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...

Velvet Revolution: integrative taxonomy of South Caucasian Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae, Eresidae), with five new species

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Velvet Revolution: integrative taxonomy of South Caucasian Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae, Eresidae), with five new species 

Abstract

This study is part of a series devoted to the systematic revision of the velvet spider genus Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae: Eresidae) in Western Asia, and represents a milestone toward understanding the biodiversity of this group in the South Caucasus and adjacent territories. Currently, only three species of Eresus are known from the South Caucasus, although the presence of E. kollari Rossi, 1846 is highly questionable. Integrating both morphological data and COI barcoding results, we herein describe and illustrate five new species: E. albimarginatus Seropian and Zamani, sp. nov. (♂), E. deminutus Seropian and Bulbulashvili, sp. nov. (♂), E. gulliver Seropian and Arsenashvili, sp. nov. (♂♀), E. megobroba Seropian and Bulbulashvili, sp. nov. (♂), all from Georgia, and E. tigrani Zamani, Seropian, Zarikian and Szűts, sp. nov. (♂♀) from Armenia and Azerbaijan (Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic). An updated phylogeny, incorporating 23 newly generated sequences, revealed eight distinct maternal lineages, four of which are formally recognized as species-groups. Previous South Caucasian records of E. kollari and E. tristis Kroneberg, 1875 are considered misidentifications and are, therefore, rejected. We provide a map of the known localities of South Caucasian Eresus species, based on examined material and data from social networking platforms.


Seropian, A., Zamani, A., Bulbulashvili, N., Arsenashvili, E., Zarikian, N., & Szűts, T. (2025). Velvet Revolution: Integrative taxonomy of South Caucasian Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae, Eresidae), with five new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 205(4). https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf169