Conus peptides: phylogenetic range of biological activity

The major function of the venoms of the predatory marine snails belonging to the genus Conus is to paralyze prey. Thus, the venom of each Conus species acts on receptors and ion channels of the prey; previous studies suggested much less activity on homologous receptor targets in more distant taxa. In this article, we address the question of whether some peptide components of Conus venoms ("conopeptides") have "cross-phylum" biological activity.