Mucus Trail Proteins May Infer Reproductive Readiness for Land Snails

Area of Science:

• Gastropod biology
• Chemical ecology
• Invasive species management

Background:

• Mucus trails are characteristic of Gastropoda, aiding conspecific recognition, especially for reproduction.
• The specific molecular components in snail mucus responsible for communication remain largely unidentified.
• Understanding mucus composition can inform novel, eco-friendly pest control strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify proteins in the mucus trails of the invasive snail *Cernuella virgata*.
• To compare protein profiles between reproductive and non-reproductive stages.
• To investigate the origin of reproductive-stage mucus proteins.

Main Methods:

• Comparative proteomic analysis of mucus trails from different reproductive stages.
• Comparative tissue transcriptomic analysis to identify protein sources.
• Identification of 533 proteins, including stage-exclusive ones.

Main Results:

• Identified 533 proteins in *Cernuella virgata* mucus trails.
• Discovered 191 non-reproductive and 226 reproductive stage-exclusive proteins.
• Transcriptomic data implicated the albumen gland as the source of reproductive-stage mucus proteins, including specific enzymes and uncharacterized proteins.

Conclusions:

• The albumen gland is a significant source of proteins in reproductive snail mucus.
• These proteins may signal reproductive status to conspecifics.
• Further research into the bioactivity of these proteins could lead to new biocontrol methods for invasive snails.