Identification and Phylogenetic Analysis of Tityus pachyurus and Tityus obscurus Novel Putative Na+-Channel Scorpion Toxins

Background: Colombia and Brazil are affected by severe cases of scorpionism. In Colombia the most dangerous accidents are caused by Tityus pachyurus that is widely distributed around this country. In the Brazilian Amazonian region scorpion stings are a common event caused by Tityus obscurus. The main objective of this work was to perform the molecular cloning of the putative Na+-channel scorpion toxins (NaScTxs) from T. pachyurus and T. obscurus venom glands and to analyze their phylogenetic relationship with other known NaScTxs from Tityus species. Methodology/Principal Findings: cDNA libraries from venom glands of these two species were constructed and five nucleotide sequences from T. pachyurus were identified as putative modulators of Na+-channels, and were named Tpa4, Tpa5, Tpa6, Tpa7 and Tpa8; the latter being the first anti-insect excitatory b-class NaScTx in Tityus scorpion venom to be described. Fifteen sequences from T. obscurus were identified as putative NaScTxs, among which three had been previously described, and the others were named To4 to To15. The peptides Tpa4, Tpa5, Tpa6, To6, To7, To9, To10 and To14 are closely related to the a-class NaScTxs, whereas Tpa7, Tpa8, To4, To8, To12 and To15 sequences are more related to the b-class NaScTxs. To5 is possibly an arthropod specific toxin. To11 and To13 share sequence similarities with both a and b NaScTxs. By means of phylogenetic analysis using the Maximum Parsimony method and the known NaScTxs from Tityus species, these toxins were clustered into 14 distinct groups. Conclusions/Significance: This communication describes new putative NaScTxs from T. pachyurus and T. obscurus and their phylogenetic analysis. The results indicate clear geographic separation between scorpions of Tityus genus inhabiting the Amazonian and Mountain Andes regions and those distributed over the Southern of the Amazonian rainforest. Based on the consensus sequences for the different clusters, a new nomenclature for the NaScTxs is proposed

Karyotypic Variation in Two Species of Jerboas Jaculus jaculus and Jaculus orientalis (Rodentia, Dipodidae) from Tunisia

Jaculus species are probably associated with chromosomal rearrangements such as pericentric inversions or heterochromatin variation. They appear of lesser magnitude than other changes (especially molecular) that have occurred during the evolution of this genus

High genetic homogeneity of the moon jelly Aurelia aurita (Scyphozoa, Semaeostomeae) along the Mediterranean coast of Tunisia

The moon jelly Aurelia aurita is one of the most common and widespread species of scyphomedusa in the Mediterranean Sea. In all, 18 allozyme loci were studied to investigate the genetic variation and population structure of 11 A. aurita populations from the Tunisian coast. Polymorphism was detected at 14 loci across the sampling localities. Gene frequency differences rather than alternative fixation of alleles characterised the collecting sites. The mean number of alleles per locus ranged from 1.89 to 2.17 (average 2.02), and the mean values of observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosities ranged from 0.20 to 0.36 and from 0.32 to 0.37 respectively. Five out of 14 polymorphic loci were out of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (H-WE). Likewise, the multilocus tests showed deviation from H-WE in six populations. These populations apparently showed heterozygote deficiency, whereas the average heterozygosity for the  remaining ones is quite similar to the expected values. Despite extensive sampling across a microgeographical scale and genotyping efforts, the populations of A. aurita under study showed an absence of genetic differentiation under the background of high gene flow (mean FST = 0.01, p < 0.05) and higher value of Nem, suggesting that A. aurita is genetically homogeneous throughout the study area. The absence of population genetic structuring may be associated with environmental conditions and life-history parameters. Keywords: allozyme, Aurelia aurita, gene flow, Mediterranean Sea, TunisiaAfrican Journal of Marine Science 2009, 31(1): 73–8

Are there two cryptic species of the lesser jerboa Jaculus jaculus (Rodentia : Dipodidae) in Tunisia ? Evidence from molecular, morphometric, and cytogenetic data

