Abstract
Scorpions are one of the most ancient groups of terrestrial animals. They have maintained a steady morphology over more than 400 million years of evolution. Their venom arsenals for capturing prey and defending against predators may play a critical role in their ancient and conservative appearance. In the current review, we present the scorpion fauna of China: 53 species covering five families and 12 genera. We also systematically list toxins or genes from Chinese scorpion species, involving eight species covering four families. Furthermore, we review the diverse functions of typical toxins from Chinese scorpion species, involving Na+ channel modulators, K+ channel blockers, antimicrobial peptides and protease inhibitors. Using scorpion species and their toxins from China as an example, we build the bridge between scorpion species and their toxins, which helps us to understand the molecular and functional diversity of scorpion venom arsenal, the dynamic and functional evolution of scorpion toxins, and the potential relationships of scorpion species and their toxins.
Highlights
Scorpions are one of the most ancient groups of terrestrial animals
Using scorpion species and their toxins from China as an example, we try to build the bridge between scorpion species and their toxins, which helps us to understand the relationship of scorpion species and their toxins, and show insights into the dynamic and functional evolution of the scorpion venom arsenal
Our lab decoded the draft genome sequence of the scorpion M. martensii, and found 116 genes encoding venom neurotoxins located in the M. martensii genome, including 61 NaTx, 46 KTx, five ClTx and four CaTx genes [76] et al In total, our group had constructed nine venom gland cDNA libraries covering eight scorpion species from China, and performed their transcriptome analyses (Table 2)
Summary
Chinese scorpion taxonomy research was started by the visiting scientists, dating back to 1879 with the first description of a Chinese scorpion L. Koch, 1837) is the most widely distributed family in China, including six genera (Hottentotta with two species, Isometrus with three species, Lychas with two species, Mesobuthus with nine species, Orthochirus with one species, and Razianus with one species) and 18 species and subspecies (Table 1). 1837) is the most widely distributed family in China, including six genera (Hottentotta with two species, Isometrus with three species, Lychas with two species, Mesobuthus with nine species, Orthochirus with one species, and Razianus with one species) and 18 species and subspecies (Table 1) They are distributed across most provinces except for Guangdong, Guizhou, Heilongjiang, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jilin, and Sichuan. Di et al reported the Scorpiops species distributed in Central China [36], which is the first record of the family Euscorpiidae (Arachnida: Scorpiones) from Central China [36]. Tibetanus found in Xizang but the other two species (H. longimanus and H. petersii) without an exact distribution area
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