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Ronald A. Jenner
Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom

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Journal article
Published: 18 August 2021 in Toxicon
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With pedipalps modified for venom injection, some pseudoscorpions possess a unique venom delivery system, which evolved independently from those of other arachnids like scorpions and spiders. Up to now, only a few studies have been focused on pseudoscorpion venom, which either identified a small fraction of venom compounds, or were based on solely transcriptomic approaches. Only one study addressed the bioactivity of pseudoscorpion venom. Here, we expand existing knowledge about pseudoscorpion venom by providing a comprehensive proteomic and transcriptomic analysis of the venom of Chelifer cancroides. We identified the first putative genuine toxins in the venom of C. cancroides and we showed that a large fraction of the venom comprises novel compounds. In addition, we tested the activity of the venom at specific ion channels for the first time. These tests demonstrate that the venom of C. cancroides causes inhibition of a voltage-gated insect potassium channel (Shaker IR) and modulates the inactivation process of voltage-gated sodium channels from Varroa destructor. For one of the smallest venomous animals ever studied, today's toolkits enabled a comprehensive venom analysis. This is demonstrated by allocating our identified venom compounds to more than half of the prominent ion signals in MALDI-TOF mass spectra of venom samples. The present study is a starting point for understanding the complex composition and activity of pseudoscorpion venom and provides a potential rich source of bioactive compounds useable for basic research and industrial application.

ACS Style

Jonas Krämer; Steve Peigneur; Jan Tytgat; Ronald A. Jenner; Ronald van Toor; Reinhard Predel. A Pseudoscorpion's Promising Pinch: The venom of Chelifer cancroides contains a rich source of novel compounds. Toxicon 2021, 201, 92 -104.

AMA Style

Jonas Krämer, Steve Peigneur, Jan Tytgat, Ronald A. Jenner, Ronald van Toor, Reinhard Predel. A Pseudoscorpion's Promising Pinch: The venom of Chelifer cancroides contains a rich source of novel compounds. Toxicon. 2021; 201 ():92-104.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jonas Krämer; Steve Peigneur; Jan Tytgat; Ronald A. Jenner; Ronald van Toor; Reinhard Predel. 2021. "A Pseudoscorpion's Promising Pinch: The venom of Chelifer cancroides contains a rich source of novel compounds." Toxicon 201, no. : 92-104.

Journal article
Published: 05 February 2021 in Nature Communications
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Venoms have evolved over a hundred times in animals. Venom toxins are thought to evolve mostly by recruitment of endogenous proteins with physiological functions. Here we report phylogenetic analyses of venom proteome-annotated venom gland transcriptome data, assisted by genomic analyses, to show that centipede venoms have recruited at least five gene families from bacterial and fungal donors, involving at least eight horizontal gene transfer events. These results establish centipedes as currently the only known animals with venoms used in predation and defence that contain multiple gene families derived from horizontal gene transfer. The results also provide the first evidence for the implication of horizontal gene transfer in the evolutionary origin of venom in an animal lineage. Three of the bacterial gene families encode virulence factors, suggesting that horizontal gene transfer can provide a fast track channel for the evolution of novelty by the exaptation of bacterial weapons into animal venoms.

ACS Style

Eivind A. B. Undheim; Ronald A. Jenner. Phylogenetic analyses suggest centipede venom arsenals were repeatedly stocked by horizontal gene transfer. Nature Communications 2021, 12, 1 -14.

AMA Style

Eivind A. B. Undheim, Ronald A. Jenner. Phylogenetic analyses suggest centipede venom arsenals were repeatedly stocked by horizontal gene transfer. Nature Communications. 2021; 12 (1):1-14.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Eivind A. B. Undheim; Ronald A. Jenner. 2021. "Phylogenetic analyses suggest centipede venom arsenals were repeatedly stocked by horizontal gene transfer." Nature Communications 12, no. 1: 1-14.

