scholarly journals Biodiversity lost: The phylogenetic relationships of a complete mitochondrial DNA genome sequenced from the extinct wolf population of Sicily

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Reale ◽  
Ettore Randi ◽  
Floriana Bonanno ◽  
Valentina Cumbo ◽  
Ignazio Sammarco ◽  
...  

AbstractUsing next-generation sequencing, we obtained for the first time a complete mitochondrial DNA genome from a museum specimen of the extinct wolf (Canis lupus) population of the island of Sicily (Italy). Phylogenetic analyses showed that this genome, which was aligned with a number of historical and extant complete wolf and dog mtDNAs sampled worldwide, was closely related to an Italian wolf mtDNA genome (TN93 and p-distances = 0.0012), five to seven times shorter than divergence among Sicilian and any other known wolf mtDNA genomes (distance range = 0.0050 – 0.0070). Sicilian and Italian haplotypes joined a basal clade belonging to the mtDNA haplogroup-2 of ancient western European wolf populations (Pilot et al. 2010). Bayesian calibration of divergence times indicated that this clade coalesced at MRCA = 13.400 years (with 95% HPD = 4000 – 21.230 years). These mtDNA findings suggest that wolves probably colonized Sicily from southern Italy towards the end of the last Pleistocene glacial maximum, when the Strait of Messina was almost totally dry. Additional mtDNA and genomic data will further clarify the origin and population dynamics before the extinction of wolves in Sicily.

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shi-Yan Xu ◽  
Jian-Kun Long ◽  
Xiang-Sheng Chen

In the present study, the complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of five Achilidae (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea), Betatropis formosana, two new species (Magadhaideus luodiana sp. nov and Peltatavertexalis horizontalis sp. nov), Plectoderini sp. and Paracatonidia sp., were sequenced for the first time through next-generation sequencing. The five mitogenomes ranged from 15,214 to 16,216 bp in length, with the typical gene content and arrangement usually observed in Hexapods. The motif “ATGATAA” between atp8 and atp6 was found in all the analyzed species. An overlap “AAGCTTA” between trnW and trnC was observed in the mitogenomes of most Fulgoroidea. The structural and compositional analyses of 26 Fulgoroidea mitogenomes, including the gene rearrangement of five tRNAs (trnW, trnC and trnY; trnT and trnP), the A + T content and AT-skew of the whole mitogenomes, and the nuclear acid and amino acid compositions of the protein-coding genes (PCGs), revealed family-level differences between Delphacidae and other families (Achilidae, Flatidae, Fulgoridae, Issidae and Ricaniidae). Phylogenetic analyses of 13 protein-coding genes from 26 Fulgoroidea species by maximum likelihood and Bayesian Inference were consistent and well supported the basal position of Delphacidae, a close affinity among the families Flatidae, Issidae and Ricaniidae, and a close relationship between Achilidae and Fulgoridae.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 478
Author(s):  
Xue-Wei Wang ◽  
Tom W. May ◽  
Shi-Liang Liu ◽  
Li-Wei Zhou

