Genetic diversity among different species of the genus Leiurus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East

Alqahtani, Abdulaziz R.; Badry, Ahmed

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.08.048

Cited by 13 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Most likely, Mesobuthus records forming a continuous range from western Kazakhstan between 0.012 to 0.016, which is consistent with levels of within species haplotype diversity in other buthid scorpions (i.e. Pedroso et al [2013]; Coelho et al [2014]; Alqahtani & Badry [2020]).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 64%

The northernmost Palearctic scorpion

Poverennyi

Graham

Fet

2022

Arthsel

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Reserve. Molecular data indicate that the populations is M. bogdoensis (Birula, 1896). Material and methodsThe field collection was performed by the first author (N.P.). On 13 August 2021, 10 scorpion specimens were collected with the help of UV light at night on a slope of the Karagashta Ravine, 1 km from Aituar Village, Kuvandyk District, Orenburg Province, Russian Federation (51.1072°N, 57.6606°E), within the Aituar Steppe area of the Orenburg Nature Reserve. The specimens were found in dry grass-tussock stony steppe habitat (Fig. 2). DNA extraction, amplification, and sequencing of the COI gene for this population were also performed by the first author (N.P.) according to the methods published earlier [Poverennyi, Anikin, 2020a, b]. The new single Aituar COI sequence was deposited in GenBank under accession number OM905082. This sequence was added to 23 sequences belonging to five other congeneric species, which represented a subset of 98 sequences recently used for revision of genus Mesobuthus [Kovařík et al., 2022] (see Fig. 1 legend for details). The phylogenetic analysis of the combined dataset was performed by the second author (M.R.G.) The mitochondrial COI sequence data were aligned using MUSCLE [Edgar, 2004] in the AliView 1.7.1 software package [Larsson, 2014] using default parameters. Successful alignment of the sequences was confirmed visually and ends were trimmed manually in AliView. Phylogenetic relationships were estimated by implementing the criteria of Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Bayesian Inference (BI). In the ML analysis, IQTREE version 1.6.6 [Nguyen et al., 2015] was used, allowing the software to select optimum substitution models with ModelFinder [Kalyaanamoorthy et al., 2017]. Node support was calculated ABSTRACT. This note addresses the northernmost (above 51°N) Palearctic scorpion population of the Aituar Steppe in the Orenburg Nature Reserve, Russia. According to our original COI mtDNA analysis, this population is Mesobuthus bogdoensis (Birula, 1896) (Buthidae).

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 64%

The northernmost Palearctic scorpion

Poverennyi

Graham

Fet

2022

Arthsel

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“…Levy & Amitai (1980) , revealed that these vitiations might be caused by a physical barrier prevents gene flow between Asian and African populations of Egypt. The geographical features might contribute to increasing scorpion diversification in association with long-term geomorphological and climatic processes reported in different taxa (e.g., Sanmartín, 2003 ; Lourenço & Rossi, 2016 ; Saleh et al, 2018 ; Alqahtani & Badry, 2020 ). Accordingly, Prendini (2001) referred to local populations might diverge on small spatial scales as the gene flow is limited across barriers of unsuitable habitat.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Alqahtani

Badry

Galil

et al. 2022

PeerJ

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Intraspecific molecular and morphological variations among geographically isolated populations are useful for understanding the evolutionary processes, which is considered early stage of allopatric speciation. Also, the knowledge of the regional variation of scorpion venom composition is needed to improve antivenom therapeutic management. Androctonus crassicauda (Olivier, 1807) is the most common and medically important species in Arabia and the Middle East. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the geographic morphological variation among A.crassicaudapopulations, regarding its geographical distribution in unexplored arid regions in Saudi Arabia. Samples were collected and examined morphologically under a dissecting microscope from different four eco-geographical regions. The results of ANOVA and multivariate statistical analyses provide strong evidence of geographical variation. The two populations from OTU3 and OUT4 showed the greatest degree of morphological difference from populations of OUT1 and OUT2. Each OTU3 and OTU4 populations showed significant speciation without overlapping in the two groups, while the remaining overlapped groups comprised two other populations. Several body variables influenced male separation, including carapace posterior width, metasoma 3rd length, and metasoma 2nd length. For females, telson length, metasoma 1st width, and sternite 7th width were highly influential variables. Such variation may suggest the existence of cryptic taxa within A. crassicauda populations in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, metasoma ratios can be used as good indicators in intraspecific variation studies of Scorpions.

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“…Scorpions of the genus Leiurus (“deathstalker”) are extremely dangerous [ 16 ], but their venom can be used in medicine [ 17 – 19 ]. Although the genus Leiurus for a long time was considered monotypic, Lowe et al have recently described a few new species, including Leiurus macroctenus [ 20 ], which can be distinguished from another species by morphometric and morphological characters [ 21 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Activity of Metalloproteases and Serine Proteases in Various Organs after Leiurus macroctenus Envenomation

Gunas

Maievskyi

Raksha

et al. 2023

Journal of Toxicology

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Background. Scorpion stings may be life-threatening since their venoms are comprised of a wide range of toxins and other bioactive molecules, such as enzymes. At the same time, scorpion envenomation may increase matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) levels, which enhance proteolytic tissue destruction by venom. However, investigations on the impact of many scorpions’ venoms, such as those of Leiurus macroctenus, on tissue proteolytic activity and MMP levels have not yet been conducted. Methods and Results. The present study aimed to examine the total proteolysis levels in various organs after Leiurus macroctenus envenomation and evaluate the metalloproteases and serine proteases’ contributions to the total proteolytic activity. Changes in MMPs and TIMP-1 levels were tested as well. Envenomation led to a significant increase in proteolytic activity levels in all assessed organs, mostly in the heart (by 3.34 times) and lungs (by 2.25 times). Conclusions. Since EDTA presence showed a noticeable decrease in total proteolytic activity level, metalloproteases appeared to play a prominent role in total proteolytic activity. At the same time, MMPs and TIMP-1 levels were increased in all assessed organs, suggesting that Leiurus macroctenus envenomation causes systemic envenomation, which may induce multiple organ abnormalities, mostly because of the uncontrolled metalloprotease activity.

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Genetic diversity among different species of the genus Leiurus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East

Cited by 13 publications

References 22 publications

The northernmost Palearctic scorpion

The northernmost Palearctic scorpion

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

The Activity of Metalloproteases and Serine Proteases in Various Organs after Leiurus macroctenus Envenomation

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