Review
Published: 14 November 2019 in Toxins
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Venoms are one of the most convergent of animal traits known, and encompass a much greater taxonomic and functional diversity than is commonly appreciated. This knowledge gap limits the potential of venom as a model trait in evolutionary biology. Here, we summarize the taxonomic and functional diversity of animal venoms and relate this to what is known about venom system morphology, venom modulation, and venom pharmacology, with the aim of drawing attention to the importance of these largely neglected aspects of venom research. We find that animals have evolved venoms at least 101 independent times and that venoms play at least 11 distinct ecological roles in addition to predation, defense, and feeding. Comparisons of different venom systems suggest that morphology strongly influences how venoms achieve these functions, and hence is an important consideration for understanding the molecular evolution of venoms and their toxins. Our findings also highlight the need for more holistic studies of venom systems and the toxins they contain. Greater knowledge of behavior, morphology, and ecologically relevant toxin pharmacology will improve our understanding of the evolution of venoms and their toxins, and likely facilitate exploration of their potential as sources of molecular tools and therapeutic and agrochemical lead compounds.

ACS Style

Vanessa Schendel; Lachlan D. Rash; Ronald A. Jenner; Eivind A. B. Undheim. The Diversity of Venom: The Importance of Behavior and Venom System Morphology in Understanding Its Ecology and Evolution. Toxins 2019, 11, 666 .

AMA Style

Vanessa Schendel, Lachlan D. Rash, Ronald A. Jenner, Eivind A. B. Undheim. The Diversity of Venom: The Importance of Behavior and Venom System Morphology in Understanding Its Ecology and Evolution. Toxins. 2019; 11 (11):666.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Vanessa Schendel; Lachlan D. Rash; Ronald A. Jenner; Eivind A. B. Undheim. 2019. "The Diversity of Venom: The Importance of Behavior and Venom System Morphology in Understanding Its Ecology and Evolution." Toxins 11, no. 11: 666.

Comparative study
Published: 08 August 2019 in Molecular Biology and Evolution
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Centipedes are among the most ancient groups of venomous predatory arthropods. Extant species belong to five orders, but our understanding of the composition and evolution of centipede venoms is based almost exclusively on one order, Scolopendromorpha. To gain a broader and less biased understanding we performed a comparative proteotranscriptomic analysis of centipede venoms from all five orders, including the first venom profiles for the orders Lithobiomorpha, Craterostigmomorpha, and Geophilomorpha. Our results reveal an astonishing structural diversity of venom components, with 93 phylogenetically distinct protein and peptide families. Proteomically-annotated gene trees of these putative toxin families show that centipede venom composition is highly dynamic across macroevolutionary timescales, with numerous gene duplications as well as functional recruitments and losses of toxin gene families. Strikingly, not a single family is found in the venoms of representatives of all five orders, with 67 families being unique for single orders. Ancestral state reconstructions reveal that centipede venom originated as a simple cocktail comprising just four toxin families, with very little compositional evolution happening during the approximately 50 My before the living orders had diverged. Venom complexity then increased in parallel within the orders, with scolopendromorphs evolving particularly complex venoms. Our results show that even venoms composed of toxins evolving under the strong constraint of negative selection can have striking evolutionary plasticity on the compositional level. We show that the functional recruitments and losses of toxin families that shape centipede venom arsenals are not concentrated early in their evolutionary history, but happen frequently throughout.

ACS Style

Ronald A Jenner; Bjoern Marcus von Reumont; Lahcen Campbell; Eivind A B Undheim. Parallel Evolution of Complex Centipede Venoms Revealed by Comparative Proteotranscriptomic Analyses. Molecular Biology and Evolution 2019, 36, 2748 -2763.

AMA Style

Ronald A Jenner, Bjoern Marcus von Reumont, Lahcen Campbell, Eivind A B Undheim. Parallel Evolution of Complex Centipede Venoms Revealed by Comparative Proteotranscriptomic Analyses. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 2019; 36 (12):2748-2763.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ronald A Jenner; Bjoern Marcus von Reumont; Lahcen Campbell; Eivind A B Undheim. 2019. "Parallel Evolution of Complex Centipede Venoms Revealed by Comparative Proteotranscriptomic Analyses." Molecular Biology and Evolution 36, no. 12: 2748-2763.

