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The venom is a mixture of various compounds with specific biological activities, such as the phospholipase A2 (PLA2) enzyme present in scorpion venom. PLA2 plays a key role in inhibiting ryanodine receptor channels and has neurotoxic activity. This study is the first investigation of molecular characterization, cloning, and in silico analyses of PLA2 from Iranian Scorpio maurus, named Maurolipin. After RNA extraction from S. maurus venom glands, cDNA was synthesized and amplified through RT-PCR using specific primers. Amplified Maurolipin was cloned in TA cloning vector, pTG19. For in silico analyses, the characterized gene was analyzed utilizing different software. Maurolipin coding gene with 432 base pair nucleotide length encoded a protein of 144 amino acid residues and 16.34 kilodaltons. Comparing the coding sequence of Maurolipin with other characterized PLA2 from different species of scorpions showed that this protein was a member of the PLA2 superfamily. According to SWISS-MODEL prediction, Maurolipin had 38.83% identity with bee venom PLA2 with 100% confidence and 39% identity with insect phospholipase A2 family, which Phyre2 predicted. According to the three-dimensional structure prediction, Maurolipin with five disulfide bonds has a very high similarity to the structure of PLA2 that belonged to the group III subfamily. The in silico analyses showed that phospholipase A2 coding gene and protein structure is different based on scorpion species and geographical condition in which they live.

Adeli-Sardou, Moslem, Azizi, Kourosh, Soltani, Aboozar, Moemenbellah-Fard, Mohammad Djaefar (2019): First record of hard tick species, Hyalomma marginatum marginatum and H. marginatum rufipes (Acari: Ixodidae), as probable vectors of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, from the spur-thighed tortoise, Testudo graeca (Reptilia: Testudinidae), SE Iran. Persian Journal of Acarology 8 (3): 281-286, DOI: 10.22073/pja.v8i3.44319, URL: https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/4b117127-fb44-3eac-a348-7035829184e3/

Evarcha dena Zamani, sp. n. Figures 1-2 Type material. Holotype ♂ (JAZM), IRAN: Kohgiluyeh & Boyer-Ahmad Province: 35 km of Yasuj, Rahmali, 30°28′27″N, 51°14′01″E, alt. 1699 m, April 2016 (A. Hosseinpour); Paratype ♂ (EMSUMS), IRAN: Kohgiluyeh & Boyer-Ahmad Province: Yasuj, Park-e Jangali, 30°24′27″N, 51°21′24″E, alt. 1944 m, April 2016 (A. Hosseinpour). Etymology. The specific epithet is a noun in apposition, and refers to Mount Dena, a well-recognized mountain in the area of the type localities and in the Zagros Mountain Range. Diagnosis. This new species belongs to the flavocincta species-group, and closely resembles Evarcha kirghisica Rakov, 1997 (Kyrgyzstan), E. acuta (Blackwall, 1877) (the Seychelles) and E. bulbosa Żabka, 1985 (SE Asia), by the presence of a filamentous embolus and a deeply-bifurcated apex of the RTA. This new species can be distinguished from E. kirghisica by the different position of the embolic base (near 11:30 o’clock in the new species (Figure 2A), vs. near 9 o’clock in E. kirghisica, cf. Rakov 1997: figure 10), and by differences in the shape of the RTA apex (narrowing, with slimmer bifurcations in the new species (Figure 2B), vs. not narrowing and with strong bifurcations in E. kirghisica, cf. Rakov 1997: figure 11). It clearly differs from E. acuta by having a bulb lacking a posterior lobe and by the different shape of the bifurcations of the RTA (in E. acuta a distinct posterior lobe of bulb is present, and the RTA is shorter with stronger and asymmetrical tips, cf. Wesołowska 2006: figure 24). Finally, the new species differs from E. bulbosa by the less-wavy embolic tip and deeper bifurcation of the RTA apex, with more symmetrical tips (distinctly wavy embolic tip and RTA with asymmetrical tips in E. bulbosa, cf. Żabka 1985: figures 173- 175). Description. Male (holotype): body length 8.08; carapace 3.84 long, 3.31 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: ALE 0.32, AME 0.60, PLE 0.25, PME 0.05, AME-AME 0.11, AME-PLE 0.19. General appearance as in Figures 1 A-C. Carapace blackish, with a wide patch of greyish setae starting behind the AME and narrowing in the interdistances of PLE-PLE, leading to a greyish median line; lateral marks unclear (Figure 1A); clypeus and the area beneath the anterior eye row light reddish brown, with long white hairs below AME (Figure 1C); labium and sternum oval and blackish; maxillae slightly converging, blackish (Figure 1B); chelicerae blackish, with long, white hairs projecting from the frontal base (Figure 1C), with two small promarginal teeth and one large retromarginal tooth. Abdomen oval, dorsally blackish in the margins, with a distinct, wide longitudinal patch of white hairs medially (Figure 1A); ventrally cream-colored, with 4 unclear longitudinal lines of indistinct light patches (Figure 1B). Legs dark brown (lighter in the ventral side), covered with white hairs and numerous spines. Palp as in Figure 2 A-B. Bulbus simple and rounded, occupying about 2/3 of the cymbium. Embolic base (eb) located at about 11:30 o’clock, projecting in a clockwise manner and leading to a filamentous embolus (e), which encircles the bulbus and ends near the cymbial apex, slightly waving toward the ventral side. RTA distinct, extending to about half of the length of cymbium, with a lower ventral curve (vcRTA) and an upper dorsal curve (dcRTA), narrowing near the apex and deeply-bifurcated with symmetrical tips (ba). Length of leg segments (holotype): Female: unknown. Comments. Although the female of this species is currently unknown, we assume that it should have wide and long insemination ducts, correlating with the long embolus of the male as seen in the closely related Evarcha kirghisica, and according to a suggested general rule by Żabka (1993). Habitat and distribution. Both specimens were collected from high altitudes, in relatively open habitats with sparse vegetation and rocky ground. Although this species is currently known only from the type localities in Kohgiluyeh & Boyer-Ahmad Province, SW Iran, it is probably widespread in the Zagros Mountain Range (Figure 3).

