evolution through gene duplications. Gene 496:1–7.