Sequencing venom PLA2 regions from three rattlesnakes

BAC clones spanning the group 2 PLA2 genomic regions of three snakes were sequenced using Pacific Biosciences technology. The three species were the Mojave rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus), Eastern Diamondback (Crotalus adamanteus) and Western Diamondback (Crotalus atrox). The Mojave rattlesnake has neurotoxic venom (type A) while the Eastern and Western Diamondbacks have hemotoxic/myotoxic venom. The objective of this study was to determine the venom PLA2 gene number and orientation in each species. This is relevant because it is unclear if venom diversity is a product of gene content, sequence mutation or gene regulation.