Jerboas belonging to the genus Jaculus are widely distributed rodents inhabiting Palearctic desert and semi-desert areas. Previous studies on the lesser Egyptian jerboa Jaculus jaculus showed the existence of various morphological forms of controversial taxonomic status. They were sometimes related to two different species, J. jaculus and Jaculus deserti, although this has not been recognized in recent taxonomic updates. To clarify the systematic status of J. jaculus in Tunisia, we performed molecular (phylogenetic analyses of cytochrome b sequences), morphological (multivariate analyses of 13 skull measurements) and karyotypic (standard preparations from bone marrow cells) analyses on a number of specimens collected from ten localities. Our analyses revealed two monophyletic, well differentiated clades, with a mean genetic divergence value (K2P = 10.9 +/- 0.01%), which is within the range of distances generally observed between rodent species. Morphometric analyses clearly separated populations of the two genetic clades from each other. However, karyotypes of individuals from both clades appeared similar. Individuals from both molecular clades/morphometric groups were found in sympatry in most of the localities sampled. These results, as obtained from a restricted area of the total distribution, suggest that there are two separate species within the currently accepted J. jaculus in Tunisia. Alternative hypotheses such as the occurrence of a strong, ancient phylogeographic structure, or the presence of pseudogenes, are also considered to account for the results obtained

Phylogeography of the Greater Egyptian Jerboa (Jaculus orientalis) (Rodentia : Dipodidae) in Mediterranean North Africa

The Mediterranean Basin is an acknowledged hotspot for biodiversity, yet historical processes that shaped this biodiversity in North Africa remain poorly understood. This study aimed to elucidate the phylogeographic pattern of an endemic species of Mediterranean areas of North Africa, the Greater Egyptian Jerboa, Jaculus orientalis. The extent of phylogeographic patterns and molecular genetic diversity (mitochondrial cytochrome b gene) were addressed in a survey of 45 jerboas from 24 localities. Our phylogeographical analyses show a strong genetic subdivision into three areas along a west-east axis, corresponding to (1) Morocco and western Algeria; (2) eastern Algeria, Tunisia and western Libya; (3) eastern Libya and Egypt. Demographic analyses revealed different modalities of population expansion since the last glacial age depending on geographic areas. The dating using relaxed molecular clock analyses revealed that most splits occurred during the Quaternary (<1 million of years ago). Finally, we discussed the relative roles of geological and climatic change in generating this pattern of genetic structure observed for the Greater Egyptian Jerboa and other vegetal and animal species in North Africa

Tourist contribution to the financing of natural areas: the significance of non-economic motivations

International audienceThe chapter is structured as follows. Firstly, we will recall the main economic principles which, until now, have governed entrance fees to natural arcas, drawing attention to the issue of demand analysis in the process. Next, we will look back at a series of studies that have sought to establish new foundations to explain tourists' willingness to contribute. We will conclude by looking at the various opportunities offered by the consideration of non-economic motivations in the analysis of tourists' behaviour

Fifteenth-Century Arabic Historiography: Introducing a New Research Agenda for Authors, Texts and Contexts

The Arabo-Islamic world of the later medieval period (thirteenth–sixteenth centuries) witnessed substantial transformations in the writing and reading of Arabic literary texts. For a long time, the study of these texts and of their diversity and changes was determined by the model of a “post-classical” literary field in fossilizing decline. In the twenty-first century, however, new trends in literary and historical scholarship have been disengaging from these old, but still widespread, negative paradigms. They have managed to replace a condescending insistence on what Arabic literary texts no longer represented, or could no longer do, for more critical appreciations of what they really were, did, and meant for contemporaries. This special journal issue brings together five articles that were written in the context of a collaborative research project that aims to remedy this challenging situation in current understandings of late medieval Arabic history writing. This project, funded by the European Research Council and entitled “The Mamlukisation of the Mamluk Sultanate-II (MMS-II): Historiography, Political Order, and State Formation in Fifteenth-Century Egypt and Syria,” runs for five years (2017–21) at Ghent University (Belgium). MMS-II is aiming to tackle this challenge by arguing with and beyond, instead of against or irrespective of, this historiographical production’s vexed interests and related subjectivities. The MMS-II project studies more specifically how not just fifteenth-century historians’ truth but also the political order of their courtly surroundings were constructed in textual practice. This introduction seeks to explain in more theoretical, programmatic, and empirical detail why and how MMS-II considers this textual relationship between history writing and dynamics of power to be a valid and valuable—yes, even a necessary—research perspective in the study of fifteenth-century Arabic historiography. It furthermore aims to explain how MMS-II research is unfolding in practice, and how this journal issue’s five articles tie in with this approach as well as with their wider context of fifteenth-century history writing. This introduction pursues these goals by first explaining how MMS-II considers the construction of political order, within the wider framework of a revaluation of the concept and reality of state formation in fifteenth-century Syro-Egypt. It then presents the texts of history with which MMS-II engages, focusing especially on sketching the current state of scholarship on these texts. Third, this introduction explains in more detail how MMS-II research takes up a particular position within that scholarship and aims to connect the study of history writing with that of state formation. Finally, the fourth part summarizes not just how the five articles in this issue of MSR fit into this research program, but also what they contribute to it, both individually and collectively