Bacterial Endosymbiont Infections in Living Fossils
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Phylogeny of the North American Vaejovid Scorpion Subfamily Syntropinae Kraepelin, 1905, Based on Morphology, Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA
Cladistics Cladistics 31 (2015) 341–405 10.1111/cla.12091 Phylogeny of the North American vaejovid scorpion subfamily Syntropinae Kraepelin, 1905, based on morphology, mitochondrial and nuclear DNA Edmundo Gonzalez-Santill an a,b,*,†,‡ and Lorenzo Prendinib aThe Graduate Center, City University of New York, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, USA; bScorpion Systematics Research Group, Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024-5192, USA; †Present address: Laboratorio Nacional de Genomica para la Biodiversidad, Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Km 9.6 Libramiento Norte Carretera Leon, C.P. 36821, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico; ‡Present address: Laboratorio de Aracnologıa, Departamento de Biologıa Comparada, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Coyoacan, C.P. 04510, Mexico D.F., Mexico Accepted 25 June 2014 Abstract The first rigorous analysis of the phylogeny of the North American vaejovid scorpion subfamily Syntropinae is presented. The analysis is based on 250 morphological characters and 4221 aligned DNA nucleotides from three mitochondrial and two nuclear gene markers, for 145 terminal taxa, representing 47 species in 11 ingroup genera, and 15 species in eight outgroup genera. The monophyly and composition of Syntropinae and its component genera, as proposed by Soleglad and Fet, are tested. The follow- ing taxa are demonstrated to be para- or polyphyletic: Smeringurinae; Syntropinae; Vaejovinae; Stahnkeini; Syntropini; Syntrop- ina; Thorelliina; Hoffmannius; Kochius; and Thorellius. The spinose (hooked or toothed) margin of the distal barb of the sclerotized hemi-mating plug is demonstrated to be a unique, unambiguous synapomorphy for Syntropinae, uniting taxa previ- ously assigned to different subfamilies. -
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Int. J. Biosci. 2021 International Journal of Biosciences | IJB | ISSN: 2220-6655 (Print), 2222-5234 (Online) http://www.innspub.net Vol. 18, No. 2, p. 146-162, 2021 RESEARCH PAPER OPEN ACCESS Scorpion’s Biodiversity and Proteinaceous Components of Venom Nukhba Akbar1,2*, Ashif Sajjad1, Sabeena Rizwan2, Sobia Munir2, Khalid Mehmood1, Syeda Ayesha Ali2, Rakhshanda2, Ayesha Mushtaq2, Hamza Zahid3 1Institute of Biochemistry, Faculty of Life sciences, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan 2Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University Quetta, Pakistan 3Bolan Medical College, Quetta, Pakistan Key words: Scorpion, Envenomation, Protein, Toxins, Anti-microbial. http://dx.doi.org/10.12692/ijb/18.2.146-162 Article published on February 26, 2021 Abstract Scorpions are a primitive and vast group of venomous arachnids. About 2200 species have been recognized so far. Besides, only a small section of species is considered disastrous to humans. The pathophysiological complications related to a single sting of scorpion are noteworthy to recognize scorpion's envenomation as a universal health problem. The medical relevance of the scorpion's venom attracts modern era research. By molecular cloning and classical biochemistry, several proteins and peptides (related to toxins) are characterized. The revelation of many other novel components and their potential activities in different fields of biological and medicinal sciences revitalized the interests in the field of scorpion‟s venomics. The current study contributes and attempts to escort some general information about the composition of scorpion's venom mainly related to the proteins/peptides. Also, the diverse pernicious effects of scorpion's sting due to the numerous neuro-toxins, hemolytic toxins, nephron-toxins and cardio-toxins as well as the contribution of such toxins/peptides as a potential source of anti-microbial and anti-cancer therapeutics are also covered in the present review. -
Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses Reveal the Diversity of Venom Components from the Vaejovid Scorpion Serradigitus Gertschi