Zamani, Alireza, Hosseinpour, Amin, Azizi, Koroush, Soltani, Aboozar (2017): A new species of the jumping spider genus Evarcha (s. lat.) from southwestern Iran (Araneae: Salticidae). Peckhamia 150 (1): 1-5, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5093211, {"references":["Logunov, D. V. 1999. Two new jumping spider species from the Caucasus (Aranei: Salticidae). Arthropoda Selecta 7: 301-303.","Logunov, D. V., Y. M. Marusik and F. Mozaffarian. 2002. Faunistic review of the jumping spiders of Iran (Aranei: Salticidae). Arthropoda Selecta 10: 155-167.","Logunov, D. V. and M. Zamanpoore. 2005. Salticidae (Araneae) of Afghanistan: an annotated check-list, with descriptions of four new species and three new synonymies. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 13: 217-232.","Maddison, W. P. 2015. A phylogenetic classification of jumping spiders. The Journal of Arachnology 43: 231-292.","Rakov, S. Y. 1997. A review of the spider genus Evarcha Simon, 1902 in Middle Asia (Aranei Salticidae). Arthropoda Selecta 6(1/2): 105-112.","Wesolowska, W. 2006. Jumping spiders from the Brandberg massif in Namibia (Araneae: Salticidae). African Entomology 14: 225-256.","Wesolowska, W. and A. van Harten. 2007. Additions to the knowledge of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) of Yemen. Fauna of Arabia 23: 189-269.","WSC. 2017. World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch, version 18.0","Zabka, M. 1985. Systematic and zoogeographic study on the family Salticidae (Araneae) from Vietnam. Annales Zoologici, Warszawa 39: 197-485.","Zamani, A., O. Mirshamsi, Y. M. Marusik and M. Moradmand. 2017. The Checklist of the Spiders of Iran. Version 2017, online at http://www.spiders.ir"]}

Genus Evarcha Simon, 1902 Type species. Evarcha falcata (Clerck, 1757), by subsequent designation. Diagnosis. Unident salticid with male palpal organ bearing a round, oval or conical tegulum, sometimes bearing distinctive outgrowths. Sperm duct not meandering, embolus encircling the tegulum, and in some species a conductor is present. A single tibial apophysis present (retrolateral). Epigyne with posterior pockets. Leg III longer than IV (Żabka 1993)., Published as part of Zamani, Alireza, Hosseinpour, Amin, Azizi, Koroush & Soltani, Aboozar, 2017, A new species of the jumping spider genus Evarcha (s. lat.) from southwestern Iran (Araneae: Salticidae), pp. 1-5 in Peckhamia 150 (1) on page 2, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5093211