scholarly journals Historical reconstruction of climatic and elevation preferences and the evolution of cloud forest-adapted tree ferns in Mesoamerica

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Sosa ◽  
Juan Francisco Ornelas ◽  
Santiago Ramírez-Barahona ◽  
Etelvina Gándara

BackgroundCloud forests, characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover and fragmented distribution, are one of the most threatened habitats, especially in the Neotropics. Tree ferns are among the most conspicuous elements in these forests, and ferns are restricted to regions in which minimum temperatures rarely drop below freezing and rainfall is high and evenly distributed around the year. Current phylogeographic data suggest that some of the cloud forest-adapted species remainedin situor expanded to the lowlands during glacial cycles and contracted allopatrically during the interglacials. Although the observed genetic signals of population size changes of cloud forest-adapted species including tree ferns correspond to predicted changes by Pleistocene climate change dynamics, the observed patterns of intraspecific lineage divergence showed temporal incongruence.MethodsHere we combined phylogenetic analyses, ancestral area reconstruction, and divergence time estimates with climatic and altitudinal data (environmental space) for phenotypic traits of tree fern species to make inferences about evolutionary processes in deep time. We used phylogenetic Bayesian inference and geographic and altitudinal distribution of tree ferns to investigate ancestral area and elevation and environmental preferences of Mesoamerican tree ferns. The phylogeny was then used to estimate divergence times and ask whether the ancestral area and elevation and environmental shifts were linked to climatic events and historical climatic preferences.ResultsBayesian trees retrievedCyathea, Alsophyla, GymnosphaeraandSphaeropterisin monophyletic clades. Splits for species in these genera found in Mesoamerican cloud forests are recent, from the Neogene to the Quaternary, Australia was identified as the ancestral area for the clades of these genera, except forGymnosphaerathat was Mesoamerica. Climate tolerance was not divergent from hypothesized ancestors for the most significant variables or elevation. For elevational shifts, we found repeated change from low to high elevations.ConclusionsOur data suggest that representatives of Cyatheaceae main lineages migrated from Australia to Mesoamerican cloud forests in different times and have persisted in these environmentally unstable areas but extant species diverged recentrly from their ancestors.

Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Li ◽  
Jianqing Zhu ◽  
Chen Ge ◽  
Ying Wang ◽  
Zimiao Zhao ◽  
...  

: The butterfly tribe Aeromachini Tutt, 1906 is a large group of skippers. In this study, a total of 10 genera and 45 species of putative members of this tribe, which represent most of the generic diversity and nearly all the species diversity of the group in China, were sequenced for two mitochondrial genes and three nuclear genes (2093 bp). The combined dataset was analyzed with maximum likelihood inference using IQtree. We found strong support for monophyly of Aeromachini from China and support for the most recent accepted species in the tribe. Two paraphyletic genera within Aeromachini are presented and discussed. The divergence time estimates with BEAST and ancestral-area reconstructions with RASP provide a detailed description about the historical biogeography of the Aeromachini from China. The tribe very likely originated from the Hengduan Mountains in the late Ecocene and expanded to the Himalaya Mountains and Central China Regions. A dispersal-vicariance analysis suggests that dispersal events have played essential roles in the distribution of extant species, and geological and climatic changes have been important factors driving current distribution patterns.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Yoshimasa Kumekawa ◽  
Haruka Fujimoto ◽  
Osamu Miura ◽  
Ryo Arakawa ◽  
Jun Yokoyama ◽  
...  

Abstract Harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) are soil animals with extremely low dispersal abilities that experienced allopatric differentiation. To clarify the morphological and phylogenetic differentiation of the endemic harvestman Zepedanulus ishikawai (Suzuki, 1971) (Laniatores: Epedanidae) in the southern part of the Ryukyu Archipelago, we conducted molecular phylogenetic analyses and divergence time estimates based on CO1 and 16S rRNA sequences of mtDNA, the 28S rRNA sequence of nrDNA, and the external morphology. A phylogenetic tree based on mtDNA sequences indicated that individuals of Z. ishikawai were monophyletic and were divided into clade I and clade II. This was supported by the nrDNA phylogenetic tree. Although clades I and II were distributed sympatrically on all three islands examined (Ishigaki, Iriomote, and Yonaguni), heterogeneity could not be detected by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism of nrDNA, indicating that clades I and II do not have a history of hybridisation. Also, several morphological characters differed significantly between individuals of clade I and clade II. The longstanding isolation of the southern Ryukyus from the surrounding islands enabled estimation of the original morphological characters of both clades of Z. ishikawai.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li He ◽  
Natascha Dorothea Wagner ◽  
Elvira Hörandl

