
Overview
Background
Venoms play a range of adaptive roles in the animal kingdom from predation to defense to competitor deterrence. Remarkably, despite their biological importance and uniqueness, the evolution of venom systems is poorly understood. New insights into the evolution of venom systems and the importance of the associated toxins cannot be advanced without recognition of the true biochemical, ecological, morphological and pharmacological diversity of venoms and associated venom systems. A major limitation has been the very narrow taxonomical range studied. Entire groups of venomous animals remain virtually unstudied. My research is inherently interdisciplinary, integrating ecological, evolutionary, and functional genomics approaches in order to understand the evolution of venom systems. Studies range from discovering the shock-inducing hypotensive and anticoagulant venom of the iconic Komodo Dragon through to exploring the unique temperature specific adaptations of Antarctic octopus venoms.
Availability
- Professor Bryan Fry is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Works
Search Professor Bryan Fry’s works on UQ eSpace
2017
Journal Article
Melt with this kiss: paralyzing and liquefying venom of the assassin bug Pristhesancus plagipennis (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)
Walker, Andrew A. , Madio, Bruno, Jin, Jiayi, Undheim, Eivind A. B. , Fry, Bryan G. and King, Glenn F. (2017). Melt with this kiss: paralyzing and liquefying venom of the assassin bug Pristhesancus plagipennis (Hemiptera: Reduviidae). Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, 16 (4), 552-566. doi: 10.1074/mcp.M116.063321
2017
Journal Article
Venom profiling of a population of the theraphosid spider Phlogius crassipes reveals continuous ontogenetic changes from juveniles through adulthood
Santana, Renan C., Perez, David, Dobson, James, Panagides, Nadya, Raven, Robert J., Nouwens, Amanda, Jones, Alun, King, Glenn F. and Fry, Bryan G. (2017). Venom profiling of a population of the theraphosid spider Phlogius crassipes reveals continuous ontogenetic changes from juveniles through adulthood. Toxins, 9 (4) 116, 116. doi: 10.3390/toxins9040116
2017
Journal Article
The evolution of fangs, venom, and mimicry systems in blenny fishes
Casewell, Nicholas R., Visser, Jeroen C., Baumann, Kate, Dobson, James, Han, Han, Kuruppu, Sanjaya, Morgan, Michael, Romilio, Anthony, Weisbecker, Vera, Ali, Syed A., Debono, Jordan, Koludarov, Ivan, Que, Ivo, Bird, Gregory C., Cooke, Gavan M., Nouwens, Amanda, Hodgson, Wayne C., Wagstaff, Simon C., Cheney, Karen L., Vetter, Irina, van der Weerd, Louise, Richardson, Michael K. and Fry, Bryan G. (2017). The evolution of fangs, venom, and mimicry systems in blenny fishes. Current Biology, 27 (8), 1184-1191. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.02.067
2017
Journal Article
How the cobra got its flesh-eating venom: Cytotoxicity as a defensive innovation and its co-evolution with hooding, aposematic marking, and spitting
Panagides, Nadya, Jackson, Timothy N.W., Ikonomopoulou, Maria P., Arbuckle, Kevin, Pretzler, Rudolf, Yang, Daryl C., Ali, Syed A., Koludarov, Ivan, Dobson, James, Sanker, Brittany, Asselin, Angelique, Santana, Renan C., Hendrikx, Iwan, van der Ploeg, Harold, Tai-A-Pin, Jeremie, van den Bergh, Romilly, Kerkkamp, Harald M.I., Vonk, Freek J., Naude, Arno, Strydom, Morné A., Jacobsz, Louis, Dunstan, Nathan, Jaeger, Marc, Hodgson, Wayne C., Miles, John and Fry, Bryan G. (2017). How the cobra got its flesh-eating venom: Cytotoxicity as a defensive innovation and its co-evolution with hooding, aposematic marking, and spitting. Toxins, 9 (103) 103, 103. doi: 10.3390/toxins9030103
2017
Journal Article
Multi-locus phylogeny and species delimitation of Australo-Papuan blacksnakes (Pseudechis Wagler, 1830: Elapidae: Serpentes)
