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Antimicrobial, Insecticides, Analgesics, and Hyaluronidases from the Venom Glands of Brachypelma Spiders

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Spider Venoms

Part of the book series: Toxinology ((TOXI))

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Abstract

Mexico is a rich country in biological diversity; among them, the mygalomorph (also called the orthognatha) spider species of the genus Brachypelma contain in their poisonous glands a great variety of biomolecules that can have benefits in agriculture and medicine. Species of this genus have been studied at the Institute of Biotechnology (IBt-UNAM) and the Biotechnology Research Center (CeiB-UAEM) in Cuernavaca, Morelos, in order to detect venom components with biotechnological applications. This chapter addresses the advances of research on the venom components from species of the genus Brachypelma – B. smithi, B. albiceps, B. verdezi and B. vagans – which were chromatographically separated and biochemically analyzed, searching for antimicrobial, insecticidal, analgesic, and enzymatic activities. Although Brachypelma venoms contain similar types of molecules, their minor differences could be important for a gain in stability and function. The primary structures of the most relevant molecules found in those four species of Brachypelma are described and reported.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Medicina Molecular y Bioprocesos, Instituto de Biotecnología, UNAM, Av. Universidad 2001, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62210, México

    Herlinda Clement, Guillermo Barraza, Estefania Herrera, Francia García, Elia Diego-García & Gerardo Corzo

  2. Laboratory of Toxicology, University of Leuven (KUL), Herestraat 49 O&N2, Campus Gasthuisberg, PO Box 922, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Elia Diego-García

  3. Laboratorio de Estructura-Función e Ingeniería de Proteínas, Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 2001, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62210, México

    Elba Villegas

Authors
  1. Herlinda Clement
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  2. Guillermo Barraza
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  3. Estefania Herrera
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  4. Francia García
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  5. Elia Diego-García
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  6. Elba Villegas
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  7. Gerardo Corzo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Herlinda Clement .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    P. Gopalakrishnakone

  2. Department of Molecular Medicine and Bio, National Autonomous University of Mexico The Biotechnology Institute, Cuernavaca, Mexico

    Gerardo A. Corzo

  3. Laboratory of Toxicology and Pharmacolog, University of Leuven Campus Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium

    Elia Diego-Garcia

  4. Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia Laboratório de Venenos e Toxinas Animais, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Maria Elena de Lima

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Clement, H. et al. (2015). Antimicrobial, Insecticides, Analgesics, and Hyaluronidases from the Venom Glands of Brachypelma Spiders. In: Gopalakrishnakone, P., Corzo, G., Diego-Garcia, E., de Lima, M. (eds) Spider Venoms. Toxinology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6646-4_20-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6646-4_20-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6646-4

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