Hyphodontia sensu lato, belonging to Hymenochaetales, accommodates corticioid wood-inhabiting basidiomycetous fungi with resupinate basidiocarps and diverse hymenophoral characters. Species diversity of Hyphodontia sensu lato has been extensively explored worldwide, but in previous studies the six accepted genera in Hyphodontia sensu lato, viz. Fasciodontia, Hastodontia, Hyphodontia, Kneiffiella, Lyomyces and Xylodon were not all strongly supported from a phylogenetic perspective. Moreover, the relationships among these six genera in Hyphodontia sensu lato and other lineages within Hymenochaetales are not clear. In this study, we performed comprehensive phylogenetic analyses on the basis of multiple loci. For the first time, the independence of each of the six genera receives strong phylogenetic support. The six genera are separated in four clades within Hymenochaetales: Fasciodontia, Lyomyces and Xylodon are accepted as members of a previously known family Schizoporaceae, Kneiffiella and Hyphodontia are, respectively, placed in two monotypic families, viz. a previous name Chaetoporellaceae and a newly introduced name Hyphodontiaceae, and Hastodontia is considered to be a genus with an uncertain taxonomic position at the family rank within Hymenochaetales. The three families emerged between 61.51 and 195.87 million years ago. Compared to other families in the Hymenochaetales, these ages are more or less similar to those of Coltriciaceae, Hymenochaetaceae and Oxyporaceae, but much older than those of the two families Neoantrodiellaceae and Nigrofomitaceae. In regard to species, two, one, three and 10 species are newly described from Hyphodontia, Kneiffiella, Lyomyces and Xylodon, respectively. The taxonomic status of additional 30 species names from these four genera is briefly discussed; an epitype is designated for X. australis. The resupinate habit and poroid hymenophoral configuration were evaluated as the ancestral state of basidiocarps within Hymenochaetales. The resupinate habit mainly remains, while the hymenophoral configuration mainly evolves to the grandinioid-odontioid state and also back to the poroid state at the family level. Generally, a taxonomic framework for Hymenochaetales with an emphasis on members belonging to Hyphodontia sensu lato is constructed, and trait evolution of basidiocarps within Hymenochaetales is revealed accordingly.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Alejandra Serna-Sánchez ◽  
Oscar A. Pérez-Escobar ◽  
Diego Bogarín ◽  
María Fernanda Torres-Jimenez ◽  
Astrid Catalina Alvarez-Yela ◽  
...  

AbstractRecent phylogenomic analyses based on the maternally inherited plastid organelle have enlightened evolutionary relationships between the subfamilies of Orchidaceae and most of the tribes. However, uncertainty remains within several subtribes and genera for which phylogenetic relationships have not ever been tested in a phylogenomic context. To address these knowledge-gaps, we here provide the most extensively sampled analysis of the orchid family to date, based on 78 plastid coding genes representing 264 species, 117 genera, 18 tribes and 28 subtribes. Divergence times are also provided as inferred from strict and relaxed molecular clocks and birth–death tree models. Our taxon sampling includes 51 newly sequenced plastid genomes produced by a genome skimming approach. We focus our sampling efforts on previously unplaced clades within tribes Cymbidieae and Epidendreae. Our results confirmed phylogenetic relationships in Orchidaceae as recovered in previous studies, most of which were recovered with maximum support (209 of the 262 tree branches). We provide for the first time a clear phylogenetic placement for Codonorchideae within subfamily Orchidoideae, and Podochilieae and Collabieae within subfamily Epidendroideae. We also identify relationships that have been persistently problematic across multiple studies, regardless of the different details of sampling and genomic datasets used for phylogenetic reconstructions. Our study provides an expanded, robust temporal phylogenomic framework of the Orchidaceae that paves the way for biogeographical and macroevolutionary studies.


Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 853
Author(s):  
Jacek Karamon ◽  
Małgorzata Samorek-Pieróg ◽  
Jacek Sroka ◽  
Ewa Bilska-Zając ◽  
Joanna Dąbrowska ◽  
...  

The aim of this study is to confirm the presence and molecular identification of Echinococcus tapeworms in wolves from south-eastern Poland. An investigation was carried out on the intestines of 13 wolves from south-eastern Poland. The small intestines were divided into three equal segments. Each segment was separately examined using the sedimentation and counting technique (SCT). The detected Echinococcus tapeworms were isolated and identified by PCRs and sequencing (nad1 and cox1 genes). Additionally, DNA isolated from the feces of wolves positive for Echinococcus tapeworms was examined with two diagnostic PCRs. The intestines of one wolf were positive for E. granulosus s.l. when assessed by SCT; the intestine was from a six-year-old male wolf killed in a communication accident. We detected 61 adult tapeworms: 42 in the anterior, 14 in the middle, and 5 in the posterior parts of the small intestine. The PCRs conducted for cox1 and nad1 produced specific products. A sequence comparison with the GenBank database showed similarity to the deposited E. ortleppi (G5) sequences. An analysis of the available phylogenetic sequences showed very little variation within the species of E. ortleppi (G5), and identity ranged from 99.10% to 100.00% in the case of cox1 and from 99.04 to 100.00% in the case of nad1. One of the two diagnostic PCRs used and performed on the feces of Echinococcus-positive animals showed product specific for E. granulosus. This study showed the presence of adult E. ortleppi tapeworms in wolves for the first time.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 711-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria S. Pagani ◽  
Chung H. Kok ◽  
Verity A. Saunders ◽  
Mark B. Van der Hoek ◽  
Susan L. Heatley ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 158 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. David M. Latham ◽  
Stan Boutin

