Purification and characterization of a short insect toxin from the venom of the scorpion Buthus tamulus.

A short chain peptide has been isolated from the venom of a red scorpion of Indian origin, Buthus tamulus. This peptide was purified using ion exchange and reverse phase chromatography and was characterized by molecular weight determination and amino acid sequence. The primary structure analysis shows that BtITx3 is a short peptide of 35 amino acid residues having a molecular weight of 3796 Da.