Review
Published: 22 January 2019 in Toxins
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Research on venomous animals has mainly focused on the molecular, biochemical, and pharmacological aspects of venom toxins. However, it is the relatively neglected broader study of evolutionary ecology that is crucial for understanding the biological relevance of venom systems. As fish have convergently evolved venom systems multiple times, it makes them ideal organisms to investigate the evolutionary ecology of venom on a broader scale. This review outlines what is known about how fish venom systems evolved as a result of natural enemy interactions and about the ecological consequences of evolving a venom system. This review will show how research on the evolutionary ecology of venom in fish can aid in understanding the evolutionary ecology of animal venoms more generally. Further, understanding these broad ecological questions can shed more light on the other areas of toxinology, with applications across multiple disciplinary fields.

ACS Style

Richard J. Harris; Ronald A. Jenner. Evolutionary Ecology of Fish Venom: Adaptations and Consequences of Evolving a Venom System. Toxins 2019, 11, 60 .

AMA Style

Richard J. Harris, Ronald A. Jenner. Evolutionary Ecology of Fish Venom: Adaptations and Consequences of Evolving a Venom System. Toxins. 2019; 11 (2):60.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Richard J. Harris; Ronald A. Jenner. 2019. "Evolutionary Ecology of Fish Venom: Adaptations and Consequences of Evolving a Venom System." Toxins 11, no. 2: 60.

Article
Published: 06 December 2017 in BioEssays
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Linear depictions of the evolutionary process are ubiquitous in popular culture, but linear evolutionary imagery is strongly rejected by scientists who argue that evolution branches. This point is frequently illustrated by saying that we didn't evolve from monkeys, but that we are related to them as collateral relatives. Yet, we did evolve from monkeys, but our monkey ancestors are extinct, not extant. Influential voices, such as the late Stephen Jay Gould, have misled audiences for decades by falsely portraying the linear and branching aspects of evolution to be in conflict, and by failing to distinguish between the legitimate linearity of evolutionary descent, and the branching relationships among collateral relatives that result when lineages of ancestors diverge. The purpose of this article is to correct the widespread misplaced rejection of linear evolutionary imagery, and to re-emphasize the basic truth that the evolutionary process is fundamentally linear.

ACS Style

Ronald A. Jenner. Evolution Is Linear: Debunking Life's Little Joke. BioEssays 2017, 40, 1 .

AMA Style

Ronald A. Jenner. Evolution Is Linear: Debunking Life's Little Joke. BioEssays. 2017; 40 (1):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ronald A. Jenner. 2017. "Evolution Is Linear: Debunking Life's Little Joke." BioEssays 40, no. 1: 1.

Journal article
Published: 26 July 2017 in Toxins
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We report the first integrated proteomic and transcriptomic investigation of a crustacean venom. Remipede crustaceans are the venomous sister group of hexapods, and the venom glands of the remipede Xibalbanus tulumensis express a considerably more complex cocktail of proteins and peptides than previously thought. We identified 32 venom protein families, including 13 novel peptide families that we name xibalbins, four of which lack similarities to any known structural class. Our proteomic data confirm the presence in the venom of 19 of the 32 families. The most highly expressed venom components are serine peptidases, chitinase and six of the xibalbins. The xibalbins represent Inhibitory Cystine Knot peptides (ICK), a double ICK peptide, peptides with a putative Cystine-stabilized α-helix/β-sheet motif, a peptide similar to hairpin-like β-sheet forming antimicrobial peptides, two peptides related to different hormone families, and four peptides with unique structural motifs. Remipede venom components represent the full range of evolutionary recruitment frequencies, from families that have been recruited into many animal venoms (serine peptidases, ICKs), to those having a very narrow taxonomic range (double ICKs), to those unique for remipedes. We discuss the most highly expressed venom components to shed light on their possible functional significance in the predatory and defensive use of remipede venom, and to provide testable ideas for any future bioactivity studies.

