{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T05:34:56Z","timestamp":1777527296184,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,18]],"date-time":"2024-09-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1726617600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Natural Sciences Foundation of China","award":["31970403"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["31970403"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Sciences Foundation of China","award":["31601871"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["31601871"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Sciences Foundation of China","award":["C2019201273"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C2019201273"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Sciences Foundation of China","award":["801260201276"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["801260201276"]}]},{"name":"Hebei Provincial Natural Science Foundation","award":["31970403"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["31970403"]}]},{"name":"Hebei Provincial Natural Science Foundation","award":["31601871"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["31601871"]}]},{"name":"Hebei Provincial Natural Science Foundation","award":["C2019201273"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C2019201273"]}]},{"name":"Hebei Provincial Natural Science Foundation","award":["801260201276"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["801260201276"]}]},{"name":"Advanced Talents Incubation Program of Hebei University","award":["31970403"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["31970403"]}]},{"name":"Advanced Talents Incubation Program of Hebei University","award":["31601871"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["31601871"]}]},{"name":"Advanced Talents Incubation Program of Hebei University","award":["C2019201273"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C2019201273"]}]},{"name":"Advanced Talents Incubation Program of Hebei University","award":["801260201276"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["801260201276"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Toxins"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Scorpions, an ancient group of venomous invertebrates, have existed for over 430 million years. Their toxins, important for predation and defense, exhibit a variety of biological and pharmacological activities. Research on scorpion toxins has spanned decades. Notably, the toxin genes of Mesobuthus martensii (Scorpiones: Buthidae), a well-known Chinese herbal medicine, have been described at genomic and proteomic levels. However, previous studies primarily focused on the toxin genes expressed in the venom glands, overlooking their expression in multiple tissues. This study analyzed transcriptomes from 14 tissues of M. martensii. Gene annotation revealed 83 toxin and toxin-like genes, including those affecting sodium, potassium, calcium, and chloride ion channels. Approximately 70% of toxin genes were highly expressed in the vesicle; additionally, some exhibited low or no expression in the vesicle while showing high expression in other tissues. Beyond the vesicle, high expression levels of toxin genes were observed in metasoma segments II-V, blood, lateral eyes, chelicerae, legs, pedipalp chelae, femurs, and patellae. This expression pattern suggests that toxin genes are recruited from multiple tissues and may help prevent intraspecific harm during courtship and competition for prey. These findings inspire further research into the evolutionary recruitment process of scorpion toxins.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/toxins16090399","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,18]],"date-time":"2024-09-18T09:49:19Z","timestamp":1726652959000},"page":"399","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Diverse Expression of Scorpion Toxin Genes in Mesobuthus martensii"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Zhongxian","family":"Yang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Application of Hebei Province, School of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Haiquan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Application of Hebei Province, School of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Application of Hebei Province, School of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jianyu","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Application of Hebei Province, School of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chao","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Application of Hebei Province, School of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China"},{"name":"Hebei Basic Science Center for Biotic Interaction, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zhiyong","family":"Di","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Application of Hebei Province, School of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"The Scorpion Files (2024, March 26). 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