A study on the genetic diversity of Androctonus crassicauda (Olivier, 1807; Scorpiones: Buthidae) from Turkey

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been widely employed in phylogeographic and phylogenetic studies. In the present study, the genetic identification of the scorpion Androctonus crassicauda (Olivier, 1807) was carried out by using the 16S mitochondrial gene, since this scorpion represents the most important species in Turkey regarding scorpionism and antivenom production. Two genetic groups were found according to the sequence analysis results, while five different loci at the nucleotide level presented genetic variation in the 16S region when compared to a known A. crassicauda sequence data (GenBank, AJ277598). Nucleotide variations found in the current work constitute the first descriptive report for A. crassicauda. Moreover, future studies may enlighten the genetic and venom composition variations for this scorpion species.

A study of genetic diversity among different population of Orthochirus sp. based on cytochrome C oxidase subunit I and 16srRNA sequencing

“…of Khorasan Province, at least 5 species have been reported in Iran, and morphological features, statistical morphometric analysis, and molecular evidence in this study confirmed the separation of these species (Mirshamsi et al, 2013). In another study, the intraspecies analysis of Androctonus crassicauda through cytochrome c oxidase indicated no intraspecies diversity in isolated specimens in Turkey (Ozkan et al, 2010).…”

Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov. from the Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia (Scorpiones, Buthidae)

“…In molecular and morphometrical investigations, Alqahtani et al (2022a, b, c) referred to the existence of three distinct clusters of A. crassicauda populations collected from different ecogeographical regions in Saudi Arabia, and the Arabian clade is placed as a basal clade to Turkey and Iran sequences. Ozkan et al (2010) referred to two genetic groups of A. crassicauda found in Turkey, based on the 16S Yağmur (2021) described a new species of Androctonus from the Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey, which had been previously identified as A. crassicauda (Fig. 16).…”

Morphometric and meristic diversity of the species Androctonus crassicauda (Olivier, 1807) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in Saudi Arabia

“…Their physiological effectiveness has been exhibited in the venom of the scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus collected from two different geographic regions in Egypt. Specifically, some efforts have been conducted on A. crassicauda based on mitochondrial DNA markers in Turkey and Iran ( Ozkan, Ahmet & Zafer, 2010 ; Toprak, Parmaksiz & Aslan, 2019 ; Jafari et al, 2020 ). These findings support the description of a new species of the Androctonus from Turkey ( Yağmur, 2021 ).…”