Olivierus martensii explained

Olivierus martensii is a species of scorpion in the family Buthidae. Its common names include Chinese scorpion,[1] Manchurian scorpion, Chinese armor-tail scorpion and Chinese golden scorpion. Despite its common name, this scorpion is not only found in Manchuria or China, but also in Mongolia and Korea.[2] The record from Japan is doubtful. Its preferred habitat is warm, dry areas with little vegetation. O. martensii can grow to about long, with females usually slightly larger, and has a life-span of about 4 to 6 years.

Taxonomic history

This species of scorpion was first described as Buthus martensii by German arachnologist Ferdinand Karsch in 1879.[3] Independently, Simon in 1880 described specimens he found in the gardens of the summer palace at Peking (present-day Beijing) as Buthus confucius,[4] which Karsch synonymized as Buthus martensii in 1881. Subsequently, in 1950, it was transferred to Mesobuthus, a new genus established by French arachnologist Max Vachon.[5] In 2019 the genus Olivierus was restored from synonymy of Mesobuthus and the species was transferred to Olivierus.[6]

Venom

The venom of O. martensii is composed of many different toxins. Over the past few decades, dozens of novel proteins in this scorpion's venom have been identified, cloned and investigated for clinical applications. For instance, at least 51 long-chain peptides related to the sodium channel toxins (e.g. Makatoxin-3) and 18 peptides related to the potassium channel toxins have been described, along with two peptides, BmK AS and AS1, that act on ryanodine receptors. Apart from having analgesic properties, BmK AS is also the first long-chain scorpion peptide reported to have antimicrobial activity.[7] Amongst the sodium channel-specific neurotoxins, there are a number of muscle relaxants, such as makatoxin I[8] and bukatoxin,[9] while BmKAEP[10] [11] and BmK IT2[12] have shown anticonvulsant activity in experimental conditions, inhibiting epileptic seizures induced in rats. BmK AGAP has both analgesic and antitumor properties and recombinant proteins could potentially be used in anticancer treatments.[13] [14]

O. martensii, especially its tail, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for many centuries to treat various neuronal problems, such as chronic pain, paralysis, apoplexy and epilepsy.[15] [16] [17]