toxins Article Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses Reveal the Diversity of Venom Components from the Vaejovid Scorpion Serradigitus gertschi Maria Teresa Romero-Gutiérrez 1 ID , Carlos Eduardo Santibáñez-López 1,2 ID , Juana María Jiménez-Vargas 1 ID , Cesar Vicente Ferreira Batista 3, Ernesto Ortiz 1,* ID and Lourival Domingos Possani 1,* ID 1 Departamento de Medicina Molecular y Bioprocesos, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad 2001, Apartado Postal 510-3, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62210, Mexico; [email protected] (M.T.R.-G.); [email protected] (C.E.S.-L.); [email protected] (J.M.J.-V.) 2 Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA 3 Laboratorio Universitario de Proteómica, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad 2001, Apartado Postal 510-3, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62210, Mexico; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] (E.O.); [email protected] (L.D.P.) Received: 10 August 2018; Accepted: 1 September 2018; Published: 5 September 2018 Abstract: To understand the diversity of scorpion venom, RNA from venomous glands from a sawfinger scorpion, Serradigitus gertschi, of the family Vaejovidae, was extracted and used for transcriptomic analysis. A total of 84,835 transcripts were assembled after Illumina sequencing. From those, 119 transcripts were annotated and found to putatively code for peptides or proteins that share sequence similarities with the previously reported venom components of other species. In accordance with sequence similarity, the transcripts were classified as potentially coding for 37 ion channel toxins; 17 host defense peptides; 28 enzymes, including phospholipases, hyaluronidases, metalloproteases, and serine proteases; nine protease inhibitor-like peptides; 10 peptides of the cysteine-rich secretory proteins, antigen 5, and pathogenesis-related 1 protein superfamily; seven La1-like peptides; and 11 sequences classified as “other venom components”. -
Taxonomic and Compositional Differences of Ground-Dwelling Arthropods in Riparian Habitats in Glen Canyon, Arizona, USA
Western North American Naturalist Volume 77 Number 3 Article 8 10-12-2017 Taxonomic and compositional differences of ground-dwelling arthropods in riparian habitats in Glen Canyon, Arizona, USA Barbara E. Ralston U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ, [email protected] Neil S. Cobb Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, [email protected] Sandra L. Brantley University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, [email protected] Jacob Higgins Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, [email protected] Charles B. Yackulic U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/wnan Recommended Citation Ralston, Barbara E.; Cobb, Neil S.; Brantley, Sandra L.; Higgins, Jacob; and Yackulic, Charles B. (2017) "Taxonomic and compositional differences of ground-dwelling arthropods in riparian habitats in Glen Canyon, Arizona, USA," Western North American Naturalist: Vol. 77 : No. 3 , Article 8. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/wnan/vol77/iss3/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Western North American Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Western North American Naturalist 77(3), © 2017, pp. 369–384 TAXONOMIC AND COMPOSITIONAL DIFFERENCES OF GROUND-DWELLING ARTHROPODS IN RIPARIAN HABITATS IN GLEN CANYON, ARIZONA, USA Barbara E. Ralston1,2, Neil S. Cobb3, Sandra L. Brantley4, Jacob Higgins3 and Charles B. Yackulic1 ABSTRACT.—The disturbance history, plant species composition, productivity, and structural complexity of a site can exert bott om-up controls on arthropod diversity, abundance, and trophic structure. -
Effects of Large-Scale Wildfires on the Scorpion and Solifugid Communities of the San Diego MSCP Region
Effects of Large-scale Wildfires on the Scorpion and Solifugid Communities of the San Diego MSCP Region Data Summary Prepared for: San Diego Association of Governments U. S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WESTERN ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH CENTER Effects of Large-scale Wildfires on the Scorpion and Solifugid Communities of the San Diego MSCP Region By Christopher W. Brown, Milan J. Mitrovich, Carlton J. Rochester, and Robert N. Fisher U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WESTERN ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH CENTER Data Summary Prepared for: San Diego Association of Governments San Diego Field Station USGS Western Ecological Research Center 4165 Spruance Road, Suite 200 San Diego CA, 92101 Sacramento, California 2010 i U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR KEN SALAZAR, SECRETARY U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Martia McNutt, Director Suggested citation: Brown, C. W., M. J. Mitrovich, C. J. Rochester, and R. N. Fisher. 2010. Effects of large-scale wildfires on the scorpion and solifugid communities of the San Diego MSCP region. U.S. Geological Survey Data Summary prepared for San Diego Association of Governments. 45 pp. The use of firm, trade, or brand names in this report is for identification purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the U. S. Geological Survey. For additional information, contact: Dr. Steven Schwarzbach, Center Director Western Ecological Research Center 3020 State University Dr. East Modoc Hall, Room 3006 Sacramento, CA 95819 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................... -
