Precursor of a novel scorpion venom peptide (BmKn1) with no disulfide bridge from Buthus martensii Karsch

A full-length cDNA sequence encoding the precursor of a novel venom peptide (named BmKn1) with no disulfide bridge was first isolated from the venom g land cDNA library of Chinese scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch. The encoded precursor consisted of 70 amino acid residues including two parts: a signal peptide of 23 residues, and a putative mature venom peptide (BmKn1) of 47 residues. The sequence of BmKn1 showed no similarity to those of other scor pion venom peptides. BmKn1 may be the first member of a new venom peptide f amily from scorpion. Future research will be interesting to unravel further the pharmacological function of this novel scorpion venom peptide.