Chromatographic Profiles and Properties of Duvernoy's Secretions from SomeBoigine and Dispholidine Colubrids

摘要

Duvernoy's secretion was collected from five species of opisthoglyphouscolubrids. Large yields were obtained from Boiga dendrophila melanota. Specimens of B. d. multicincta and a large adult specimen of B. blandingi produced large volumes of secretion with low content of solids. Lethal potency determinations showed that samples of secretions from the dispholidines, Thelotornis capensis and Dispholidus typus, were the most toxic, while B. d. multicincta and the large adult B. blandingi had the lowest lethal potency of the species studied. Assay of hemorrhagic and proteolytic activities revealed that secretion from a specimen of B. blandingi from Ghana had the highest level of these activities of any boigine sample examined. Both dispholidine samples had far greater protease and hemorrhagin activities than any boigine sample studied. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that Thelotornis and Dispholidus had relatively complex patterns which differed from each other and the boigine samples. Secretions from B. blandingi and both races of B. dendrophila share major components in the 10,000-14,000 molecular weight range. It is not clear if these are identical proteins or different components with similar molecular weight. Cation exchange analysis resolved one, two, and three toxic fractions from secretions of B. d. melanota B. blandingi, and D. typus, respectively. The fractions from B. d. melanota and two of the fractions from D. typus were proteolytic and hemorrhagic, while the fractions from B. blandingi produced symptoms suggestive of a postsynaptic neurotoxin.... Colubridae, Boiginae, Dispholidinae, Duvernoy's secretions, Lethal potencies, Chromatographic profiles, Immunoidentity.