Notes and References

  1. https://www.uniprot.org/taxonomy/34649 Mesobuthus martensii (Manchurian scorpion) (Buthus martensii)
  2. Okamoto H, Muramatsu S: Shokuyou oyobi yakuyo konchu ni kansurus chousa (Research report of edible and medicinal insects in Korea). Kangyo Mohanjo Kenkyo Hokoku No 7, Suwon. 1922, 1-151.
  3. Karsch . Ferdinand . 1879 . Scorpionologische Beiträge. Part II. Mitteilungen des Münchener entomologischen Vereins 3 . 97–136.
  4. Simon . Eugène . 1880 . Études Arachnologiques. 11e Mémoire. XVII. Arachnides recueillis aux environs de Peking. . Annales de la Société entomologique de France . 10 . 5 . 97–128.
  5. Vachon . Max . 1950 . Études sur les scorpions. III. Déscription des Scorpions du Nord Del 'Afrique. . Archives de l'Institut Pasteur d'Algérie . 27 . 334–369.
  6. Kovařík . František . September 2019 . Taxonomic reassessment of the genera Lychas, Mesobuthus, and Olivierus, with descriptions of four new genera (Scorpiones: Buthidae) . Euscorpius . 2019 . 288 . 1–27 . 10.18590/euscorpius.2019.vol2019.iss288.1. 204158760 . free .
  7. Shao. Jian-Hua . Yue-Qiu Wang . Xiao-Yan Wu . Rui Jiang . Rong Zhang . Chun-Fu Wu . Jing-Hai Zhang. 2007. Cloning, expression, and pharmacological activity of BmK AS, an active peptide from scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch. Biotechnology Letters. 30. 1. 23–29. 0141-5492. 10.1007/s10529-007-9499-y. 17701272. 8482346 .
  8. Gong. J.. Kini R. M. . Gwee M. C. . Gopalakrishnakone P. . Chung M. C. . 1997. Makatoxin I, a novel toxin isolated from the venom of the Scorpion Buthus martensi Karsch, exhibits nitrergic actions. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 272. 13. 8320–8324. 0021-9258. 10.1074/jbc.272.13.8320. 9079654. free.
  9. Srinivasan. K. N. . S. Nirthanan . T. Sasaki . K. Sato . B. Cheng . M.C.E. Gwee . R. M. Kini . P. Gopalakrishnakone. 2001. Functional site of bukatoxin, an α-type sodium channel neurotoxin from the Chinese scorpion (Buthus martensi Karsch) venom: probable role of the 52PDKVP56 loop. FEBS Letters. 494. 3. 145–149. 0014-5793. 10.1016/S0014-5793(01)02342-0. 11311230. free. 2001FEBSL.494..145S .
  10. Wang . Chun-Guang . He . Xiao-Lin . Shao . Feng . Liu . Wei . Ling . Min-Hua . Wang . Da-Cheng . Chi . Cheng-Wu . Molecular characterization of an anti-epilepsy peptide from the scorpion Buthus martensi Karsch . . 268 . 8 . 2480–5 . 2001 . 11298767 . 10.1046/j.1432-1327.2001.02132.x. free .
  11. Zhou . X. H. . Yang . D. . Zhang . J. H. . Liu . C. M. . Lei . K. J. . Purification and N-terminal partial sequence of anti-epilepsy peptide from venom of the scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch . The Biochemical Journal . 257 . 2 . 509–17 . 1989 . 2930463 . 1135608 . 10.1042/bj2570509.
  12. Zhao. R.. X.-Y. Zhang. J. Yang. C.-C. Weng. L.-L. Jiang. J.-W. Zhang. X.-Q. Shu. Y.-H. Ji. 2008. Anticonvulsant effect of BmK IT2, a sodium channel-specific neurotoxin, in rat models of epilepsy. British Journal of Pharmacology. 154. 5. 1116–1124. 0007-1188. 10.1038/bjp.2008.156. 18587450. 2451059.
  13. Liu. Y. Ma R. L. . Wang S. L. . Duan Z. Y. . Zhang J. H. . Wu L. J. . Wu C. F. . 2003. Expression of an antitumor–analgesic peptide from the venom of Chinese scorpion Buthus martensii karsch in Escherichia coli. Protein Expression and Purification. 27. 2. 253–258. 1046-5928. 10.1016/S1046-5928(02)00609-5. 12597884.
  14. Liu. Yanfeng. Zhang, Zaiguo . Mao, Yingzi . Cui, Yong . Hu, Nan . Wang, Ying . Zhang, Jinghai. . 2009. Production and antitumor efficacy of recombinant Buthus martensii Karsch AGAP. Asian Journal of Traditional Medicines. 4. 6. 228–233. 1817-4337.
  15. Goudet. C.. Chi, C. W. . Tytgat, J. . 2002. An overview of toxins and genes from the venom of the Asian scorpion Buthus martensi Karsch.. Toxicon. 40. 9. 1239–1258. 0041-0101. 10.1016/S0041-0101(02)00142-3. 12220709. 2002Txcn...40.1239G.
  16. Shao . Jianhua . Zhang, Rong . Ge, Xin . Yang, Bin . Zhang, Jinghai . 2007 . Analgesic Peptides in Buthus martensii Karsch: A Traditional Chinese Animal Medicine . . 2 . 2 . 45–50 . 1817-4337 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110707174011/http://www.asianjtm.com/qikan/manage/wenzhang/AJTM07-2(2)-1.pdf. dead. 2011-07-07.
  17. Shao. Jianhua. Kang, Ning . Liu, Yanfeng . Song, Shuang . Wu, Chunfu . Zhang, Jinghai. . 2007. Purification and characterization of an analgesic peptide from Buthus martensii Karsch. Biomedical Chromatography. 21. 12. 1266–1271. 0269-3879. 10.1002/bmc.882. 17604360.

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