Introduction: An extraordinarily diverse range of animals have evolved venoms for predation, defence, or competitor deterrence. The major components of most venoms are peptides and proteins that are often protease-resistant due to their disulfide-rich architectures. Some of these toxins have become valuable as pharmacological tools and/or therapeutics due to their extremely high specificity and potency for particular molecular targets. There are currently six FDA-approved drugs derived from venom peptides or proteins. Areas covered: This article surveys the current pipeline of venom-derived therapeutics and critically examines the potential of peptide and protein drugs derived from venoms. Emerging trends are identified, including an increasing industry focus on disulfide-rich venom peptides and the use of a broader array of molecular targets in order to develop venom-based therapeutics for treating a wider range of clinical conditions. Expert opinion: Key technical advances in combination with a renewed ...

Venoms as a platform for human drugs: translating toxins into therapeutics

Pesticides are used to kill the pests and insects which attack on crops and harm them. Different kinds of pesticides have been used for crop protection for centuries. Pesticides benefit the crops; however, they also impose a serious negative impact on the environment. Excessive use of pesticides may lead to the destruction of biodiversity. Many birds, aquatic organisms and animals are under the threat of harmful pesticides for their survival. Pesticides are a concern for sustainability of environment and global stability. This chapter intends to discuss about pesticides, their types, usefulness and the environmental concerns related to them. Pollution as a result to overuse of pesticides and the long term impact of pesticides on the environment are also discussed in the chapter. Moving towards the end, the chapter discusses the methods to eradicate the use of pesticides and finally it looks forward towards the future impacts of the pesticide use the future of the world after eradicating pesticides.

Effects of Pesticides on Environment

Spider venoms are an incredibly rich source of disulfide-rich insecticidal peptides that have been tuned over millions of years to target a wide range of receptors and ion channels in the insect nervous system. These peptides can act individually, or as part of larger toxin cabals, to rapidly immobilize envenomated prey owing to their debilitating effects on nervous system function. Most of these peptides contain a unique arrangement of disulfide bonds that provides them with extreme resistance to proteases. As a result, these peptides are highly stable in the insect gut and hemolymph and many of them are orally active. Thus, spider-venom peptides can be used as stand-alone bioinsecticides, or transgenes encoding these peptides can be used to engineer insect-resistant crops or enhanced entomopathogens. We critically review the potential of spider-venom peptides to control insect pests and highlight their advantages and disadvantages compared with conventional chemical insecticides.

Spider-venom peptides: structure, pharmacology, and potential for control of insect pests

The avermectins, milbemycins and spinosyns are collectively referred to as macrocyclic lactones (MLs) which comprise several classes of chemicals derived from cultures of soil micro-organisms. These compounds are extensively and increasingly used in veterinary medicine and agriculture. Due to their potential effects on non-target organisms, large amounts of information on their impact in the environment has been compiled in recent years, mainly caused by legal requirements related to their marketing authorization or registration. The main objective of this paper is to critically review the present knowledge about the acute and chronic ecotoxicological effects of MLs on organisms, mainly invertebrates, in the terrestrial and aquatic environment. Detailed information is presented on the mode-of-action as well as the ecotoxicity of the most important compounds representing the three groups of MLs. This information, based on more than 360 references, is mainly provided in nine tables, presenting the effects of abamectin, ivermectin, eprinomectin, doramectin, emamectin, moxidectin, and spinosad on individual species of terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates as well as plants and algae. Since dung dwelling organisms are particularly important non-targets, as they are exposed via dung from treated animals over their whole life-cycle, the information on the effects of MLs on dung communities is compiled in an additional table. The results of this review clearly demonstrate that regarding environmental impacts many macrocyclic lactones are substances of high concern particularly with larval instars of invertebrates. Recent studies have also shown that susceptibility varies with life cycle stage and impacts can be mitigated by using MLs when these stages are not present. However information on the environmental impact of the MLs is scattered across a wide range of specialised scientific journals with research focusing mainly on ivermectin and to a lesser extent on abamectin doramectin and moxidectin. By comparison, information on compounds such as eprinomectin, emamectin and selamectin is still relatively scarce.