AbstractThe Hengduan Mountains (HDM) in South West China are an important hotspot of plant diversity and endemism and considered to be a secondary diversification center for the woody plant genus Salix (Salicaceae). This study aimed to reconstruct the spatio-temporal evolution of the Salix Chamaetia-Vetrix clade in the HDM and to test for the occurrence of a radiation. We inferred phylogenetic relationships based on more than 34,000 RAD loci of 27 species. Phylogenetic analyses recovered a well-resolved tree topology with two major clades, the Eurasian and the HDM clade and a divergence time of c. 23.9 Ma. The HDM clade comprises two subclades. The species of the HDM clade originated in north HDM and adjacent areas and then dispersed into the south HDM, westwards to the Himalayas and eastwards to the Qinling Mountains. Niche modelling analyses revealed that during the last glacial maximum, range contractions were observed in the northern areas, while southward expansions resulted in range overlaps. The reconstruction of putative adaptive character evolution of plant height, inflorescence and flower morphology indicate that adaptations to altitudinal distribution contributed to the diversification of the HDM willows. Our data indicate that a radiation occurred in HDM within the Salix Chamaetia-Vetrix clade. Dispersal within the mountain system and to adjacent regions as well as survival in glacial refugia have shaped the biogeographical history of the clade. Differentiation along altitudinal zonation concomitant to morphological adaptations to colder climates may be important ecological factors for the high species diversity of Salix in this area.


2019 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mao-Qiang He ◽  
Rui-Lin Zhao ◽  
Kevin D. Hyde ◽  
Dominik Begerow ◽  
Martin Kemler ◽  
...  

AbstractThe Basidiomycota constitutes a major phylum of the kingdom Fungi and is second in species numbers to the Ascomycota. The present work provides an overview of all validly published, currently used basidiomycete genera to date in a single document. An outline of all genera of Basidiomycota is provided, which includes 1928 currently used genera names, with 1263 synonyms, which are distributed in 241 families, 68 orders, 18 classes and four subphyla. We provide brief notes for each accepted genus including information on classification, number of accepted species, type species, life mode, habitat, distribution, and sequence information. Furthermore, three phylogenetic analyses with combined LSU, SSU, 5.8s, rpb1, rpb2, and ef1 datasets for the subphyla Agaricomycotina, Pucciniomycotina and Ustilaginomycotina are conducted, respectively. Divergence time estimates are provided to the family level with 632 species from 62 orders, 168 families and 605 genera. Our study indicates that the divergence times of the subphyla in Basidiomycota are 406–430 Mya, classes are 211–383 Mya, and orders are 99–323 Mya, which are largely consistent with previous studies. In this study, all phylogenetically supported families were dated, with the families of Agaricomycotina diverging from 27–178 Mya, Pucciniomycotina from 85–222 Mya, and Ustilaginomycotina from 79–177 Mya. Divergence times as additional criterion in ranking provide additional evidence to resolve taxonomic problems in the Basidiomycota taxonomic system, and also provide a better understanding of their phylogeny and evolution.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (22) ◽  
pp. 12222-12229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Gryseels ◽  
Thomas D. Watts ◽  
Jean-Marie Kabongo Mpolesha ◽  
Brendan B. Larsen ◽  
Philippe Lemey ◽  
...  

