Molecular Insights into the Marine Gastropod Olivancillaria urceus: Transcriptomic and Proteopeptidomic Approaches Reveal Polypeptides with Putative Therapeutic Potential

Abstract

The marine environment is a rich source of new biotechnologies and products. Bottom trawling for shrimp species such as <i>Xiphopenaeus kroyeri</i> and <i>Farfantepenaeus brasiliensis</i> leads to the unintentional capture of non-target species, known as bycatch, which includes a variety of marine life that are often discarded without economic value. A common bycatch species on the southeast coast of Brazil is <i>Olivancillaria urceus</i> (<i>O. urceus</i>), a carnivorous gastropod that feeds mainly on bivalves. Despite its abundance, this species is still little studied, especially for biotechnological applications. Other gastropods such as Conus are known for their diverse and potent toxins, which offer great potential for pharmacological discoveries. In this study, an omics approach, including transcriptomics and proteopeptidomics, was applied to explore <i>O. urceus</i> at the molecular level. The transcriptome of the muscle foot/mantle led to the annotation of 19,097 genes via Gene Ontology, identifying 20 toxin-like transcripts identified considering the Gastropod class. The proteome fraction confirmed 2179 transcripts, including sequences with toxin activity, such as conotoxin precursors, Conodipine-P3, and BPTI/Kunitz domain-containing proteins. In addition, 9663 peptides of 1484 precursor proteins were detected in the peptide fraction, including 2 sequences representing neurotoxins. The identification of these sequences could lead to the discovery of new molecules with therapeutic potential.