''Apomastus schlingeri'' (misnomer ''Aptostichus schlingeri'') is a species of venomous spiders belonging to a family of trapdoor spiders. They produce a complex of
neurotoxin
Neurotoxins are toxins that are destructive to nervous tissue, nerve tissue (causing neurotoxicity). Neurotoxins are an extensive class of exogenous chemical neurological insult (medical), insultsSpencer 2000 that can adversely affect function ...
s called aptotoxins.
Both known species of the genus are found in the United States.
Venom
''Apomastus schlingeri'' have a venom that is highly neurotoxic in effect. The neurotoxin is actually a complex of proteins called aptotoxins (Aps for short), which in turn belong to a group of neurotoxins called
cyrtautoxins. There are at least nine different peptides, and most of them are directly paralytic and lethal to insect larvae.
All of the peptides are voltage-gated sodium channel blockers. To date, Aps III is known to be the most potent peptide of all.
[
]
References
External links
Taxonomy at UniProtNCBI Taxonomy BrowserTaxonomy at ITIS ReportAnimal Diversity WebTaxonomy at The TaxonomiconComparative Taxinogenomics DatabaseGlobal SpeciesTaxon profile at BioLib
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2130985
Euctenizidae
Spiders of the United States
Spiders described in 2002