With very little direct biological data of HIV-1 from before the 1980s, far-reaching evolutionary and epidemiological inferences regarding the long prediscovery phase of this pandemic are based on extrapolations by phylodynamic models of HIV-1 genomic sequences gathered mostly over recent decades. Here, using a very sensitive multiplex RT-PCR assay, we screened 1,645 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue specimens collected for pathology diagnostics in Central Africa between 1958 and 1966. We report the near-complete viral genome in one HIV-1 positive specimen from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), from 1966 (“DRC66”)—a nonrecombinant sister lineage to subtype C that constitutes the oldest HIV-1 near full-length genome recovered to date. Root-to-tip plots showed the DRC66 sequence is not an outlier as would be expected if dating estimates from more recent genomes were systematically biased; and inclusion of the DRC66 sequence in tip-dated BEAST analyses did not significantly alter root and internal node age estimates based on post-1978 HIV-1 sequences. There was larger variation in divergence time estimates among datasets that were subsamples of the available HIV-1 genomes from 1978 to 2014, showing the inherent phylogenetic stochasticity across subsets of the real HIV-1 diversity. Our phylogenetic analyses date the origin of the pandemic lineage of HIV-1 to a time period around the turn of the 20th century (1881 to 1918). In conclusion, this unique archival HIV-1 sequence provides direct genomic insight into HIV-1 in 1960s DRC, and, as an ancient-DNA calibrator, it validates our understanding of HIV-1 evolutionary history.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Malukiewicz ◽  
Reed A. Cartwright ◽  
Nelson H. A. Curi ◽  
Jorge A. Dergam ◽  
Claudia S. Igayara ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Callithrix marmosets are a relatively young primate radiation, whose phylogeny is not yet fully resolved. These primates are naturally para- and allopatric, but three species with highly invasive potential have been introduced into the southeastern Brazilian Atlantic Forest by the pet trade. There, these species hybridize with each other and endangered, native congeners. We aimed here to reconstruct a robust Callithrix phylogeny and divergence time estimates, and identify the biogeographic origins of autochthonous and allochthonous Callithrix mitogenome lineages. We sequenced 49 mitogenomes from four species (C. aurita, C. geoffroyi, C. jacchus, C. penicillata) and anthropogenic hybrids (C. aurita x Callithrix sp., C. penicillata x C. jacchus, Callithrix sp. x Callithrix sp., C. penicillata x C. geoffroyi) via Sanger and whole genome sequencing. We combined these data with previously published Callithrix mitogenomes to analyze five Callithrix species in total. Results We report the complete sequence and organization of the C. aurita mitogenome. Phylogenetic analyses showed that C. aurita was the first to diverge within Callithrix 3.54 million years ago (Ma), while C. jacchus and C. penicillata lineages diverged most recently 0.5 Ma as sister clades. MtDNA clades of C. aurita, C. geoffroyi, and C. penicillata show intraspecific geographic structure, but C. penicillata clades appear polyphyletic. Hybrids, which were identified by phenotype, possessed mainly C. penicillata or C. jacchus mtDNA haplotypes. The biogeographic origins of mtDNA haplotypes from hybrid and allochthonous Callithrix were broadly distributed across natural Callithrix ranges. Our phylogenetic results also evidence introgression of C. jacchus mtDNA into C. aurita. Conclusion Our robust Callithrix mitogenome phylogeny shows C. aurita lineages as basal and C. jacchus lineages among the most recent within Callithrix. We provide the first evidence that parental mtDNA lineages of anthropogenic hybrid and allochthonous marmosets are broadly distributed inside and outside of the Atlantic Forest. We also show evidence of cryptic hybridization between allochthonous Callithrix and autochthonous C. aurita. Our results encouragingly show that further development of genomic resources will allow to more clearly elucidate Callithrix evolutionary relationships and understand the dynamics of Callithrix anthropogenic introductions into the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.


MycoKeys ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 99-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng-Nan Zhang ◽  
Kevin D. Hyde ◽  
E.B. Gareth Jones ◽  
Rajesh Jeewon ◽  
Ratchadawan Cheewangkoon ◽  
...  

Palms represent the most morphological diverse monocotyledonous plants and support a vast array of fungi. Recent examinations of palmicolous fungi in Thailand led to the discovery of a group of morphologically similar and interesting taxa. A polyphasic approach based on morphology, multi-gene phylogenetic analyses and divergence time estimates supports the establishment of a novel pleosporalean family Striatiguttulaceae, which diversified approximately 39 (20–63) MYA (crown age) and 60 (35–91) MYA (stem age). Striatiguttulaceae is characterized by stromata or ascomata with a short to long neck, trabeculate pseudoparaphyses and fusiform to ellipsoidal, 1–3-septate ascospores, with longitudinal striations and paler end cells, surrounded by a mucilaginous sheath. Multi-gene phylogenetic analysis showed that taxa of Striatiguttulaceae form a well-supported and distinct monophyletic clade in Pleosporales, and related to Ligninsphaeriaceae and Pseudoastrosphaeriellaceae. However, these families can be morphologically demarcated by the slit-like ascomata and extremely large ascospores in Ligninsphaeriaceae and the rather narrow fusiform ascospores in Pseudoastrosphaeriellaceae. Eight strains of Striatiguttulaceae formed two monophyletic sub-clades, which can be recognized as Longicorpusgen. nov. and Striatiguttulagen. nov. Morphologically, the genus Longicorpus can be differentiated from Striatiguttula by its elongated immersed ascomata and fusiform ascospores with relatively larger middle cells and paler end cells. Two new species Striatiguttulanypae and S.phoenicis, and one new combination, Longicorpusstriataspora are introduced with morphological details, and phylogenetic relationships are discussed based on DNA sequence data.


