Fig. 1

The polypeptidic venom composition of R. metallica. A R. metallica worker. B Dissected venom apparatus of R. metallica worker. C SDS-PAGE gel of R. metallica venom (pooled) labeled with major venom proteins identified by LC-MS/MS. D Total ion chromatogram from LC-MS/MS analysis of R. metallica venom (pooled from ~100 worker ants) with peaks corresponding to identified venom peptides labeled. Additional peptides were identified only in the reduced and alkylated and/or reduced, alkylated and trypsin-digested venom samples. E Venom component-encoding transcripts (i.e., those encoding peptides detected in the venom itself) comprised 96% of total transcript expression. Of these, transcripts encoding aculeatoxin peptides, EGF-domain peptides, a CNH-domain peptide, and venom proteins comprised 98.81, 0.36, 0.04, and 0.79%, respectively, of venom component expression. F Venom component-encoding transcripts (highlighted in green) constitute almost all the most highly expressed transcripts. TPM, transcripts per million