{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,3]],"date-time":"2026-10-03T22:12:21Z","timestamp":1791065541507,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,13]],"date-time":"2017-10-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1507852800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Toxins"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Ants (hymenoptera: Formicidae) have adapted to many different environments and have become some of the most prolific and successful insects. To date, 13,258 ant species have been reported. They have been classified into 333 genera and 17 subfamilies. Except for a few Formicinae, Dolichoderinae, and members of other subfamilies, most ant species have a sting with venom. The venoms are composed of formic acid, alkaloids, hydrocarbons, amines, peptides, and proteins. Unlike the venoms of other animals such as snakes and spiders, ant venoms have seldom been analyzed comprehensively, and their compositions are not yet completely known. In this study, we used both transcriptomic and peptidomic analyses to study the composition of the venom produced by the predatory ant species Odontomachus monticola. The transcriptome analysis yielded 49,639 contigs, of which 92 encoded toxin-like peptides and proteins with 18,106,338 mapped reads. We identified six pilosulin-like peptides by transcriptomic analysis in the venom gland. Further, we found intact pilosulin-like peptide 1 and truncated pilosulin-like peptides 2 and 3 by peptidomic analysis in the venom. Our findings related to ant venom peptides and proteins may lead the way towards development and application of novel pharmaceutical and biopesticidal resources.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/toxins9100323","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,13]],"date-time":"2017-10-13T11:34:09Z","timestamp":1507894449000},"page":"323","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":38,"title":["Combined Venom Gland Transcriptomic and Venom Peptidomic Analysis of the Predatory Ant Odontomachus monticola"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Kohei","family":"Kazuma","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, Toyama 930-0194, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Keiichi","family":"Masuko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Business Administration, Senshu University, 2-1-1 Higashimita, Tama-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-8580, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katsuhiro","family":"Konno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, Toyama 930-0194, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hidetoshi","family":"Inagaki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8566, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"170","DOI":"10.1016\/j.abb.2004.05.013","article-title":"Molecular cloning and biological characterization of novel antimicrobial peptides, pilosulin 3 and pilosulin 4, from a species of the Australian ant genus Myrmecia","volume":"428","author":"Inagaki","year":"2004","journal-title":"Arch. Biochem. Biophys."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"411","DOI":"10.1016\/j.abb.2008.05.014","article-title":"Pilosulin 5, a novel histamine-releasing peptide of the Australian ant, Myrmecia pilosula (Jack Jumper Ant)","volume":"477","author":"Inagaki","year":"2008","journal-title":"Arch. Biochem. Biophys."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Inagaki, H., Masuko, K., and Kudo, T. (2008, January 2\u20136). SKTXs: Peptides identified from the ant Strumigenys kumadori that block sodium channels. Proceedings of the 8th-Asia-Pacific Congress on Animal, Plant and Microbial Toxins, Hanoi, Vietnam."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Torres, A.F., Huang, C., Chong, C.M., Leung, S.W., Prieto-da-Silva, A.R., Havt, A., Quinet, Y.P., Martins, A.M., Lee, S.M., and Radis-Baptista, G. (2014). Transcriptome analysis in venom gland of the predatory giant ant Dinoponera quadriceps: Insights into the polypeptide toxin arsenal of hymenopterans. PLoS ONE, 9.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0087556"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bouzid, W., Verdenaud, M., Klopp, C., Ducancel, F., Noirot, C., and Vetillard, A. (2014). De Novo sequencing and transcriptome analysis for Tetramorium bicarinatum: A comprehensive venom gland transcriptome analysis from an ant species. BMC Genom., 15.","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2164-15-987"},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"Kubota, M., Imai, H.T., Kondo, M., Onoyama, K., Ogata, K., Terayama, M., and Yoshimura, M. (2017, September 13). Japanese Ant Image Database. Available online: http:\/\/ant.miyakyo-u.ac.jp\/."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"166","DOI":"10.1016\/j.toxicon.2014.10.021","article-title":"Diversity of peptide toxins from stinging ant venoms","volume":"92","author":"Aili","year":"2014","journal-title":"Toxicon"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3039","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.jproteome.6b00182","article-title":"Comparisons of Protein and Peptide Complexity in Poneroid and Formicoid Ant Venoms","volume":"15","author":"Aili","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Proteome Res."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"165","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.genet.41.110306.130119","article-title":"Genomics and evolution of heritable bacterial symbionts","volume":"42","author":"Moran","year":"2008","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Genet."