6533b81ffe1ef96bd127714d

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Support for the monophyletic origin of Gnathifera from phylogenomics

Ingo EbersbergerHolger HerlynDavid B. Mark WelchAlexander WitekThomas Hankeln

subject

Ribosomal ProteinsParaphylyLikelihood FunctionsModels GeneticbiologyRotiferaLophotrochozoaZoologyBayes TheoremGenomicsbiology.organism_classificationEvolution MolecularMonophylyTaxonSequence Analysis ProteinPhylogenomicsGeneticsGnathiferaAnimalsSpiraliaCladeSequence AlignmentMolecular BiologyPhylogenyEcology Evolution Behavior and Systematics

description

The monophyletic origin of Spiralia within the metazoan tree of life is supported by many large-scale phylogenomic data. While there is now substantial molecular evidence for Lophotrochozoa being a monophyletic taxon within Spiralia, the phylogenetic affiliations of many other spiralian phyla remain unclear. Here we focus on the question of a monophyletic taxon Gnathifera, which was originally characterized by jaw morphology as comprising the taxa Rotifera, Acanthocephala and Gnathostomulida. Based on a large-scale molecular sequence dataset of 11,146 amino acid residues, we reconstructed phylogenetic trees of spiralian phyla using maximum-likelihood and Bayesian approaches. We obtain the first phylogenomic evidence for the clade Gnathifera, linking Syndermata (Rotifera + Acanthocephala) with Gnathostomulida. Furthermore, our data support recent findings concerning the paraphyly of Eurotatoria.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2009-01-27Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2009.07.031