. "A remarkable diversity of venom peptides is expressed in the genus Conus (known as \"conotoxins\" or \"conopeptides\"). Between 50 and 200 different venom peptides can be found in a single Conus species, each having its own complement of peptides. Conopeptides are encoded by a few gene superfamilies; here we analyze the evolution of the A-superfamily in a fish-hunting species clade, Pionoconus. More than 90 conopeptide sequences from 11 different Conus species were used to build a phylogenetic tree. Comparison with a species tree based on standard genes reveals multiple gene duplication events, some of which took place before the Pionoconus radiation. By analysing several A-conopeptides from other Conus species recorded in GenBank, we date the major duplication events after the divergence between fish-hunting and non-fish-hunting species. Furthermore, likelihood approaches revealed strong positive selection; the magnitude depends on which A-conopeptide lineage and amino-acid locus is analyzed. The four major A-conopeptide clades defined are consistent with the current division of the superfamily into families and subfamilies based on the Cys pattern. The function of three of these clades (the \u03BAA-family, the \u03B14/7-subfamily, and \u03B13/5-subfamily) has previously been characterized. The function of the remaining clade, corresponding to the \u03B14/4-subfamily, has not been elucidated. This subfamily is also found in several other fish-hunting species clades within Conus. The analysis revealed a surprisingly diverse origin of \u03B14/4 conopeptides from a single species, Conus bullatus. This phylogenetic approach that defines different genetic lineages of Conus venom peptides provides a guidepost for identifying conopeptides with potentially novel functions." . . "J. Mol. Evol." . "Olivera B.M." . "Watkins M." . "Puillandre N." . "2010"^^ . "190-202" . "Evolution of conus peptide genes: duplication and positive selection in the A-Superfamily." . "70" . "doi:10.1007/s00239-010-9321-7" .