Maddock, Simon T., Childerstone, Aaron, Fry, Bryan Grieg, Williams, David J., Barlow, Axel and Wuster, Wolfgang (2017). Multi-locus phylogeny and species delimitation of Australo-Papuan blacksnakes (Pseudechis Wagler, 1830: Elapidae: Serpentes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 107, 48-55. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2016.09.005
2017
Journal Article
The cardiovascular and neurotoxic effects of the venoms of six bony and cartilaginous fish species
Han, Han, Baumann, Kate, Casewell, Nicholas R., Ali, Syed A., Dobson, James, Koludarov, Ivan, Debono, Jordan, Cutmore, Scott C., Rajapakse, Niwanthi W., Jackson, Timothy N. W., Jones, Rob, Hodgson, Wayne C., Fry, Bryan G. and Kuruppu, Sanjaya (2017). The cardiovascular and neurotoxic effects of the venoms of six bony and cartilaginous fish species. Toxins, 9 (2) 67, 67. doi: 10.3390/toxins9020067
2016
Journal Article
Endless forms most beautiful: the evolution of ophidian oral glands, including the venom system, and the use of appropriate terminology for homologous structures
Jackson, Timothy N. W., Young, Bruce, Underwood, Garth, McCarthy, Colin J., Kochva, Elazar, Vidal, Nicolas, van der Weerd, Louise, Nabuurs, Rob, Dobson, James, Whitehead, Daryl, Vonk, Freek J., Hendrikx, Iwan, Hay, Chris and Fry, Bryan G. (2016). Endless forms most beautiful: the evolution of ophidian oral glands, including the venom system, and the use of appropriate terminology for homologous structures. Zoomorphology, 136 (1), 1-24. doi: 10.1007/s00435-016-0332-9
2016
Journal Article
Viper venom botox: the molecular origin and evolution of the waglerin peptides used in anti-wrinkle skin cream
Debono, Jordan, Xie, Bing, Violette, Aude, Fourmy, Rudy, Jaeger, Marc and Fry, Bryan G. (2016). Viper venom botox: the molecular origin and evolution of the waglerin peptides used in anti-wrinkle skin cream. Journal of Molecular Evolution, 84 (1), 1-4. doi: 10.1007/s00239-016-9764-6
2016
Journal Article
Rapid radiations and the race to redundancy: an investigation of the evolution of Australian elapid snake venoms
Jackson, Timothy N. W., Koludarov, Ivan, Ali, Syed A., Dobson, James, Zdenek, Christina N., Dashevsky, Daniel, Op den Brouw, Bianca, Masci, Paul P., Nouwens, Amanda, Josh, Peter, Goldenberg, Jonathan, Cipriani, Vittoria, Hay, Chris, Hendrikx, Iwan, Dunstan, Nathan, Allen, Luke and Fry, Bryan G. (2016). Rapid radiations and the race to redundancy: an investigation of the evolution of Australian elapid snake venoms. Toxins, 8 (11) 309, 309. doi: 10.3390/toxins8110309
2016
Journal Article
The snake with the scorpion's sting: novel three-finger toxin sodium channel activators from the venom of the long-glanded blue coral snake (Calliophis bivirgatus)
Yang, Daryl C., Deuis, Jennifer R., Dashevsky, Daniel, Dobson, James, Jackson, Timothy N. W., Brust, Andreas, Xie, Bing, Koludarov, Ivan, Debono, Jordan, Hendrikx, Iwan, Hodgson, Wayne C., Josh, Peter, Nouwens, Amanda, Baillie, Gregory J., Bruxner, Timothy J. C., Alewood, Paul F., Peng Lim, Kelvin Kok, Frank, Nathaniel, Vetter, Irina and Fry, Bryan G. (2016). The snake with the scorpion's sting: novel three-finger toxin sodium channel activators from the venom of the long-glanded blue coral snake (Calliophis bivirgatus). Toxins, 8 (10) A034, 303. doi: 10.3390/toxins8100303
2016
Journal Article
A tricky trait: applying the fruits of the “function debate” in the philosophy of biology to the “venom debate” in the science of toxinology
Jackson, Timothy N. W. J and Fry, Bryan G. (2016). A tricky trait: applying the fruits of the “function debate” in the philosophy of biology to the “venom debate” in the science of toxinology. Toxins, 8 (9) 263, 263. doi: 10.3390/toxins8090263
2016
Journal Article
Canopy venom: proteomic comparison among new world arboreal pit-viper venoms
