Fig. 5: Evolution of NaV channel toxins in ant venoms.
From: Ant venoms contain vertebrate-selective pain-causing sodium channel toxins
a Alignment of the precursor sequences of Ta3a, Poneratoxin (Pc1e), Rm4a and Mri1a with peptides detected in ant venoms (or ant venom-gland transcriptomes). Mc5a and Mg10a (labelled grey) are pseudogenes. Methionine, lysine/arginine, aspartate/glutamate, and cysteine residues are highlighted in purple, blue, red, and yellow, respectively. Stop codons are indicated by asterisks. Post-translational modifications are not shown. b Simplified phylogeny of the Formicidae (based on ref. 34), illustrating the estimated origins of ant-venom NaV channel toxins. Subfamilies in which ant-venom NaV channel toxin sequences were detected are highlighted in orange. Non-stinging subfamilies are coloured grey. Estimated origins of ant-venom NaV channel toxins are shown in orange. The number of described extant species are given in parentheses alongside each subfamily name. Note that subfamily Dorylinae, highlighted with an asterisk, includes both stinging and non-stinging species.