ACS Style

Björn M. Von Reumont; Eivind A. B. Undheim; Robin-Tobias Jauss; Ronald A. Jenner. Venomics of Remipede Crustaceans Reveals Novel Peptide Diversity and Illuminates the Venom’s Biological Role. Toxins 2017, 9, 234 .

AMA Style

Björn M. Von Reumont, Eivind A. B. Undheim, Robin-Tobias Jauss, Ronald A. Jenner. Venomics of Remipede Crustaceans Reveals Novel Peptide Diversity and Illuminates the Venom’s Biological Role. Toxins. 2017; 9 (8):234.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Björn M. Von Reumont; Eivind A. B. Undheim; Robin-Tobias Jauss; Ronald A. Jenner. 2017. "Venomics of Remipede Crustaceans Reveals Novel Peptide Diversity and Illuminates the Venom’s Biological Role." Toxins 9, no. 8: 234.

Journal article
Published: 04 March 2017 in BMC Evolutionary Biology
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We present the first molecular characterization of glycerotoxin (GLTx), a potent neurotoxin found in the venom of the bloodworm Glycera tridactyla (Glyceridae, Annelida). Within the animal kingdom, GLTx shows a unique mode of action as it can specifically up-regulate the activity of Cav2.2 channels (N-type) in a reversible manner. The lack of sequence information has so far hampered a detailed understanding of its mode of action. Our analyses reveal three ~3.8 kb GLTx full-length transcripts, show that GLTx represents a multigene family, and suggest it functions as a dimer. An integrative approach using transcriptomics, quantitative real-time PCR, in situ hybridization, and immunocytochemistry shows that GLTx is highly expressed exclusively in four pharyngeal lobes, a previously unrecognized part of the venom apparatus. Our results overturn a century old textbook view on the glycerid venom system, suggesting that it is anatomically and functionally much more complex than previously thought. The herein presented GLTx sequence information constitutes an important step towards the establishment of GLTx as a versatile tool to understand the mechanism of synaptic function, as well as the mode of action of this novel neurotoxin.

ACS Style

Sandy Richter; Conrad Helm; Frederic A. Meunier; Lars Hering; Lahcen Campbell; Stephan H. Drukewitz; Eivind A. B. Undheim; Ronald A. Jenner; Giampietro Schiavo; Christoph Bleidorn. Comparative analyses of glycerotoxin expression unveil a novel structural organization of the bloodworm venom system. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017, 17, 64 .

AMA Style

Sandy Richter, Conrad Helm, Frederic A. Meunier, Lars Hering, Lahcen Campbell, Stephan H. Drukewitz, Eivind A. B. Undheim, Ronald A. Jenner, Giampietro Schiavo, Christoph Bleidorn. Comparative analyses of glycerotoxin expression unveil a novel structural organization of the bloodworm venom system. BMC Evolutionary Biology. 2017; 17 (1):64.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sandy Richter; Conrad Helm; Frederic A. Meunier; Lars Hering; Lahcen Campbell; Stephan H. Drukewitz; Eivind A. B. Undheim; Ronald A. Jenner; Giampietro Schiavo; Christoph Bleidorn. 2017. "Comparative analyses of glycerotoxin expression unveil a novel structural organization of the bloodworm venom system." BMC Evolutionary Biology 17, no. 1: 64.

Journal article
Published: 02 January 2015 in BioScience
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ACS Style

Ronald A. Jenner. Response to Stach. BioScience 2015, 65, 119 -120.

AMA Style

Ronald A. Jenner. Response to Stach. BioScience. 2015; 65 (2):119-120.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ronald A. Jenner. 2015. "Response to Stach." BioScience 65, no. 2: 119-120.