Debono, Jordan, Cochran, Chip, Kuruppu, Sanjaya, Nouwens, Amanda, Rajapakse, Niwanthi W., Kawasaki, Minami, Wood, Kelly, Dobson, James, Baumann, Kate, Jouiaei, Mahdokht, Jackson, Timothy N. W., Koludarov, Ivan, Low, Dolyce, Ali, Syed A., Smith, A. Ian, Barnes, Andrew and Fry, Bryan G. (2016). Canopy venom: proteomic comparison among new world arboreal pit-viper venoms. Toxins, 8 (7) 210, 210.1-210.19. doi: 10.3390/toxins8070210
2016
Journal Article
Venoms of heteropteran insects: a treasure trove of diverse pharmacological toolkits
Walker, Andrew A., Weirauch, Christiane, Fry, Bryan G. and King, Glenn F. (2016). Venoms of heteropteran insects: a treasure trove of diverse pharmacological toolkits. Toxins, 8 (2) 43, 43. doi: 10.3390/toxins8020043
2016
Journal Article
Deep venomics of the Pseudonaja genus reveals inter- and intra-specific variation
Reeks, Timothy, Lavergne, Vincent, Sunagar, Kartik, Jones, Alun, Undheim, Eivind, Dunstan, Nathan, Fry, Bryan and Alewood, Paul F. (2016). Deep venomics of the Pseudonaja genus reveals inter- and intra-specific variation. Journal of Proteomics, 133, 20-32. doi: 10.1016/j.jprot.2015.11.019
2016
Journal Article
Structure-activity relationship of chlorotoxin-like peptides
Ali, Syed Abid, Alam, Mehtab, Abbasi, Atiya, Undheim, Eivind A. B., Fry, Bryan Grieg, Kalbacher, Hubert and Voelter, Wolfgang (2016). Structure-activity relationship of chlorotoxin-like peptides. Toxins, 8 (2), 36. doi: 10.3390/toxins8020036
2016
Journal Article
Evaluating the drivers of Indo-Pacific biodiversity: speciation and dispersal of sea snakes (Elapidae: hydrophiinae)
Ukuwela, Kanishka D. B., Lee, Michael S. Y., Rasmussen, Arne R., de Silva, Anslem, Mumpuni, Fry, Bryan G., Ghezellou, Parviz, Rezaie-Atagholipour, Mohsen and Sanders, Kate L. (2016). Evaluating the drivers of Indo-Pacific biodiversity: speciation and dispersal of sea snakes (Elapidae: hydrophiinae). Journal of Biogeography, 43 (2), 243-255. doi: 10.1111/jbi.12636
2016
Conference Publication
Exploring the immunosuppressive potential of venom-derived molecules
Ryan, R., Ikonomopoulou, M., Haigh, O., Lutzky, V, Martinez, Jimenez R., Ratnatunga, C., Wong, Y., Rojas, Leal, I, Lopez, A., Fry, B., Herzig, V, King, G. and Miles, J. (2016). Exploring the immunosuppressive potential of venom-derived molecules. International Congress of Immunology (ICI), Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 21-26 August 2016. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley - VCH. doi: 10.1002/eji.201670200
2016
Conference Publication
Investigating venom-derived molecules that augment human immune function
Jimenez-Martinez, R., Ikonomopoulou, M., Haigh, O., Lutzky, V, Leal-Rojas, I, Ryan, R., Ratnatunga, C., Wong, Y., Lopez, A., Fry, B., Herzig, V, King, G. and Miles, J. J. (2016). Investigating venom-derived molecules that augment human immune function. International Congress of Immunology (ICI), Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 21-26 August 2016. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley - VCH. doi: 10.1002/eji.201670200
2015
Journal Article
Toxins: State of Journal Report, 2016
Tesh, Vernon L. and Fry, Bryan Grieg (2015). Toxins: State of Journal Report, 2016. Toxins, 7 (12), 5459-5461. doi: 10.3390/toxins7124895
2015
Journal Article
Weaponization of a hormone: convergent recruitment of hyperglycemic hormone into the venom of arthropod predators
Undheim, Eivind A. B., Grimm, Lena L., Low, Chek -Fong, Morgenstern, David, Herzig, Volker, Zobel-Thropp, Pamela, Pineda, Sandy Steffany, Habib, Rosaline, Dziemborowicz, Slawomir, Fry, Bryan G., Nicholson, Graham M., Binford, Greta J., Mobli, Mehdi and King, Glenn F. (2015). Weaponization of a hormone: convergent recruitment of hyperglycemic hormone into the venom of arthropod predators. Structure, 23 (7) 3184, 1283-1292. doi: 10.1016/j.str.2015.05.003
Funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Bryan Fry is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Evaluation of Phylogenetic Patterns of Scorpion Pathophysiological Effects and Effectiveness of Next-Generation Antivenoms