Scorpiones (Scorpions)
Scorpiones (Scorpions) Evolution and Systematics Scorpions are among the most ancient terrestrial arthropods, derived from amphibious ancestors that lived in the Middle Silurian, around 425 million years ago. Paleontologists maintain that early fossil scorpion species inhabited shallow tropical seas, implying that terrestrial scorpions invaded land independently of other arachnids; when this invasion occurred, however, is unclear. Based on an extensive fossil record, which includes marine Silurian deposits, coal deposits from the Carboniferous, and Cretaceous amber, the scorpion ―ground plan‖ has changed little over time. The external morphology of fossil scorpions closely resembles that of modern descendants, although some of the oldest forms possessed compound lateral eyes (like insects) and digitigrade walking legs (like crustaceans), as well as gills instead of book lungs, and they may have lacked pectines. Scorpions were traditionally placed at the base of the arachnid evolutionary tree, as the closest relatives of all other arachnids, because they resemble extinct marine eurypterids (sea scorpions), the closest relatives of arachnids. Analyses of living species, based on morphology and DNA, suggest that scorpions are embedded deep within Arachnida, forming a natural group (Stomothecata) with harvestmen (Opiliones), and merely retain some of the primitive features of sea scorpions. This placement, however, becomes ambiguous when fossil scorpions are added to the analyses. Although the position of scorpions within the evolutionary tree of Chelicerata remains uncertain, there is no dispute that scorpions are a natural group, united by eleven unique features. Scorpions are characterized by chelate pedipalps and chelicerae, pectines (chemo- and mechanoreceptors used to survey the texture of the ground surface and detect pheromones), and a narrow, flexible postabdomen bearing a telson with pair of venom glands and a terminal sting (aculeus). -
Amidation System in Scorpion Venom Glands
toxins Article The Dual α-Amidation System in Scorpion Venom Glands Gustavo Delgado-Prudencio, Lourival D. Possani , Baltazar Becerril and Ernesto Ortiz * Departamento de Medicina Molecular y Bioprocesos, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad 2001, Colonia Chamilpa, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62210, Mexico * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 4 June 2019; Accepted: 18 July 2019; Published: 20 July 2019 Abstract: Many peptides in scorpion venoms are amidated at their C-termini. This post-translational modification is paramount for the correct biological function of ion channel toxins and antimicrobial peptides, among others. The discovery of canonical amidation sequences in transcriptome-derived scorpion proproteins suggests that a conserved enzymatic α-amidation system must be responsible for this modification of scorpion peptides. A transcriptomic approach was employed to identify sequences putatively encoding enzymes of the α-amidation pathway. A dual enzymatic α-amidation system was found, consisting of the membrane-anchored, bifunctional, peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM) and its paralogs, soluble monofunctional peptidylglycine α-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHMm) and peptidyl-α-hydroxyglycine α-amidating lyase (PALm). Independent genes encode these three enzymes. Amino acid residues responsible for ion coordination and enzymatic activity are conserved in these sequences, suggesting that the enzymes are functional. Potential endoproteolytic recognition sites for proprotein convertases in the PAM sequence indicate that PAM-derived soluble isoforms may also be expressed. Sequences potentially encoding proprotein convertases (PC1 and PC2), carboxypeptidase E (CPE), and other enzymes of the α-amidation pathway, were also found, confirming the presence of this pathway in scorpions. Keywords: amidation; evolution; posttranslational modifications; scorpion; transcriptomics Key Contribution: A dual enzymatic system responsible for α-amidation of scorpion venom peptides is described. -
Evolutionary Morphology of the Hemolymph Vascular System in Scorpions: a Character Analysis
