Cupiennius salei
| Cupiennus salei | |
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| Species: | C. salei
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| Binomial name | |
| Cupiennius salei | |
Cupiennius salei, commonly called American wandering spider or tropical wandering spider or hunting spider, is a large venomous spider belonging to a group of wandering spiders found in Central America. It produces a complex neurotoxic venom, of which a peptide called CsTx-1 is most potent for paralysing its preys.[1] It does not produce web for trapping preys, and therefore, venom is its only strategy for catching preys for food. It is known to prey on all kinds of insects.
Venom
Cupiennius salei produces a neurotoxic venom which is composed of a complex mixture of compounds. The venom contains at least 286 compound and 49 novel proteins.[2] In addition, there are many low molecular compounds, nine neurotoxic acting peptides (CSTX), at least eight neurotoxic and cytolytic acting peptides, a highly active hyaluronidase.[3] The most powerful neurotoxin is a peptide called CsTx-1.[1] In 2002 a new family of peptides called cupiennins (cupiennin 1a, cupiennin 1b, cupiennin 1c, cupiennin 1d) was discovered from the venom. These proteins are all composed of 35 amino acid residues, and have high antimicrobial activities.[4]
Cupiennius salei belongs to a non-web producing spiders, and therefore, entirely depends on its venom for predation. It is known to prey on a variety of insects including, butterfly, moth, earwig, cockroach, fly and grasshopper.[5] Its venom glands store only about 10 μl crude venom. Refilling of the glands takes 2-3 days and the lethal efficacy of the venom is very low for several days, requiring 8 to 18 days for full effect.[6] It was found that the amount of venom released differed for each specific prey. For example, for bigger and stronger insects like beetle, the spider uses the entire amount of its venom; while for small ones, it uses only small amount, thus economising its costly venom.[7][8]
References
- ^ a b Kuhn-Nentwig L, Fedorova IM, Lüscher BP, Kopp LS, Trachsel C, Schaller J, Vu XL, Seebeck T, Streitberger K, Nentwig W, Sigel E, Magazanik LG (2012). "A venom-derived neurotoxin, CsTx-1, from the spider Cupiennius salei exhibits cytolytic activities". J Biol Chem. 287 (30): 25640-25649. doi:10.1074/jbc.M112.339051. PMC 3408166. PMID 22613721.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Trachsel C, Siegemund D, Kämpfer U, Kopp LS, Bühr C, Grossmann J, Lüthi C, Cunningham M, Nentwig W, Kuhn-Nentwig L, Schürch S, Schaller J (2012). "Multicomponent venom of the spider Cupiennius salei: a bioanalytical investigation applying different strategies". FEBS J. 279 (15): 2683–2694. doi:10.1111/j.1742-4658.2012.08650.x. PMID 22672445.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Kuhn-Nentwig L, Schaller J, Nentwig W (2004). "Biochemistry, toxicology and ecology of the venom of the spider Cupiennius salei (Ctenidae)". Toxicon. 43 (5): 543–553. doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2004.02.009. PMID 15066412.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Kuhn-Nentwig L, Muller J, Schaller J, Walz A, Dathe M, Nentwig W (2002). "Cupiennin 1, a new family of highly basic antimicrobial peptides in the venom of the spider Cupiennius salei (Ctenidae)". J Biol Chem. 277 (13): 11208–11216. PMID 11792701.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Nentwig W (1986). "Non-webbuilding spiders: prey specialists or generalists?". Oecologia. 69 (4): 571–576. doi:10.1007/BF00410365.
- ^ Boevé JL, Kuhn-Nentwig L, Keller S, Nentwig W (1995). "Quantity and quality of venom released by a spider (Cupiennius salei, Ctenidae)". Toxicon. 33 (10): 1347–1357. PMID 8599185.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Wigger E, Kuhn-Nentwig L, Nentwig W (2002). "The venom optimisation hypothesis: a spider injects large venom quantities only into difficult prey types". Toxicon. 40 (6): 749-752. doi:10.1016/S0041-0101(01)00277-X. PMID 12175611.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Morgenstern D, King GF (2013). "The venom optimization hypothesis revisited". Toxicon. 63: 120-128. doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2012.11.022. PMID 23266311.