Leiurus abdullahbayrami sp. nov. is described from Southeastern Turkey and compared with other species of the genus, in particular with L. quinquestriatus, which was previously misidentified from Turkey. The new species is readily distinguished from other members of the genus by pedipalp chela and metasomal segments that are distinctly shorter than in L. quinquestriatus; metasomal segment V has large and rounded lobes; trichobothrium db on the fixed finger of pedipalp is located between trichobothria est and esb (in L. quinquestriatus it is located between et and est). All known Turkish populations of Leiurus were examined and found to represent the new species.
Recent cytogenetic and genomic studies suggest that morphological and molecular evolution is decoupled in the basal arachnid order Scorpiones. Extraordinary karyotype variation has been observed particularly in the family Buthidae, which is unique among scorpions for its holokinetic chromosomes. We analyzed the karyotypes of four geographically distant species of the genus Androctonus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Androctonus australis, Androctonus bourdoni, Androctonus crassicauda, Androctonus maelfaiti) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) using both classic and molecular cytogenetic methods. The mitotic complement of all species consisted of 2n = 24 elements. Fluorescence in situ hybridization with a fragment of the 18S ribosomal RNA gene, a cytogenetic marker well known for its mobility, identified a single interstitial rDNA locus on the largest chromosome pair in all species examined. Our findings thus support the evolutionary stasis of the Androctonus karyotype, which is discussed with respect to current hypotheses on chromosome evolution both within and beyond the family Buthidae. Differences in karyotype dynamics between Androctonus spp. and the other buthids can help us better understand the driving forces behind their chromosome evolution and speciation.
Thioester-mediated peptide bond formation has recently garnered a lot of attention, most notably in its relevance to condensation of large peptide fragments. Herein, a simple and general ligation method for the preparation of linear and cyclic peptides, starting from peptide thioester, mainly p-chlorophenyl, precursors is reported. The inherent advantages of this method are the low epimerization, reduced dimerization, use of mild reaction conditions, and elimination of superfluous coupling reagents.
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