Alternative mRNA Splicing in Three Venom Families Underlying a Possible Production of Divergent Venom Proteins of the Habu Snake, <i>Protobothrops flavoviridis</i>
Tomohisa Ogawa,
Naoko Oda-Ueda,
Kanako Hisata,
Hitomi Nakamura,
Takahito Chijiwa,
Shousaku Hattori,
Akiko Isomoto,
Haruki Yugeta,
Shinichi Yamasaki,
Yasuyuki Fukumaki,
Motonori Ohno,
Noriyuki Satoh,
Hiroki Shibata
Affiliations
Tomohisa Ogawa
Department of Molecular and Chemical Life Science, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8577, Japan
Naoko Oda-Ueda
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sojo University, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan
Kanako Hisata
Marine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
Hitomi Nakamura
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sojo University, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan
Takahito Chijiwa
Department of Applied Life Science, Faculty of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Sojo University, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan
Shousaku Hattori
Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Oshima-gun, Kagoshima 894-1531, Japan
Akiko Isomoto
Division of Genomics, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
Haruki Yugeta
Department of Molecular and Chemical Life Science, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8577, Japan
Shinichi Yamasaki
DNA Sequencing Section, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan.
Yasuyuki Fukumaki
Division of Genomics, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
Motonori Ohno
Department of Applied Life Science, Faculty of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Sojo University, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan
Noriyuki Satoh
Marine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
Hiroki Shibata
Division of Genomics, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
Snake venoms are complex mixtures of toxic proteins encoded by various gene families that function synergistically to incapacitate prey. A huge repertoire of snake venom genes and proteins have been reported, and alternative splicing is suggested to be involved in the production of divergent gene transcripts. However, a genome-wide survey of the transcript repertoire and the extent of alternative splicing still remains to be determined. In this study, the comprehensive analysis of transcriptomes in the venom gland was achieved by using PacBio sequencing. Extensive alternative splicing was observed in three venom protein gene families, metalloproteinase (MP), serine protease (SP), and vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF). Eleven MP and SP genes and a VEGF gene are expressed as a total of 81, 61, and 8 transcript variants, respectively. In the MP gene family, individual genes are transcribed into different classes of MPs by alternative splicing. We also observed trans-splicing among the clustered SP genes. No other venom genes as well as non-venom counterpart genes exhibited alternative splicing. Our results thus indicate a potential contribution of mRNA alternative and trans-splicing in the production of highly variable transcripts of venom genes in the habu snake.