Review
Published: 19 December 2014 in Toxins
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Venomics research is being revolutionized by the increased use of sensitive -omics techniques to identify venom toxins and their transcripts in both well studied and neglected venomous taxa. The study of neglected venomous taxa is necessary both for understanding the full diversity of venom systems that have evolved in the animal kingdom, and to robustly answer fundamental questions about the biology and evolution of venoms without the distorting effect that can result from the current bias introduced by some heavily studied taxa. In this review we draw the outlines of a roadmap into the diversity of poorly studied and understood venomous and putatively venomous invertebrates, which together represent tens of thousands of unique venoms. The main groups we discuss are crustaceans, flies, centipedes, non-spider and non-scorpion arachnids, annelids, molluscs, platyhelminths, nemerteans, and echinoderms. We review what is known about the morphology of the venom systems in these groups, the composition of their venoms, and the bioactivities of the venoms to provide researchers with an entry into a large and scattered literature. We conclude with a short discussion of some important methodological aspects that have come to light with the recent use of new -omics techniques in the study of venoms.

ACS Style

Bjoern Marcus Von Reumont; Lahcen Campbell; Ronald A. Jenner. Quo Vadis Venomics? A Roadmap to Neglected Venomous Invertebrates. Toxins 2014, 6, 3488 -3551.

AMA Style

Bjoern Marcus Von Reumont, Lahcen Campbell, Ronald A. Jenner. Quo Vadis Venomics? A Roadmap to Neglected Venomous Invertebrates. Toxins. 2014; 6 (12):3488-3551.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bjoern Marcus Von Reumont; Lahcen Campbell; Ronald A. Jenner. 2014. "Quo Vadis Venomics? A Roadmap to Neglected Venomous Invertebrates." Toxins 6, no. 12: 3488-3551.

Journal article
Published: 05 September 2014 in Genome Biology and Evolution
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Glycerids are marine annelids commonly known as bloodworms. Bloodworms have an eversible proboscis adorned with jaws connected to venom glands. Bloodworms prey on invertebrates, and it is known that the venom glands produce compounds that can induce toxic effects in animals. Yet, none of these putative toxins has been characterized on a molecular basis. Here we present the transcriptomic profiles of the venom glands of three species of bloodworm, Glycera dibranchiata, Glycera fallax and Glycera tridactyla, as well as the body tissue of G. tridactyla. The venom glands express a complex mixture of transcripts coding for putative toxin precursors. These transcripts represent 20 known toxin classes that have been convergently recruited into animal venoms, as well as transcripts potentially coding for Glycera-specific toxins. The toxins represent five functional categories: Pore-forming and membrane-disrupting toxins, neurotoxins, protease inhibitors, other enzymes, and CAP domain toxins. Many of the transcripts coding for putative Glycera toxins belong to classes that have been widely recruited into venoms, but some are homologs of toxins previously only known from the venoms of scorpaeniform fish and monotremes (stonustoxin-like toxin), turrid gastropods (turripeptide-like peptides), and sea anemones (gigantoxin I-like neurotoxin). This complex mixture of toxin homologs suggests that bloodworms employ venom while predating on macroscopic prey, casting doubt on the previously widespread opinion that G. dibranchiata is a detritivore. Our results further show that researchers should be aware that different assembly methods, as well as different methods of homology prediction, can influence the transcriptomic profiling of venom glands.

ACS Style

Bjoern Marcus von Reumont; Lahcen Campbell; Sandy Richter; Lars Hering; Dan Sykes; Jörg Hetmank; Ronald A. Jenner; Christoph Bleidorn. A Polychaete’s Powerful Punch: Venom Gland Transcriptomics of Glycera Reveals a Complex Cocktail of Toxin Homologs. Genome Biology and Evolution 2014, 6, 2406 -2423.

AMA Style

Bjoern Marcus von Reumont, Lahcen Campbell, Sandy Richter, Lars Hering, Dan Sykes, Jörg Hetmank, Ronald A. Jenner, Christoph Bleidorn. A Polychaete’s Powerful Punch: Venom Gland Transcriptomics of Glycera Reveals a Complex Cocktail of Toxin Homologs. Genome Biology and Evolution. 2014; 6 (9):2406-2423.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bjoern Marcus von Reumont; Lahcen Campbell; Sandy Richter; Lars Hering; Dan Sykes; Jörg Hetmank; Ronald A. Jenner; Christoph Bleidorn. 2014. "A Polychaete’s Powerful Punch: Venom Gland Transcriptomics of Glycera Reveals a Complex Cocktail of Toxin Homologs." Genome Biology and Evolution 6, no. 9: 2406-2423.

