Gene expression in Echis carinatus (carpet viper) venom glands following milking.

RNA was extracted from the venom glands of Echis carinatus at different times after milking, and the temporal pattern and nature of mRNA transcribed during venom regeneration was examined by in vitro translation. Venom products were immunoprecipitated with E. carinatus venom polyclonal antiserum. Maximum transcriptional activity occurred 3 days after milking. Electrophoretic analysis of the translation products showed minimal differences in the banding patterns at each time interval. Analysis of the translation products from Kenyan, Nigerian and Saudi Arabian carpet vipers, however, revealed differences which suggest that the observed heterogeneity in E. carinatus venom occurs at the level of the genome.