Collaborative survey and utilization of animal species and active substances useful for physiological research in China

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We made a survey and a field research in Henan Province and in Takuramakan desert to find and collect scorpions and venomous spiders. Then, abdominal nerve fibers of them were processed for electron microscopy, blood samples were collected for assay, and electrophysiological studies were done on the nerve fibers. The venom of the scorpion and the spider were purified at Shanghai. Physiological and biochemical properties of the scorpion and scorpion toxin was studied as follows: The venom contained a neurotoxin that exerts effects rather selectively on insects. We purified this toxin and determined the amino acid sequence. The purified scorpion neurotoxin(BmK I) did not have any effect on electrophysiological properties of the scorpion nerve fiber. The ionic composition and the osmorality of the scorpion haemolymph was found to be very high for a terrestrial animal. The abdominal nerve cord did not have the giant axon but it contained a primitive type of myelin structure. The venom of the spider was collected and fractionated into 5 portions. They are stored in our laboratory together with the purified scorpion toxins and are prepared for further analyses.