Journal article
Published: 11 July 2014 in BioScience
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A renewed emphasis on the gaps in organization that exist between the crown-group body plans of higher-level animal taxa is a hallmark of the emerging consensus in metazoan phylogenetics. Bridging these gaps is the greatest hurdle that stands in the way of translating our knowledge of phylogeny into a renewed understanding of the macroevolution of animal body plans. Unless a good fossil record is available, there is little hope that we will be able to bridge many of these gaps empirically. We have, therefore, little choice but to resort to our more-or-less informed imagination to produce the historical narratives that are the ultimate goal of our studies of animal evolution. Only by fully engaging with the challenges of devising testable scenarios will we be able to tell where along the spectrum of science and fiction our understanding of animal body plan evolution will finally come to rest.

ACS Style

Ronald A. Jenner. Macroevolution of Animal Body Plans: Is There Science after the Tree? BioScience 2014, 64, 653 -664.

AMA Style

Ronald A. Jenner. Macroevolution of Animal Body Plans: Is There Science after the Tree? BioScience. 2014; 64 (8):653-664.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ronald A. Jenner. 2014. "Macroevolution of Animal Body Plans: Is There Science after the Tree?" BioScience 64, no. 8: 653-664.

Journal article
Published: 16 October 2013 in Molecular Biology and Evolution
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Animal venoms have evolved many times. Venomous species are especially common in three of the four main groups of arthropods (Chelicerata, Myriapoda, and Hexapoda), which together represent tens of thousands of species of venomous spiders, scorpions, centipedes, and hymenopterans. Surprisingly, despite their great diversity of body plans, there is no unambiguous evidence that any crustacean is venomous. We provide the first conclusive evidence that the aquatic, blind, and cave-dwelling remipede crustaceans are venomous and that venoms evolved in all four major arthropod groups. We produced a three-dimensional reconstruction of the venom delivery apparatus of the remipede Speleonectes tulumensis, showing that remipedes can inject venom in a controlled manner. A transcriptomic profile of its venom glands shows that they express a unique cocktail of transcripts coding for known venom toxins, including a diversity of enzymes and a probable paralytic neurotoxin very similar to one described from spider venom. We screened a transcriptomic library obtained from whole animals and identified a nontoxin paralog of the remipede neurotoxin that is not expressed in the venom glands. This allowed us to reconstruct its probable evolutionary origin and underlines the importance of incorporating data derived from nonvenom gland tissue to elucidate the evolution of candidate venom proteins. This first glimpse into the venom of a crustacean and primitively aquatic arthropod reveals conspicuous differences from the venoms of other predatory arthropods such as centipedes, scorpions, and spiders and contributes valuable information for ultimately disentangling the many factors shaping the biology and evolution of venoms and venomous species.

ACS Style

Björn M. von Reumont; Alexander Blanke; Sandy Richter; Fernando Alvarez; Christoph Bleidorn; Ronald A. Jenner. The First Venomous Crustacean Revealed by Transcriptomics and Functional Morphology: Remipede Venom Glands Express a Unique Toxin Cocktail Dominated by Enzymes and a Neurotoxin. Molecular Biology and Evolution 2013, 31, 48 -58.

