New locality records for four rare species of vipers (Reptilia: Viperidae) in Turkey

We report new localities and range extensi ons for four vipers from Turkey. The dis- tribution of Montivipera wagneri is extended substantially southwards into Mu ş province, showing that this sp ecies is not endemic to the Aras valley as previously stated in the literatu re. Similarly, an unverified photograph of Montivipera albizona from Erzincan province, at its currently known eastern limit, was confirmed with new material, and its range is extended substa ntially southwards to the Anamos (Nur) Mountains in Hatay province. Smaller range extensions are reported for Vipera am- modytes transcaucasiana and V. darevskii

Phylogenetic relationships of the populations of Iranolacerta brandtii (de Filippi, 1863) (Squamata: Lacertidae) recently found in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey

The Persian Lizard, Iranolacerta brandtii, was until recently considered to be restricted to north-western Iran (Azerbaijan and Esfahan provinces). However, two recent studies have revealed the existence of populations in Eastern Anatolia, extending the range of this species for about 230km westwards. The fragmented distribution of this species has been considered to be a consequence of the climatic oscillations during the Pleistocene and Holocene, which created events of alternating contact and isolation of populations in distinct glacial refugia. According to our obtained genealogy derived from three mitochondrial fragments (12S rRNA, 16S rRNA and cytb), the Turkish specimens cluster together but form an independent clade, sister to the individuals from Tabriz in Iran. The separation of these two clades is concurrent with the cladogenesis between the Esfahan and Ardabil clades, estimated to have taken place during the late Holocene

Apoptotic Effects of Mount Bulgar Viper (Montivipera bulgardaghica) PLA2 and SVMPs Venom Peptide fractions on HeLa and A549 Cancer Cells

Snake venoms are extremely important for alternative medicine applications and discovery of new bioactive molecules. Especially in the recent years, there are promising studies in the literature on the development of new therapies for targeting the cancer with the use of snake venom peptides. In the present study, PLA2 and SVMPs venom peptide fractions of M. bulgardaghica were investigated for their apoptotic effects on human cervix adenocarcinoma cell line, HeLa and human lung adenocarcinoma cell line, A549. The cytotoxicity of crude venom was assessed by MTT assay with IC50 values of 4.34 ± 0.19 and 2.60 ± 0.18 µg/mL against HeLa and A549 cells, respectively. Following treatment, the cells with fractions for 48 h, the percentage of apoptotic cells was quantified by Annexin V/PI double staining assay and analyzed with flow cytometry. Our results show that, M. bulgardaghica venom fractions weren’t significantly triggered apoptotic effect on cells but affected the cell cycle in PI staining experiments. As a result, snake venom peptides might have potential use in the treatment of cancer with new drug targeting techniques