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Teng, Z.W., Xiong, S.J., Xu, G., Gan, S.Y., Chen, X., Stanley, D., Yan, Z.C., Ye, G.Y., and Fang, Q. (2017). Protein Discovery: Combined Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses of Venom from the Endoparasitoid Cotesia chilonis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Toxins (Basel), 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/toxins9040135"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1298","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-017-01383-2","article-title":"Comparative transcriptome analysis of venom glands from Cotesia vestalis and Diadromus collaris, two endoparasitoids of the host Plutella xylostella","volume":"7","author":"Zhao","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1515\/bchm2.1967.348.1.37","article-title":"[Sequence analysis of melittin from tryptic and peptic degradation products]","volume":"348","author":"Habermann","year":"1967","journal-title":"Hoppe Seyler's Z. Physiol. Chem."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"389","DOI":"10.1007\/s00726-008-0166-y","article-title":"Novel mastoparan and protonectin analogs isolated from a solitary wasp, Orancistrocerus drewseni drewseni","volume":"37","author":"Murata","year":"2009","journal-title":"Amino Acids"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"272","DOI":"10.1016\/0167-4781(93)90065-L","article-title":"Molecular cloning and characterization of a major allergen (Myr p I) from the venom of the Australian jumper ant, Myrmecia pilosula","volume":"1171","author":"Donovan","year":"1993","journal-title":"Biochim. Biophys. Acta"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2371","DOI":"10.1271\/bbb.110571","article-title":"Functional expression and characterization of dipeptidyl peptidase IV from the black-bellied hornet Vespa basalis in Sf21 insect cells","volume":"75","author":"Hsieh","year":"2011","journal-title":"Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"450","DOI":"10.1016\/0141-0229(94)90014-0","article-title":"C-terminal amidated peptides: Production by the in vitro enzymatic amidation of glycine-extended peptides and the importance of the amide to bioactivity","volume":"16","author":"Merkler","year":"1994","journal-title":"Enzym. Microb. Technol."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20971","DOI":"10.1016\/S0021-9258(17)31916-6","article-title":"Isolation, cloning, and characterization of new chitinase stored in active form in chitin-lined venom reservoir","volume":"269","author":"Krishnan","year":"1994","journal-title":"J. Biol. Chem."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"677","DOI":"10.1016\/S0041-0101(01)00254-9","article-title":"Novel activities of saliva from the octopus Eledone cirrhosa (Mollusca; Cephalopoda)","volume":"40","author":"Key","year":"2002","journal-title":"Toxicon"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ibmb.2015.01.006","article-title":"Overview of chitin metabolism enzymes in Manduca sexta: Identification, domain organization, phylogenetic analysis and gene expression","volume":"62","author":"Tetreau","year":"2015","journal-title":"Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4895","DOI":"10.1016\/j.febslet.2006.08.005","article-title":"Molecular cloning and expression of icarapin, a novel IgE-binding bee venom protein","volume":"580","author":"Peiren","year":"2006","journal-title":"FEBS Lett."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1186\/s40409-015-0042-7","article-title":"Arthropod venom Hyaluronidases: Biochemical properties and potential applications in medicine and biotechnology","volume":"21","author":"Bordon","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Venom. Anim. Toxins Incl. Trop. Dis."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"262","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dci.2012.05.003","article-title":"Comparative genomics analysis of five families of antimicrobial peptide-like genes in seven ant species","volume":"38","author":"Zhang","year":"2012","journal-title":"Dev. Comp. Immunol."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"907","DOI":"10.1016\/0041-0101(86)90091-7","article-title":"Comparative enzymology of venoms from stinging Hymenoptera","volume":"24","author":"Schmidt","year":"1986","journal-title":"Toxicon"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/S1388-1981(00)00105-0","article-title":"The expanding superfamily of phospholipase A2 enzymes: Classification and characterization","volume":"1488","author":"Six","year":"2000","journal-title":"Biochim. Biophys. Acta-Mol. Cell Biol. Lipids"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4643","DOI":"10.1021\/pr300451g","article-title":"Proteomic view of the venom from the fire ant Solenopsis invicta Buren","volume":"11","author":"Fox","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Proteome Res."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"(2016, November 22). DDBJ. Available online: http:\/\/p.ddbj.nig.ac.jp\/pipeline\/."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"(2016, November 29). UniProtKB. Available online: http:\/\/www.uniprot.org\/."},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"(2017, September 01). MS-Product in ProteinProspector Program. Available online: http:\/\/prospector.ucsf.edu\/prospector\/cgi-bin\/msform.cgi?form=msproduct."}],"container-title":["Toxins"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-6651\/9\/10\/323\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T18:47:14Z","timestamp":1760208434000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-6651\/9\/10\/323"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,13]]},"references-count":28,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,10]]}},"alternative-id":["toxins9100323"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/toxins9100323","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-6651"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-6651","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,13]]}}}