AMA Style

Björn M. von Reumont, Alexander Blanke, Sandy Richter, Fernando Alvarez, Christoph Bleidorn, Ronald A. Jenner. The First Venomous Crustacean Revealed by Transcriptomics and Functional Morphology: Remipede Venom Glands Express a Unique Toxin Cocktail Dominated by Enzymes and a Neurotoxin. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 2013; 31 (1):48-58.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Björn M. von Reumont; Alexander Blanke; Sandy Richter; Fernando Alvarez; Christoph Bleidorn; Ronald A. Jenner. 2013. "The First Venomous Crustacean Revealed by Transcriptomics and Functional Morphology: Remipede Venom Glands Express a Unique Toxin Cocktail Dominated by Enzymes and a Neurotoxin." Molecular Biology and Evolution 31, no. 1: 48-58.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2013 in BMC Evolutionary Biology
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Sexual system is a key factor affecting the genetic diversity, population structure, genome structure and the evolutionary potential of species. The sexual system androdioecy – where males and hermaphrodites coexist in populations – is extremely rare, yet is found in three crustacean groups, barnacles, a genus of clam shrimps Eulimnadia, and in the order Notostraca, the tadpole shrimps. In the ancient crustacean order Notostraca, high morphological conservatism contrasts with a wide diversity of sexual systems, including androdioecy. An understanding of the evolution of sexual systems in this group has been hampered by poor phylogenetic resolution and confounded by the widespread occurrence of cryptic species. Here we use a multigene supermatrix for 30 taxa to produce a comprehensive phylogenetic reconstruction of Notostraca. Based on this phylogenetic reconstruction we use character mapping techniques to investigate the evolution of sexual systems. We also tested the hypothesis that reproductive assurance has driven the evolution of androdioecy in Notostraca.

ACS Style

Thomas C Mathers; Robert L Hammond; Ronald A Jenner; Thorid Zierold; Bernd Hänfling; Africa Gómez. High lability of sexual system over 250 million years of evolution in morphologically conservative tadpole shrimps. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013, 13, 30 -30.

AMA Style

Thomas C Mathers, Robert L Hammond, Ronald A Jenner, Thorid Zierold, Bernd Hänfling, Africa Gómez. High lability of sexual system over 250 million years of evolution in morphologically conservative tadpole shrimps. BMC Evolutionary Biology. 2013; 13 (1):30-30.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Thomas C Mathers; Robert L Hammond; Ronald A Jenner; Thorid Zierold; Bernd Hänfling; Africa Gómez. 2013. "High lability of sexual system over 250 million years of evolution in morphologically conservative tadpole shrimps." BMC Evolutionary Biology 13, no. 1: 30-30.

Journal article
Published: 31 May 2010 in Arthropod Structure & Development
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Higher-level arthropod phylogenetics is an intensely active field of research, not least as a result of the hegemony of molecular data. However, not all areas of arthropod phylogenetics have so far received equal attention. The application of molecular data to infer a comprehensive phylogeny of Crustacea is still in its infancy, and several emerging results are conspicuously at odds with morphology-based studies. In this study, we present a series of molecular phylogenetic analyses of 88 arthropods, including 57 crustaceans, representing all the major lineages, with Onychophora and Tardigrada as outgroups. Our analyses are based on published and new sequences for two mitochondrial markers, 16S rDNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), and the nuclear ribosomal gene 18S rDNA. We designed our phylogenetic analyses to assess the effects of different strategies of sequence alignment, alignment masking, nucleotide coding, and model settings. Our comparisons show that alignment optimization of ribosomal markers based on secondary structure information can have a radical impact on phylogenetic reconstruction. Trees based on optimized alignments recover monophyletic Arthropoda (excluding Onychophora), Pancrustacea, Malacostraca, Insecta, Myriapoda and Chelicerata, while Maxillopoda and Hexapoda emerge as paraphyletic groups. Our results are unable to resolve the highest-level relationships within Arthropoda, and none of our trees supports the monophyly of Myriochelata or Mandibulata. We discuss our results in the context of both the methodological variations between different analyses, and of recently proposed phylogenetic hypotheses. This article offers a preliminary attempt to incorporate the large diversity of crustaceans into a single molecular phylogenetic analysis, assessing the robustness of phylogenetic relationships under varying analysis parameters. It throws into sharp relief the relative strengths and shortcomings of the combined molecular data for assessing this challenging phylogenetic problem, and thereby provides useful pointers for future studies.