Arthropod Structure & Development 41 (2012) 545e560 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Arthropod Structure & Development journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/asd Evolutionary morphology of the hemolymph vascular system in scorpions: A character analysis B.-J. Klußmann-Fricke a,*, L. Prendini b, C.S. Wirkner a a Allgemeine & Spezielle Zoologie, Universität Rostock, Universitätsplatz 2, 18055 Rostock, Germany b Scorpion Systematics Research Group, Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street New York, NY 10024-5192, USA article info abstract Article history: Phylogenetically informative characters from the internal anatomy of scorpions were first reported more Received 22 November 2011 than 150 years ago, but the subject received little attention after the mid-1920s. Recent investigations, Received in revised form using traditional dissection, illustration and histological sectioning, microscopy, and innovative new 18 April 2012 methods for investigating complex soft tissue anatomy identified a new wealth of variation. Additionally, Accepted 16 June 2012 these investigations confirmed the phylogenetic significance of previously identified structures. Building on earlier work we present a more detailed description of the hemolymph vascular system (HVS) in Keywords: scorpions, based on comparison of the vascular structures of the heart and the branching pattern of the Hemolymph vascular system Scorpions prosomal arteries among 45 exemplar species representing most of the major scorpion lineages. Using Evolutionary morphology corrosion-casting, MicroCT in combination with computer-aided 3D-reconstruction, and scanning elec- tron microscopy, we conceptualize a series of phylogenetically informative characters for the anterior aorta system and characters of the heart and associated structures (e.g. -
Arachnides 73
Arachnides, 73, 2014. ARACHNIDES BULLETIN DE TERRARIOPHILIE ET DE RECHERCHES DE L’A.P.C.I. (Association Pour la Connaissance des Invertébrés) 73 2014 0 Arachnides, 73, 2014. Un cas tératologique chez le scorpion Mesobuthus eupeus (C.L. Koch, 1839) (Scorpiones: Buthidae). G. DUPRE Résumé. Dans la présente note, un nouveau cas d'anomalie morphologique est observé chez un scorpion, Mesobuthus eupeus (C.L. Koch, 1839). Il est comparé à d'autres cas déjà relevés dans la littérature. Abstract. In the present note, a new case of morphological anomaly is observed to a scorpion, Mesobuthus eupeus (C.L. Koch, 1839). It is compared to other cases already reported in the literature. Introduction. Un spécimen femelle juvénile de la collection du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris enregistré sous la référence RS7888 nous a été confié par le Docteur W.R. Lourenço pour examen suite à l'observation macroscopique d'une anomalie du mésosome. Ce spécimen provient d'Iran, à 45 km au nord de Marand, province de l'Azerbaïdjan de l'Est (J. Delacour coll., 1974). Sa localisation laisse à penser qu'il s'agit de Mesobuthus eupus eupeus (C.L. Koch, 1839). Résultat. Ce spécimen présente une duplication partielle du mésosome touchant les tergites II à IV qui sont totalement dupliqués (fig. 1). Le tergite I n'est pas modifié mais les tergites V et VI présentent une structure de "lissage" anormale, les carènes semblant estompées (fig.2). Fig.1. Céphalothorax et début du mésosome. 1 Arachnides, 73, 2014. Les tergites II, III et IV présentent donc une duplication de chaque côté de la ligne médiane laissant bien visible la membrane pleurale. -
First Report of Random Larval Orientation in the Genus Vaejovis C
Boletín Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa, nº 45 (2009) : 531−532. NOTAS BREVES First report of random larval orientation in the genus Vaejovis C. L. Koch, 1836 (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae) Lucian K. Ross 6303 Tarnow. Detroit, Michigan 48210-1558 USA ‒ [email protected] Abstract: To date, female members of the North American scorpion genus Vaejovis C. L. Koch, 1836 have been reported to transport first-instar and pre-dispersal second-instars on their dorsa, with the young arranged in a longitudinal pattern of larval orientation. The current contribution reports the first observations of random larval orientation in the vaejovid scor- pion Vaejovis confusus Stahnke, 1940, and synthesizes the known and previously unreported dorsal orientation patterns in members of the family Vaejovidae. Key words: Scorpiones, Vaejovidae, Vaejovis confusus, larval orientation, dorsal transportation stage. Primera observación de orientación larvaria aleatoria en el género Vaejovis C. L. Koch, 1836 (Scorpiones: Vaejo- vidae) Resumen: Hasta el momento se había constatado que las hembras del género norteamericano de escorpiones Vaejovis C. L. Koch, 1836 transportan las crías del primer estadio y las del segundo estadio, antes de la dispersión, sobre el dorso, con las crías dispuestas según un patrón longitudinal de orientación larvaria. La presente aportación recoge las primeras observaciones de orientación larvaria aleatoria en el escorpión vaejóvido Vaejovis confusus Stahnke, 1940, y resume los patrones de orientación, conocidos y aún inéditos, en miembros de la familia Vaejovidae. Palabras clave: Scorpiones, Vaejovidae, Vaejovis confusus, orientación larvaria, fase de transporte dorsal. After giving birth, female scorpions transport their first-instar young Random orientation of the first-instar young of V.