Intraspecific Diversity of Scorpion Venoms

The present work ¿Intraspecific diversity of scorpions venom and its implication on the pathophysiological effects¿ explores the concept of microevolution within a single species of scorpion, that of Scorpio maurus palmatus. This work is divided into the following main parts: part one examines morphological differences between four, geographically separated populations of the scorpion Scorpio maurus palmatus and some aspects of their ecology. Part two measures intraspecific variation in the individual protein patterns for each venom using SDS-PAGE techniques. Moreover, modern molecular techniques (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), Restriction Length Fragment Polymorphism (RLFP), nucleotide sequencing) are used to tease out differences in the DNA of the four populations of scorpions. Part three is associated with the variability in the pathophysiological effects of the crude venom from each location on the insect cells, as this venom is particularly insect directed rather than mammalian directed.