Data from: Dietary breadth is positively correlated with venom complexity in cone snails

Although diet is believed to be a major factor underlying the evolution of venom, few comparative studies examine both venom composition and diet across a radiation of venomous species. Cone snails within the family, Conidae, comprise more than 700 species of carnivorous marine snails that capture their prey by using a cocktail of venomous neurotoxins (conotoxins or conopeptides). Venom composition across species has been previously hypothesized to be shaped by (a) prey taxonomic class (i.e., worms, molluscs, or fish) and (b) dietary breadth. We tested these hypotheses under a comparative phylogenetic framework using ecological data from past studies in conjunction with venom duct transcriptomes sequenced from 12 phylogenetically disparate cone snail species, including 10 vermivores (worm-eating), one molluscivore, and one generalist.尽管学界普遍认为饮食是毒液演化的核心驱动因素之一，但目前针对辐射演化的有毒物种类群，同时开展毒液组成与饮食特征比较研究的工作仍较为匮乏。芋螺科（Conidae）包含700余种肉食性海洋螺类，它们通过分泌复合型有毒神经毒素（conotoxins，芋螺毒素；conopeptides，芋螺肽）捕获猎物。此前已有假说提出，不同物种类群的毒液组分差异受两大因素调控：其一为猎物的分类类群（即蠕虫、软体动物或鱼类），其二为食性广度。本研究依托比较系统发育框架，结合既往研究获取的生态数据与12个系统发育关系迥异的芋螺物种的毒液导管转录组（venom duct transcriptomes）测序结果，对上述两项假说进行了验证；所涉12个物种包含10种食蠕虫类（vermivores，worm-eating）、1种食软体动物者（molluscivore）以及1种广食性物种（generalist）。