Figure 2

Calculation of the minimum number of gene copies. Multiple alignment of the top six SVMP transcripts of B. asper (Car) (Additional file 1: Table S6) using the sequence (top) of the most similar database-annotated toxin sequence as template. Each line of the multiple sequence alignment displays a distinct set of contig(s), comprised by a unique set of reads indicated in parentheses (see also Additional file 1: Table S5). Since the short average length of the reads and the low coverage of reads per contig prevented the assemblage of reliable gene sequences, each line of the alignment corresponds to at least a distinct gene of the SVMP multigene family translated into the venom gland transcriptome of B. asper (car).