ACS Style

Stefan Koenemann; Ronald A. Jenner; Mario Hoenemann; Torben Stemme; Björn M. Von Reumont. Arthropod phylogeny revisited, with a focus on crustacean relationships. Arthropod Structure & Development 2010, 39, 88 -110.

AMA Style

Stefan Koenemann, Ronald A. Jenner, Mario Hoenemann, Torben Stemme, Björn M. Von Reumont. Arthropod phylogeny revisited, with a focus on crustacean relationships. Arthropod Structure & Development. 2010; 39 (2-3):88-110.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stefan Koenemann; Ronald A. Jenner; Mario Hoenemann; Torben Stemme; Björn M. Von Reumont. 2010. "Arthropod phylogeny revisited, with a focus on crustacean relationships." Arthropod Structure & Development 39, no. 2-3: 88-110.

Review
Published: 01 March 2010 in Arthropod Structure & Development
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This paper presents an overview of current hypotheses of higher-level crustacean phylogeny in order to assist and help focus further research. It concentrates on hypotheses proposed or debated in the recent literature based on morphological, molecular and combined evidence phylogenetic analyses. It can be concluded that crustacean phylogeny remains essentially unresolved. Conflict is rife, irrespective of whether one compares different morphological studies, molecular studies, or both. Using the number of recently proposed alternative sister group hypotheses for each of the major tetraconatan taxa as a rough estimate of phylogenetic uncertainty, it can be concluded that the phylogenetic position of Malacostraca remains the most problematic, closely followed by Branchiopoda, Cephalocarida, Remipedia, Ostracoda, Branchiura, Copepoda and Hexapoda. Future progress will depend upon a broader taxon sampling in molecular analyses, and the further exploration of new molecular phylogenetic markers. However, the need for continued revision and expansion of morphological datasets remains undiminished given the conspicuous lack of agreement between molecules and morphology for positioning several taxa. In view of the unparalleled morphological diversity of Crustacea, and the likely nesting of Hexapoda somewhere within Crustacea, working out a detailed phylogeny of Tetraconata is a crucial step towards understanding arthropod body plan evolution.

ACS Style

Ronald A. Jenner. Higher-level crustacean phylogeny: Consensus and conflicting hypotheses. Arthropod Structure & Development 2010, 39, 143 -153.

AMA Style

Ronald A. Jenner. Higher-level crustacean phylogeny: Consensus and conflicting hypotheses. Arthropod Structure & Development. 2010; 39 (2):143-153.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ronald A. Jenner. 2010. "Higher-level crustacean phylogeny: Consensus and conflicting hypotheses." Arthropod Structure & Development 39, no. 2: 143-153.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2009 in BMC Evolutionary Biology
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The phylogeny of Eumalacostraca (Crustacea) remains elusive, despite over a century of interest. Recent morphological and molecular phylogenies appear highly incongruent, but this has not been assessed quantitatively. Moreover, 18S rRNA trees show striking branch length differences between species, accompanied by a conspicuous clustering of taxa with similar branch lengths. Surprisingly, previous research found no rate heterogeneity. Hitherto, no phylogenetic analysis of all major eumalacostracan taxa (orders) has either combined evidence from multiple loci, or combined molecular and morphological evidence.

ACS Style

Ronald A Jenner; Ciara Ní Dhubhghaill; Matteo P Ferla; Matthew A Wills. Eumalacostracan phylogeny and total evidence: limitations of the usual suspects. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2009, 9, 21 -21.

AMA Style

Ronald A Jenner, Ciara Ní Dhubhghaill, Matteo P Ferla, Matthew A Wills. Eumalacostracan phylogeny and total evidence: limitations of the usual suspects. BMC Evolutionary Biology. 2009; 9 (1):21-21.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ronald A Jenner; Ciara Ní Dhubhghaill; Matteo P Ferla; Matthew A Wills. 2009. "Eumalacostracan phylogeny and total evidence: limitations of the usual suspects." BMC Evolutionary Biology 9, no. 1: 21-21.