The gene encoding the precursor to stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L. ) isolectin I was introduced into tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). In transgenic plants this precursor was processed to mature-sized lectin. The mature isolectin is deposited intracellularly, most likely in the vacuoles. A gene construct lacking the C-terminal 25 amino acids was also introduced in tobacco to study the role of the ...

Scorpion poisoning was surveyed in Acosta and Caripe counties, located in the Turimiquire subregion of Monagas State, Venezuela, aiming to expand information on stings by characterizing some epidemiological aspects. From 1987 to 1993, 298 cases of scorpion stings were recorded in Acosta and Caripe counties. Acosta had 212 cases, with an annual incidence rate of 18.3 (cases per 10,000 inhabitant...

Voltage-dependent charge movement has been characterized in arthropod skeletal muscle. Charge movement in scorpion (Centuroides sculpturatus) muscle is distinguishable from that in vertebrate skeletal muscle by criteria of kinetics, voltage dependence, and pharmacology. The function of scorpion charge movement is gating of calcium channels in the sarcolemma, and depolarization-contraction coupl...

The holotype of the Emperor Scorpion Pandinus imperator (C.L. Koch, 1841) was long believed to have been lost. In 2015, as scientists at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart were digitizing its entomological collections, they rediscovered the specimen on which Koch had based his description of the scorpion in 1841.

A "turn on/off" biosensor for diagnosis of exon 7 of the SMN1 gene was developed by employing a "scorpion primer". This scorpion primer was based on the principle of fluorescence resonance energy transfer using a fluorophore, a blocker and a quencher. It was successfully applied to detect 10 volunteer samples, and not only to in vitro testing.

Scorpion stings are a public health problem in many countries including Morocco. Cutaneous manifestations are rare, mainly local or loco-regional, exceptionally generalized. We report a case of photosensitization mimicking hydroa vacciniforme after scorpion sting, not yet described in the literature.

The novel insecticidal toxin, LaIT2, was isolated from venom of the scorpion Liocheles australasiae. The amino acid sequence of LaIT2 was determined by an Edman degradation analysis and subsequent cDNA cloning. LaIT2 is composed of 59 amino acids with three disulfide bridges, and shares sequence similarity to the scorpion beta-KTx peptides.

Cytotoxic peptides are relatively small cationic molecules such as those found 1) in venoms, e.g., melittin in bee, scorpion toxins in scorpion, pilosulin 1 in jumper ant, and lycotoxin I and II in wolf spider; 2) in skin secretions (e.g., magainin I and II from Xenopus laevis, dermaseptin from frog, antimicrobials from carp) and cells of the immune system (e.g., insect, scorpion, and mammalian...