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A Review on the Toxicity and Non-Target Effects of Macrocyclic Lactones in Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments

Spiders are the most successful venomous animals and the most abundant terrestrial predators. Their remarkable success is due in large part to their ingenious exploitation of silk and the evolution of pharmacologically complex venoms that ensure rapid subjugation of prey. Most spider venoms are dominated by disulfide-rich peptides that typically have high affinity and specificity for particular subtypes of ion channels and receptors. Spider venoms are conservatively predicted to contain more than 10 million bioactive peptides, making them a valuable resource for drug discovery. Here we review the structure and pharmacology of spider-venom peptides that are being used as leads for the development of therapeutics against a wide range of pathophysiological conditions including cardiovascular disorders, chronic pain, inflammation, and erectile dysfunction.

Spider-Venom Peptides as Therapeutics

https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/9701/1/2007002578.pdf

A rational nomenclature for naming peptide toxins from spiders and other venomous animals.

Tandem use of selective insecticides and natural enemies for effective, reduced-risk pest management

Managing urban pests with “environmentally-friendly” compounds has gained importance in recent years with the global deregistration of persistent organochlorine insecticides. Boron compounds, especially boric acid, zinc borate, and disodium octaborate tetrahydrate, are considered excellent options for preserving lumber from insect attack as well as decay by fungi and bacteria. Remedial borate applications are used primarily to treat cockroach and flea infestations but have also achieved recent popularity as wood treatments to protect timber from colonization by subterranean termites. The goal of this review is to provide a synthesis of the research on the toxicity of boron in insects with a specific focus on termites and urban pests.

/pdf/a-review-of-boron-toxicity-in-insects-with-an-emphasis-on-33wp5xfkoy.pdf

A review of boron toxicity in insects with an emphasis on termites

Comparison of the peptidome and insecticidal activity of venom from a taxonomically diverse group of theraphosid spiders.

Subterranean termites in the genus Coptotermes Holmgren are structural pests that have become globally distributed beyond their native range in Southeast Asia. Because of their destructive nature, it is useful to understand the pathways of their spread. Additionally, phylogenetic analysis of evolutionary relationships may lead to increased accuracy of insecticide-based management on the basis that related species are likely to share similar physiology. Cytochrome oxidase II nucleotide sequences were used to construct phylogenies of subterranean termites using both maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood models. The data set included subterranean termites (Rhinotermitidae), including C. formosanus Shiraki, and used drywood termites (Kalotermitidae) as putative outgroups. Both methods supported the main results, that Hawaiian infestations likely originated in Asia and that some infestations in North America either came through Hawaii or originated independently from the same ancestral region as the Hawaiian infestations. Coptotermes formosanus, the most significant pest, appears to be paraphyletic with respect to several other species in the genus, and may represent two cryptic species. Other infestations in North America appear to have originated separately in Asia. A phylogeographic hypothesis based on non-molecular information was also supported by these data.

/pdf/phylogenetic-analysis-of-subterranean-termites-coptotermes-1l6k2zs2lp.pdf

Phylogenetic analysis of subterranean termites (Coptotermes spp., Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) indicates the origins of Hawaiian and North American invasions: Potential implications for invasion biology

Margaret C. Gentz

Papers

A rational nomenclature for naming peptide toxins from spiders and other venomous animals.

Tandem use of selective insecticides and natural enemies for effective, reduced-risk pest management

A review of boron toxicity in insects with an emphasis on termites

Comparison of the peptidome and insecticidal activity of venom from a taxonomically diverse group of theraphosid spiders.

Phylogenetic analysis of subterranean termites (Coptotermes spp., Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) indicates the origins of Hawaiian and North American invasions: Potential implications for invasion biology