toxins Article Venom Gland Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses of the Enigmatic Scorpion Superstitionia donensis (Scorpiones: Superstitioniidae), with Insights on the Evolution of Its Venom Components Carlos E. Santibáñez-López 1, Jimena I. Cid-Uribe 1, Cesar V. F. Batista 2, Ernesto Ortiz 1,* and Lourival D. Possani 1,* 1 Departamento de Medicina Molecular y Bioprocesos, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad 2001, Apartado Postal 510-3, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62210, Mexico;
[email protected] (C.E.S.-L.);
[email protected] (J.I.C.-U.) 2 Laboratorio Universitario de Proteómica, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad 2001, Apartado Postal 510-3, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62210, Mexico;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] (E.O.);
[email protected] (L.D.P.); Tel.: +52-777-329-1647 (E.O.); +52-777-317-1209 (L.D.P.) Academic Editor: Richard J. Lewis Received: 25 October 2016; Accepted: 1 December 2016; Published: 9 December 2016 Abstract: Venom gland transcriptomic and proteomic analyses have improved our knowledge on the diversity of the heterogeneous components present in scorpion venoms. However, most of these studies have focused on species from the family Buthidae. To gain insights into the molecular diversity of the venom components of scorpions belonging to the family Superstitioniidae, one of the neglected scorpion families, we performed a transcriptomic and proteomic analyses for the species Superstitionia donensis. The total mRNA extracted from the venom glands of two specimens was subjected to massive sequencing by the Illumina protocol, and a total of 219,073 transcripts were generated.