Search results for "PHYLOGENE"

Museum primatological collections: a valuable source of ancient DNA

2008

Analysis of early strains of the norovirus pandemic variant GII.4 Sydney 2012 identifies mutations in adaptive sites of the capsid protein.

2014

AbstractGlobal surveillance for norovirus identified in 2012 the emergence of a novel pandemic GII.4 variant, termed Sydney 2012. In Italy, the novel pandemic variant was identified as early as November 2011 but became predominant only in the winter season 2012–2013. Upon sequencing and comparison with strains of global origin, the early Sydney 2012 strains were found to differ from those spreading in 2012–2013 in the capsid (ORF2) putative epitopes B, C and D, segregating into a distinct phylogenetic clade. At least three residues (333, 340 and 393, in epitopes B, C and D, respectively) of the VP1 varied among Sydney 2012 strains of different clades. These findings suggest that the spread …

Epidemiological dynamics of norovirus GII.4 variant New Orleans 2009.

2015

Norovirus (NoV) is one of the major causes of diarrhoeal disease with epidemic, outbreak and sporadic patterns in humans of all ages worldwide. NoVs of genotype GII.4 cause nearly 80–90 % of all NoV infections in humans. Periodically, some GII.4 strains become predominant, generating major pandemic variants. Retrospective analysis of the GII.4 NoV strains detected in Italy between 2007 and 2013 indicated that the pandemic variant New Orleans 2009 emerged in Italy in the late 2009, became predominant in 2010–2011 and continued to circulate in a sporadic fashion until April 2013. Upon phylogenetic analysis based on the small diagnostic regions A and C, the late New Orleans 2009 NoVs circulati…

Much more than a clasp: Evolutionary pattern of amplexus diversity in anurans

2019

ABSTRACTThe evolution and diversification of animal reproductive modes have been pivotal questions in behavioral ecology. Amphibians present the highest diversity of reproductive modes among vertebrates, involving various behavioral, physiological and morphological traits. One of such features is the amplexus, the clasp or embrace of males on females during reproduction, which is almost universal to anurans. Hypotheses about the origin amplexus are limited and have not been thoroughly tested, nor had they taken into account evolutionary relationships in most comparative studies. However, these considerations are crucial to understand the evolution of reproductive modes. Here, using an evolu…

Evolutionary processes in the emergence and recent spread of the syphilis agent, Treponema pallidum

2022

Abstract The incidence of syphilis has risen worldwide in the last decade in spite of being an easily treated infection. The causative agent of this sexually transmitted disease is the bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum (TPA), very closely related to subsp. pertenue (TPE) and endemicum (TEN), responsible for the human treponematoses yaws and bejel, respectively. Although much focus has been placed on the question of the spatial and temporary origins of TPA, the processes driving the evolution and epidemiological spread of TPA since its divergence from TPE and TEN are not well understood. Here, we investigate the effects of recombination and selection as forces of genetic diver…

Revision of New World Species of Shore Fly Genus <I>Discomyza</I> Meigen (Diptera: Ephydridae)

2005

Two species of Discomyza Meigen occur in the New World, one, D. u-signata Cresson, naturally and the other, D. maculipennis (Wiedemann), apparently as an introduction. These species are revised and their malacophagous breeding habits are documented. The species treatments include the first detailed descriptions and illustrations of structures from the male terminalia, lectotype designations for Notiphila maculipennis Wiedemann and its New World synonym (D. balioptera Loew), as well as phylogenetic and biogeographic information, including maps. Although congeners, these two species are apparently not closely related, and their occurrence in the New World is independent of each other. D. macu…

Ventastega curonica and the origin of tetrapod morphology.

2008

The gap in our understanding of the evolutionary transition from fish to tetrapod is beginning to close thanks to the discovery of new intermediate forms such as Tiktaalik roseae. Here we narrow it further by presenting the skull, exceptionally preserved braincase, shoulder girdle and partial pelvis of Ventastega curonica from the Late Devonian of Latvia, a transitional intermediate form between the 'elpistostegids' Panderichthys and Tiktaalik and the Devonian tetrapods (limbed vertebrates) Acanthostega and Ichthyostega. Ventastega is the most primitive Devonian tetrapod represented by extensive remains, and casts light on a part of the phylogeny otherwise only represented by fragmentary ta…

Diplopod hemocyanin sequence and the phylogenetic position of the Myriapoda

2001

Hemocyanins are copper-containing respiratory proteins of the Arthropoda that have so far been thoroughly investigated only in the Chelicerata and the Crustacea but have remained unstudied until now in the Myriapoda. Here we report the first sequence of a myriapod hemocyanin. The hemocyanin of Spirostreptus sp. (Diplopoda: Spirostreptidae) is composed of two distinct subunits that are arranged in a 6 x 6 native molecule. The cloned hemocyanin subunit cDNA codes of for a polypeptide of 653 amino acids (75.5 kDa) that includes a signal peptide of 18 amino acids. The sequence closely resembles that of the chelicerate hemocyanins. Molecular phylogenetic analyses reject with high statistical con…

Molecular characterization of hemoglobin from the honeybee Apis mellifera

2005

Due to the prevailing importance of the tracheal system for insect respiration, hemoglobins had been considered rare exceptions in this arthropod subphylum. Here we report the identification, cloning and expression analysis of a true hemoglobin gene in the honeybee Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera). The deduced amino acid sequence covers 171 residues (19.5 kDa) and harbors all globin-typical features, including the proximal and the distal histidines. The protein has no signal peptide for transmembrane transport and was predicted to localize in the cytoplasm. The honeybee hemoglobin gene shows an ancient structure, with introns in positions B12.2 and G7.0, while most other insect globins have div…

Isolation and characterization of two T-box genes from sponges, the phylogenetically oldest metazoan taxon

2003

It is now well established that all metazoan phyla derived from one common ancestor, the hypothetical Urmetazoa. Due to the basal position of Porifera (Demospongiae) in the phylogenetic tree of Metazoa, studies on the mechanisms controlling the development of these animals can provide clues on the understanding of the origin of multicellular animals and on how the first organization of the body plan evolved. In this report we describe the isolation and genomic characterization of two T-box genes from the siliceous sponge Suberites domuncula. The phylogenetic analysis classifies one into the subfamily of Brachyury, Sd-Bra, and the second into the Tbx2 subfamily, Sd-Tbx2. Analyses of the Sd-B…