ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: This paper includes 2742 specimens of 18 species of black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) collected from 132 lotic sites in Turkish Thrace, the European part of Turkey, in the early summer of 2002 and 2003 and the spring of 2005 and 2006. NEW INFORMATION: All species are recorded from this region for the first time, and Metacnephianigra (Rubtsov, 1940) is a new record for Turkey. Distributional and taxonomical remarks are given for each species.
ABSTRACT
Androctonus crassicauda is one of the Southeastern Anatolian scorpions of Turkey with ethno-medical and toxicological importance. Two toxic peptides (Acra1 and Acra2) were isolated and characterized from the venom of this scorpion. In this communication, the isolation of an additional toxin (Acra3) by chromatographic separations (HPLC and TSK-gel sulfopropyl) and its chemical and functional characterization is reported. Acra3 is a 7620Da molecular weight peptide, with 66 amino acid residues crosslinked by four disulfide bridges. The gene coding for this peptide was cloned and sequenced. Acra3 is anticipated to undergo post-translational modifications at the C-terminal region, having an amidated serine as last residue. Injection of Acra3 induces severe neurotoxic events in mice, such as: excitability and convulsions, leading to the death of the animals within a few minutes after injection. Electrophysiological assays conducted with pure Acra3, using cells that specifically expressed sodium channels (Nav1.1-Nav1.6) showed no clear effect. The exact molecular target of Acra3 remained undiscovered, similar to three other scorpion peptides that clustered very closely in the phylogenetic tree included here. The exact target of these four peptides is not very clear.
Subject(s)
Peptides/genetics , Scorpion Venoms/genetics , Scorpions/genetics , Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , Base Sequence , Cell Line , Chromatography, Reverse-Phase , Cloning, Molecular , Conserved Sequence , Crustacea , DNA, Complementary/genetics , DNA, Complementary/isolation & purification , Gryllidae , Humans , Lethal Dose 50 , Membrane Potentials/drug effects , Mice , Molecular Sequence Data , Peptides/isolation & purification , Peptides/pharmacology , Peptides/toxicity , Phylogeny , Scorpion Venoms/isolation & purification , Scorpion Venoms/pharmacology , Scorpion Venoms/toxicity , Sequence Analysis, DNA , Sequence Homology, Amino AcidABSTRACT
The Bay of Gokova in Southeastern Aegean Sea (Turkey) is important by the potential of agricultural, municipal, and tourism activities. In addition, there is no industrial plant within the area in the Aegean Sea. Kadin Creek (Azmak) and Akçapinar Creek (Azmak) flowing into the inner Gokova Bay are one of the important factors in determining the character of the inner Gokova Bay. In this study, nine stations were selected in the inner Gokova Bay, Kadin Creek, and Akcapinar Creek. The concentrations of Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, and Zn were measured in suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediments. The samples of sediments and SPM were collected in between February 2008 and September 2008. The aim of the study is searching the change of concentrations of Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, and Zn in suspended particulate matter and sediments in the inner Gokova bay, Kadin Creek, and Akçapinar Creek. It has been identified that the metal concentrations in the creeks are higher than the metal concentrations in the marine environment. It has also been observed that the concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Cu in summer season have been higher than in the winter season, but the concentrations of Fe and Zn have not shown a significant difference between in summer and winter seasons. The obtained results show that the some heavy metals are caused by the agricultural, municipal, and tourism activities operating in the coastal areas and terrestrial environment, and they are transported from the creeks to the Gokova Bay by suspended particulate matter.
