Biofactories Applied to Future Antivenom Production

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  Image Credit: By Ssiltane - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52242648 Biofactories Applied to Future Antivenom Production Abstract Background: Accidents caused by the  Loxosceles laeta  spider constitute a health problem in South America. Envenomation can lead to severe systemic manifestations, eventually compromising the patient’s life. Most regional health authorities consider antivenom administration the basis of effective treatment in the most serious cases. The availability of spider venom is the primary bottleneck for antivenom production. Herein, we present a novel biotechnological approach, based on the expression of recombinant versions of the most relevant toxin in loxoscelism, sphingomyelinase D (SphD), in insect larvae ( Spodoptera frugiperda ).  Methods: We produced two versions of SphD: one conserving its biological activities (wtSphD) and a second alternative that was designed to be genetically detoxified (dSphD...

First Record of the Parasitoid Wasp Philolema latrodecti Parasitizing an Egg Sac of the Widow Spider Latrodectus mactans in Nuevo Leon, Mexico

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First Record of the Parasitoid Wasp Philolema latrodecti Parasitizing an Egg Sac of the Widow Spider Latrodectus mactans in Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Abstract

To our knowledge, Philolema latrodecti (Fullaway, 1953) (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) is recorded for the first time in Mexico parasitizing an egg sac of the widow spider Latrodectus mactans (Fabricius, 1775) (Araneae: Theridiidae).

Se registra por primera vez para México la avispa parasitoide Philolema latrodecti (Fullaway, 1953) (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae), parasitando un saco de huevos de la araña viuda Latrodectus mactans (Fabricius, 1775) (Araneae: Theridiidae).

Manuel de Luna, Víctor Hernández-González, Carlos Solís-Rojas, Patricia Zambrano-Robledo, Edgar O. García Sánchez, Iram P. Rodriguez-Sanchez, María de Lourdes Ramírez-Ahuja "First Record of the Parasitoid Wasp Philolema latrodecti Parasitizing an Egg Sac of the Widow Spider Latrodectus mactans in Nuevo Leon, Mexico," Southwestern Entomologist, 49(4), 1485-1493, (28 February 2025) https://doi.org/10.3958/059.049.0435