Sexual dimorphism in venom of Bothrops jararaca(Serpentes: Viperidae). 2006

M F D Furtado, and S R Travaglia-Cardoso, and M M T Rocha
Laboratório de Herpetologia, Instituto Butantan, Av. Vital Brazil, 1500, 05503-900, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil. fatifurtado@butantan.gov.br

Bothrops jararaca is an abundant snake in Brazil, and its venom has been studied exhaustively. The species exhibits adult size dimorphism in which female are larger. We registered the growth in Snout-Vent Length and weight of one litter (with 11 females and 12 males). We compared growth curves and venom profile between male and female of B. jararaca in order to establish the relationship of those characters and sex. Their venoms were analyzed when they were 36 months old, concerning SDS PAGE, protein content, proteolytic, hyaluronidasic, phospholipasic, blood-clotting, edematogenic, hemorrhagic, myotoxic activities, and lethality. Differences in the growth curves of the females and the males were significantly different after the 12th month of age, with the females growing faster. Females produced five times more venom than males. The electrophoretic patterns were variable: the venom from males had more protein bands than females. Venom composition varied significantly between males and females. Venom from females is more potent for hyaluronidasic, hemorrhagic, and lethality activities, whereas venom from males is more potent for coagulant, phospholipasic, and myotoxic activities. The variability of proteolytic and edematogenic activities were not significant. The important sexual dimorphism in body size and mass, amount of venom produced, and venom composition in B. jararaca may reflect a divergence in niche partitioning.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D003435 Crotalid Venoms Venoms from snakes of the subfamily Crotalinae or pit vipers, found mostly in the Americas. They include the rattlesnake, cottonmouth, fer-de-lance, bushmaster, and American copperhead. Their venoms contain nontoxic proteins, cardio-, hemo-, cyto-, and neurotoxins, and many enzymes, especially phospholipases A. Many of the toxins have been characterized. Bothrops Venom,Crotalidae Venoms,Pit Viper Venoms,Rattlesnake Venoms,Crotactin,Crotalid Venom,Crotalin,Crotaline Snake Venom,Crotalotoxin,Crotamin,Pit Viper Venom,Rattlesnake Venom,Snake Venom, Crotaline,Venom, Bothrops,Venom, Crotalid,Venom, Crotaline Snake,Venom, Pit Viper,Venom, Rattlesnake,Venoms, Crotalid,Venoms, Crotalidae,Venoms, Pit Viper,Venoms, Rattlesnake,Viper Venom, Pit
D005260 Female Females
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D012727 Sex Characteristics Those characteristics that distinguish one SEX from the other. The primary sex characteristics are the OVARIES and TESTES and their related hormones. Secondary sex characteristics are those which are masculine or feminine but not directly related to reproduction. Gender Characteristics,Gender Differences,Gender Dimorphism,Sex Differences,Sex Dimorphism,Sexual Dichromatism,Sexual Dimorphism,Characteristic, Gender,Characteristic, Sex,Dichromatism, Sexual,Dichromatisms, Sexual,Difference, Sex,Dimorphism, Gender,Dimorphism, Sex,Dimorphism, Sexual,Gender Characteristic,Gender Difference,Gender Dimorphisms,Sex Characteristic,Sex Difference,Sex Dimorphisms,Sexual Dichromatisms,Sexual Dimorphisms
D017208 Rats, Wistar A strain of albino rat developed at the Wistar Institute that has spread widely at other institutions. This has markedly diluted the original strain. Wistar Rat,Rat, Wistar,Wistar Rats
D049628 Body Size The physical measurements of a body. Body Sizes,Size, Body,Sizes, Body
D051379 Mice The common name for the genus Mus. Mice, House,Mus,Mus musculus,Mice, Laboratory,Mouse,Mouse, House,Mouse, Laboratory,Mouse, Swiss,Mus domesticus,Mus musculus domesticus,Swiss Mice,House Mice,House Mouse,Laboratory Mice,Laboratory Mouse,Mice, Swiss,Swiss Mouse,domesticus, Mus musculus
D051381 Rats The common name for the genus Rattus. Rattus,Rats, Laboratory,Rats, Norway,Rattus norvegicus,Laboratory Rat,Laboratory Rats,Norway Rat,Norway Rats,Rat,Rat, Laboratory,Rat, Norway,norvegicus, Rattus
D017837 Bothrops A genus of poisonous snakes of the VIPERIDAE family. About 50 species are known and all are found in tropical America and southern South America. Bothrops atrox is the fer-de-lance and B. jararaca is the jararaca. (Goin, Goin, and Zug, Introduction to Herpetology, 3d ed, p336)

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