A breeding male Gray Wolf, Canis lupus, equipped with a GPS collar was documented going to the den site of another Gray Wolf pack. This trip was coincident with an attack on the den of the other pack and the occurrence of a dead and partially consumed Gray Wolf pup at the same location. We present two possible explanations - interspecific predation and non-parental infanticide - to account for this observation. Because the Gray Wolf with the GPS collar and his mate were first-time breeders and were attempting to establish a territory space of their own, we speculate that, based on the available evidence, this observation most likely represents a case of non-parental infanticide that fits the predictions of the resource competition hypothesis.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 239 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Larissa Bernardino Moro ◽  
Gregorio Delgado ◽  
Iracema Helena SCHOENLEIN-CRUSIUS

Clathrosporium retortum sp. nov., collected on submerged mixed leaf litter samples at Ilha do Cardoso State Park, São Paulo state, Brazil, is described based on morphological and molecular data. The fungus is characterized by forming whitish, dense, subglobose to irregular propagules, hyaline to subhyaline when young, subhyaline to dark brown at maturity, that are formed by densely interwoven conidial filaments with each conidial cell repeatedly branching bilaterally or occasionally unilaterally. Phylogenetic analyses using partial LSU nrDNA sequence data suggest that C. retortum belongs in the Sordariomycetes (Ascomycota) where it forms a well-supported clade with Clohesia corticola in the Sordariomycetidae, but its ordinal or familial placement remains unresolved. Its phylogenetic placement confirms the polyphyletic nature of aeroaquatic fungi like Clathrosporium, as it was distantly related to one available sequence in GenBank named as C. intricatum, the type species, which is phylogenetically related to the Helotiales (Leotiomycetes). However, due to lack of authenticity of the identity of this sequence with the type specimen of C. intricatum, a broad concept of Clathrosporium is tentatively adopted here to accommodate the present fungus instead of introducing a new genus. Beverwykella clathrata, Helicoön septatissimum and Peyronelina glomerulata are recorded for the first time from Brazil. Cancellidium applanatum and Candelabrum brocchiatum are new records for the state of São Paulo.


1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (12) ◽  
pp. 2074-2084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Ward ◽  
Neil Billington ◽  
Paul D. N. Hebert

Twelve populations of walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) from the Great Lakes and three populations from northern Manitoba were screened for allozyme and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation. Nine enzyme loci known to show genetic variation were screened in all fish: five of them (Prot-4, Prot-2, Mdh-3, Idh-1, Adh) showed appreciable polymorphism. MtDNA was examined in all fish using six endonucleases that detected polymorphic sites and a further 13 endonucleases that detected only monomorphic sites. Only one of the allozyme loci (Prot-4) showed evidence of geographic patterning of allele frequencies. By contrast, the mtDNA haplotypes showed clear geographic variation. The proportion of total genetic diversity attributable to population differentiation (Gst) was three to five times greater for mtDNA than for the allozymes. Gst values for organelle genes are expected on theoretical grounds to be greater than for nuclear genes, and this expected difference may be enhanced in walleye because of the likelihood that, in this species, male-mediated gene flow exceeds that of females. The distributions of mtDNA haplotypes and estimated divergence times are consistent with the derivation of extant walleye populations from three different glacial refugia.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document