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Glenn King, Dr Sam Robinson
-
Doctor Philosophy
Venom variation in American pit vipers
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Andrew Walker
-
Doctor Philosophy
Anacondas as sentinel species for accumulation of oil spill heavy metals into the food web
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Jianxin Zhao
-
Doctor Philosophy
Evolutionary and clinical implications of differential pathophysiological effects of rattlesnake venoms upon blood coagulation, cell function, and nerve transmission.
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Andrew Walker
Completed supervision
-
2025
Doctor Philosophy
Clinical implications and evolutionary insights of Latin American pit viper venom function
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Fernanda Cardoso, Dr Andrew Walker
-
2025
Doctor Philosophy
Pathophysiological actions of elapid snake venom on prey and human targets
Principal Advisor
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Therapeutic options for divergent snake venom.
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Mary-Louise Roy Manchadi
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Coagulotoxicity and neurotoxicity variation in Bitis venoms: Evolutionary, pathophysiological and biodiscovery implications
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Andrew Walker
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
The Co-Evolutionary Dynamics of alpha-Neurotoxic Snake Venoms and their Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Targets
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Andrew Walker
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Evolution and Diversification of the Anguimorphan Lizard Venom System
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Irina Vetter
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
Characterising venom variation and antivenom effectiveness within the "True" vipers (Viperinae: Viperidae)
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Irina Vetter
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
Effects of Australian snake venoms on coagulation: Differential potency, biochemistry, and antivenom efficacy
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Irina Vetter
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
Novelty in three-finger toxin evolution
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Irina Vetter
-
2019
Doctor Philosophy
Tarantulas of Australia: phylogenetics and venomics
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Glenn King, Associate Professor Lyn Cook
-
2019
Doctor Philosophy
A Blood Bond: Evolutionary, Pathophysiological and Biodiscovery implications of coagulotoxic snake venoms
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Irina Vetter
-
2018
Doctor Philosophy
Evolution of the venom system in aculeate hymenoptera
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Irina Vetter
-
2017
Doctor Philosophy
An investigation of the evolution of the Anguimorph lizard venom system
Principal Advisor
-
2016
Doctor Philosophy
Evolution and diversification of the cnidarian venom system
Principal Advisor
-
2016
Doctor Philosophy
A philosophical and empirical investigation of the evolution of the toxicoferan reptile venom system
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Irina Vetter, Professor Glenn King
-
2014
Doctor Philosophy
Centipede Venom Evolution: Casting light on a neglected group of venomous animals
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Glenn King
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Bryan Fry directly for media enquiries about:
- Animal venoms
- Antivenoms
- Biodiscovery
- Drug design
- Venom
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