This project will determine how key innovations within the venom system have contributed to diversification in the 2,500 species of advanced snakes. Venom is hypothesized to have been the key innovation initiating the evolutionary radiation of snake species by expanding feeding opportunities. This project will seek to determine the factors and traits that promoted that diversification, and will test for biases in the genetic pathways underlying rapid evolution in venoms between closely related species. The study includes the training of two postdoctoral researchers, and multiple high school, undergraduate, and graduate students at three major state universities in Ohio and Florida. The research will produce new data on venom chemistry and function, which may be useful for novel drug discovery and design.
Representative samples of diverse species from three families of venomous snakes will be collected in the United States, Central America, and Brazil to test for relationships between venom function and diversification rates. Venom complexity, composition, and enzymatic-activity profiles will be assayed to test the hypothesis that higher venom evolvability is a prerequisite for rapid evolutionary diversification. Six closely related species pairs with highly divergent venoms will be chosen for molecular assays to evaluate the genetic and protein changes responsible for rapid evolution of venom function. This work will unite diversification studies and the genetics of adaptation to provide an integrated perspective of how adaptations are built and how they affect diversification, leading to an understanding of how biodiversity originates across micro- to macroevolutionary levels.