2020 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-330
Author(s):  
Francisco J. García-Cárdenas ◽  
Mónica Núñez-Flores ◽  
Pablo J. López-González

Pennatulaceans are an important component of benthic marine communities usually related to soft bottoms. Despite their important ecological role, as yet little is known about their origin and divergence time. The first attempts to establish phylogenetic relationships among genera date from the early 20th century, when only morphological characters were available. In the last decade, phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial DNA sequences from a selected number of species have proposed a different hypothetical ancestor for this group, but their intergeneric relationships remain obscure. The present study is based on a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear markers (mtMutS, Cox1 and 28S rDNA), adding new molecular information about the phylogenetic relationships among the pennatulacean genera, including 38 new sequences belonging to 13 different species. Some of the phylogenetic relationships inferred in the present study question the current classification of sea pens based on morphology (at different taxonomic levels), clearly indicating that the two main groups Sessiliflorae and Subselliflorae, some of their main families (e.g. Pennatulidae, Umbellulidae, Virgulariidae) and some genera (e.g. Umbellula, Veretillum) are non-monophyletic. In addition, the veretillids, traditionally considered the most primitive pennatulaceans, are not shown as the earliest-diverging taxon. Moreover, an analysis of divergence time performed here suggested that the origin of the pennatulaceans dates from the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian, ~144 Ma), in agreement with their sparsely known fossil record, while the initial divergence of most extant genera occurred in the Oligocene and Miocene times.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
ADRIEL M. SIERRA ◽  
JULIA BECHTELER ◽  
DOMINGOS CARDOSO ◽  
CHARLES E. ZARTMAN ◽  
JUAN CARLOS VILLARREAL

The recent rediscovery of the rheophytic endemic Ceratolejeunea temnantha ~130 years after its original description, on the upper Rio Negro in the Brazilian Amazon, has enabled the assessment of its enigmatic phylogenetic position, estimates of its divergence time, and updates on its distribution and potential habitat threats. Phylogenetic analyses strongly supported its placement in the genus Ceratolejeunea in a geographically disparate clade including a Madagascar endemic C. saroltae and two Neotropical taxa, C. confusa and C. caducifolia. Divergence time estimates date the clade’s stem age to the late Miocene (8.92 [HPD: 12.39–6.04] Ma) offering further evidence that the evolution of rheophytes in northern South America is correlated with the expansion of cryptogams into novel ecological niches promoted by dramatic landscape changes during the Miocene. Major geomorphological and hydrological transformations contributing to such diversification are most likely the changing dynamics of the inundated mega lake system to the establishment of the Amazon River due to the Andean orogeny and the subsequent cessation of marine influences in the north-western portion of the Basin. Until recently, this rheophyte of seasonally inundated black-water forests was only known from its type collection from the Rio Negro near São Gabriel da Cachoeira (Brazil) as described by Richard Spruce in 1884. These new collections extend the distribution of this rare narrow endemic to the middle Rio Uaupés, a tributary of the upper Rio Negro near the Columbian border.


PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e8033
Author(s):  
Siuli Mitra ◽  
Vaishnavi Kunteepuram ◽  
Klaus-Peter Koepfli ◽  
Neha Mehra ◽  
Wajeeda Tabasum ◽  
...  

The binturong (Arctictis binturong) is classified as a member of the subfamily Paradoxurinae within the family Viverridae (Carnivora: Mammalia) and comprises nine subspecies spread across Southern and Southeast Asia. Here, we describe the complete mitochondrial genome of the Indian subspecies A. b. albifrons using next-generation sequencing methods. The total length of the A. b. albifrons mitogenome was 16,642 bp. Phylogenetic analyses based on 13 mitochondrial protein-coding genes placed the binturong as a sister taxon to Paguma larvata within the Paradoxurinae and supported the clustering of Genettinae and Viverrinae and the monophyly of Viverridae and six other families of feliforms, consistent with previous studies. Divergence time estimates suggest that the Viverridae diversified during the Miocene (22.62 Mya: 95% CI [20.78–24.54] Mya) and that Arctictis and Paguma split 12.57 Mya (95% CI [8.66–15.67] Mya). Further molecular studies are required to test the distinctiveness and diversity of the nine putative subspecies of binturong.


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