From Neuropeptides to Toxins: Illuminating the Origins of Venom Complexity in Cone Snails
Thomas Lund Koch, Giada Ferrari, Sunita B. Sumanam, Paula Flórez Salcedo, Maren Watkins, Kevin Chase, Ave Tooming‐Klunderud, Arturo O. Lluisma, Angel Anne Yanagihara, Neil David Young, Baldomero M. Olivera, Eivind A. B. Undheim, Helena Safavi-Hemami
The paper identifies how neuropeptide genes in cone snails evolved into toxins through mechanisms like exon shuffling and transposable element-driven recombination, revealing dynamic genome-molecular innovation interactions.
Molecular Biology and Evolution · Aug 14, 2026Peer-reviewedEvolutionary Biology