New proposal for the systematic nomenclature of scorpion peptides

• Published in: Toxicon (Oxford) 2025-01, Vol.253, p.108192, Article 108192
• Main Authors: Delgado-Prudencio, Gustavo, Becerril, Baltazar, Possani, Lourival D., Ortiz, Ernesto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Peptides - chemistry; Scorpion Venoms - chemistry; Scorpions - classification; Terminology as Topic
• ISSN: 0041-0101; 1879-3150; 1879-3150
• DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2024.108192

The systematic annotation of novel peptides found in the venom of scorpions needs revision. The commonly used two-letter acronym with the initials of the genus and the species is not discriminative and induces confusion. A new universal five-letter abbreviated code is here proposed. With this code, every species can be unambiguously identified. The code contains the initial capital letter of the genus, followed by four letters from the species. This code discriminates the large majority of the species. For the few others from the same genus and with coinciding initial letters of the species name, a change in the fifth letter ensures uniqueness. For scorpions belonging to different genera with identical initial letters and the same exact species name, a five-letter identifier can be generated by using two letters from the genus (in uppercase) and three letters from the species (in lowercase). Following this proposal, the peptides belonging to all scorpion species can be properly annotated. [Display omitted] •The systematic annotation of scorpion peptides needs revision.•The two-letter acronym for the species is not discriminative.•A new universal five-letter abbreviated code is proposed.