The chromosome-level genome of Mesobuthus martensii provides insights into its evolution and the diversity of venom peptides

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  The chromosome-level genome of Mesobuthus martensii provides insights into its evolution and the diversity of venom peptides Abstract Mesobuthus martensii , the source species of the traditional Chinese medicine “Quanxie”, has long been utilized for its therapeutic properties. Venom peptides are recognized as the major active molecular basis of these pharmacological activities. Despite this, their development as therapeutic agents remains poorly explored. In this study, we performed an integrated multi-omics investigation to systematically explore the venom peptides of Mesobuthus martensii . We generated a chromosome-level genome assembly of Mesobuthus martensii using third-generation sequencing technologies, yielding a genome size of 1.08 Gb with a contig N50 of 46.46 Mb. Integrated genomic and transcriptomic analyses led to the identification of 51 putative novel venom peptide candidates. From the broader venom peptide set, five lysine- and arginine-rich candidates were select...

A new species of Buthus Leach, 1815 from the Atlantic coast of Morocco (Scorpiones: Buthidae)

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A new species of Buthus Leach, 1815 from the Atlantic coast of Morocco (Scorpiones: Buthidae)

Abstract

The status of the Buthus population occurring on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, from Kenitra to El Jadida, originally reported to belong to Buthus occitanus occitanus (Amoreux, 1789) then remaining unnamed since studies demonstrated that B. occitanus range does not extend beyond Western Europe, is clarified and this population is described as a new species, B. maamora sp. n. The new species shows affinities with B. atlantis Pocock, 1889 and B. parroti Vachon, 1949 but can be easily distinguished from these two species by a combination of several key characters. The new taxon described here represents the 19th known Buthus species reported from Morocco and raises the number of currently recognized species for the genus Buthus to 79.


Eric Ythier. A new species of Buthus Leach, 1815 from the Atlantic coast of Morocco (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Faunitaxys, 2023, 11 (69), pp.1-7. ⟨hal-04243110⟩