Ontogenetic change in the venom composition of one Mexican black-tailed rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus nigrescens) from Durango, Mexico

Miguel Borja; Edgar Neri-Castro; Arelí Gutiérrez-Martínez; Richard Bledsoe; Vanessa Zarzosa; Bruno Rodriguez-López; Jason L Strickland; Jorge Becerra-López; Sara Valenzuela-Ceballos; Christopher L Parkinson; Alejandro Alagón; Gamaliel Castañeda-Gaytán

doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107280

Ontogenetic change in the venom composition of one Mexican black-tailed rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus nigrescens) from Durango, Mexico

Toxicon. 2023 Oct:234:107280. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107280. Epub 2023 Sep 4.

Affiliations

¹ Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango, Av. Universidad s/n. Fracc. Filadelfia, C.P. 35010, Gómez Palacio, Dgo., Mexico.
² Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango, Av. Universidad s/n. Fracc. Filadelfia, C.P. 35010, Gómez Palacio, Dgo., Mexico; Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad 2001, Chamilpa, C.P. 62210, Cuernavaca, Mor., Mexico.
³ Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad 2001, Chamilpa, C.P. 62210, Cuernavaca, Mor., Mexico.
⁴ Department of Biology, University of South Alabama, 5871 USA Dr. N., Mobile, AL, 36688, USA.
⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA.
⁶ Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango, Av. Universidad s/n. Fracc. Filadelfia, C.P. 35010, Gómez Palacio, Dgo., Mexico. Electronic address: gamaliel.cg@gmail.com.

PMID: 37673344
DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107280

Abstract

To corroborate the ontogenetic shift in the venom composition of the Mexican Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus nigrescens) previously reported through the census approach, we evaluated the shift in the protein profile, lethality, and proteolytic and phospholipase activities of four venom samples obtained in 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2021 from one C. m. nigrescens individual (CMN06) collected in Durango, Mexico. We demonstrated that the venom of C. m. nigrescens changed from a myotoxin-rich venom to a phospholipase A₂ and snake venom metalloproteinase-rich venom. Additionally, the proteolytic and phospholipase activities increased with age, but the lethality decreased approximately three times.

Keywords: Median lethal dose; Myotoxins; Ontogenetic venom variation; PLA2s; Proteolytic activity; SVMPs.