The expression of Lys-conopression G (calc. m/z1033.49; obs. m/z 1034.48 – indication of differential C- terminal processing, see above) in the MV raises additional speculation to its biological/pharmacological intention in prey. Suggestions of minimizing prey escape response have been proposed (Dutertre et al., 2008). This has merit as typically C. geographus specimens take to a net-casting-like prey capture response using their rostrum, with the seemingly oblivious fish unaware of the danger it faces while being engulfed alive – a possible indication of prey sedation from material ‘leaking’ from the venom apparatus (see Johnson and Stablum, 1971).But what of the other conopeptides derived from C. geographus? Or the unidentified m/z observed, as indicated in Fig. 1B? This brings a new level of intrigue and possible explanation of why different outcomes in human enveno- mation, lethal vs. non-lethal, are reported for this specific species (Cruz and White, 1995). Furthermore, the illus- trated MV RP-HPLC (Fig. 1A) may not represent a lethal human dose, as materials recovered are induced by pred- atory response, are small in relative concentration, and derived from smaller then normal C. geographus specimens – which are typical of Boult Reef. Further investigation is required to see if a ‘defensive milked venom profile’ can be achieved. Our previous observations indicate Conus’ ability to produce ‘dry-milking’s’ and undergo MV differentiation (Chun et al., 2012), which indicates an ability to differentiate and/or control venom secretion.The presence of additional highly abundant peptidesthat illustrate unknown or unassigned compounds, i.e. w40% of the observed MV m/z, provides an indication that even within this well-studied cone snail, C. geographus contains many uncharacterized venom constituents, specifically those observed with a m/z <1100, similar observations are seen in MV from Conus purpurascens (Chun et al., 2012). The primary m/z data provided here may assist in future genomic endeavors using this species and aid in peptide sequence characterization. While with the advancement of low-level peptide detection methods, as too the use of their MVs, as seen here with mass spec- trometric incorporation, brings further validation to decades of previous works and now provides direct tox- inological insight regarding these lethal predators.Ethical statementThe author and co-authors of this paper have acted ethically in conducting the described research, having undertaken careful analysis of data and the submitted manuscript to avoid errors.
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