Applications of Genomics and Related Technologies for Studying Reptile Venoms

Abstract

Over the past decade, the increasing availability and decreasing cost of genome sequencing technologies have led to significant advancements in our understanding of the evolution, variation and function of reptile venoms. This includes multiple annotated genomes for venomous reptile species as well as countless public data sets of venom gene sequences, gene expression data, and data availability from a growing diversity of species. These genomic resources have provided new insight into reptile venoms, and the continuing development of additional genomic resources and related data sets holds promise for continued advancement of our understanding of reptile venom systems. Here, we present an overview of currently available genomic resources for the study of reptile venoms, discuss genomic approaches used to study reptile venoms, and highlight recent advances in our understanding of how venom evolves and functions in reptiles based on genomic data. We also discuss ongoing progress and future work that will be important for closing major gaps in our current understanding of the genomic basis of venom variation, evolution and regulation.