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Abstract: Cone snail (genus Conus) venoms provide a rich source of small bioactive peptides known as conopeptides or conotoxins, which are highly interesting in pharmacological studies for new drug discovery. Conus species have evolved expressing a variety of conopeptides, adapted to the biological targets of their own specific preys at their living environments. Therefore, the potential proteomic evaluation of Conus venom components, poorly studied, is of great interest. Early studies supposed about 5% overlap in venom peptides from different Conus species. In this study, we compare using nano-liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry and bioinformatics, the molluscivorous Conus bandanus venom to that of its close-relative Conus marmoreus of the South Central Coast of Vietnam. With this approach, we demonstrate with high precision that 92 common conopeptides are present in the venom of the two mollusc-hunting cone snails, representing 24.4% (out of 376 peptides) and 18.4% (out of 499 peptides) of C. bandanus and C. marmoreus components, respectively. The proteomic comparison of the two close-relative interspecies suggests both common and different strategies for mature conopeptide production in the two species. The overall estimation of putative conopeptide disulphide bridges reveals 75% and 61% of “disulphide-rich” peptides in C. bandanus and C. marmoreus venom components, respectively. The same amino acid sequence for Bn1.1 and Mr1.1, determined at the genomic level, was also found in the two venoms, besides other common conopeptides. Confidently, the broader distribution of C. bandanus compared to C. marmoreus guarantee new opportunities for discovering conopeptides with original pharmacological properties. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We sequenced the complete mitogenome of a specimen of Cymbiola nobilis (Neogastropoda, Volutidae) from Phú Quốc Island in Vietnam. The mitogenome of this predatory sea snail is 16,314-bp long and comprises the typical set of genes encoding 13 proteins, 2 rRNAs, and 22 tRNAs. It features a complex control region that contains two copies of an inverted repeat sequence separated by an AT-rich region, a characteristic previously observed in a few other gastropods. Phylogenetic analysis based on all protein-coding genes revealed that the Volutidae form a strongly supported clade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]