Search results for "phylogenetic"

Phylogenetics of Anthyllis (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae: Loteae): Partial incongruence between nuclear and plastid markers, a long branch problem and…

2010

Abstract Phylogenetic relationships in the genus Anthyllis (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae: Loteae) were investigated using data from the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS) and three plastid regions (psbA–trnH intergenic spacer, petB–petD region and rps16 intron). Bayesian and maximum parsimony (MP) analysis of a concatenated plastid dataset recovered well-resolved trees that are topologically similar, with many clades supported by unique indels. MP and Bayesian analyses of the ITS sequence data recovered trees that have several well-supported topological differences, both among analyses, and to trees inferred from the plastid data. The most substantial of these concer…

Discrepant partitioning of genetic diversity in mouse lemurs and dwarf lemurs--biological reality or taxonomic bias?

2013

Unequal degrees of taxonomic subdivision can pose problems for research that relies on cross-taxon comparisons of biogeographic patterns. Numerous species of lemurs have been described in recent years. These descriptions were unevenly distributed over the genera of lemurs as exemplified by the closely related mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.) and dwarf lemurs (Cheirogaleus spp.). According to previous studies, these genera display striking differences such as many versus few species, small versus large distributions, and small versus large mitochondrial divergence within and between species. We questioned if these differences reflect the biological reality or a biased taxonomic subdivision, wh…

Vers une approche globale de l'évolution des Hominidés

1998

Abstract Two models of diversification of the common ancestor of gorillas, chimpanzees and men can be proposed on the basis of the distribution of chromosomal rearrangements in extant species and reconsideration of the role played by climate. The small genetic divergence between chimpanzees and humans is greatly amplified at the morphological level, thus constituting the ‘human paradox’. This paradox is resolved by the economical and flexible evolutionary mechanism of mutations in regulator genes and the heterochronies they control, which are the true internal clocks of evolution. Changes in cranial morphology are quantified and used to analyse and explain the steps in the transition from g…

Comparative phylogeography of the Veronica alpina complex in Europe and North America

2006

The Veronica alpina complex comprises eight species of alpine habitats over a wide range of mountain systems in the Northern Hemisphere. The occurrence of sympatric species in the European and North American mountain systems allowed us not only to investigate the effect of the ice ages on intraspecific phylogeographical patterns and genetic diversity in different continents of the Northern Hemisphere, but also to compare these patterns in closely related species. Plastid DNA trnL-F sequences and AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) fingerprints were used to infer the phylogenetic history of the group and phylogeographical patterns within species. Hybrid origin of tetraploid eastern…

A novel methodology for large-scale phylogeny partition

2011

Understanding the determinants of virus transmission is a fundamental step for effective design of screening and intervention strategies to control viral epidemics. Phylogenetic analysis can be a valid approach for the identification of transmission chains, and very-large data sets can be analysed through parallel computation. Here we propose and validate a new methodology for the partition of large-scale phylogenies and the inference of transmission clusters. This approach, on the basis of a depth-first search algorithm, conjugates the evaluation of node reliability, tree topology and patristic distance analysis. The method has been applied to identify transmission clusters of a phylogeny …

Genetic Variability and Phylogenetic Relationships within Trypanosoma cruzi I Isolated in Colombia Based on Miniexon Gene Sequences

2010

Phylogenetic studies ofTrypanosoma cruzihave identified the existence of two groups:T. cruziI andT. cruziII. There are aspects that still remain unknown about the genetic variability within theT. cruziI group. Given its epidemiological importance, it is necessary to have a better understanding ofT. cruzitransmission cycles. Our purpose was to corroborate the existence of haplotypes within theT. cruziI group and to describe the genetic variability and phylogenetic relationships, based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) found in the miniexon gene intergenic region, for the isolates from different hosts and epidemiological transmission cycles in Colombian regions. 31T. cruziisolates wer…

Sequence analyses of S10-spcoperon among 16SrV group phytoplasmas: phylogenetic relationships and identification of discriminating single nucleotide …

2012

Phytoplasmas are cell-wall less, uncultivable bacteria, belonging to the class Mollicutes. They parasitise both plant hosts and insect vectors, but knowledge of their biological and molecular properties is limited. In particular, analyses of 16S rDNA nucleotide sequences revealed that 16SrV group phytoplasma strains identified in grapevine plants are closely related, but associated with distinct ecologies. In this work, we investigated the evolutionary relationships of eight representative 16SrV phytoplasma strains by sequencing 15 ribosomal protein (rp) genes positioned within the S10-spc operon. Phylogenetic analyses of concatenated nucleotide and amino acid sequences underscored that 16S…

2006

Understanding evolutionary processes that drive genome reduction requires determining the tempo (rate) and the mode (size and types of deletions) of gene losses. In this study, we analysed five endosymbiotic genome sequences of the gamma-proteobacteria (three different Buchnera aphidicola strains, Wigglesworthia glossinidia, Blochmannia floridanus) to test if gene loss could be driven by the selective importance of genes. We used a parsimony method to reconstruct a minimal ancestral genome of insect endosymbionts and quantified gene loss along the branches of the phylogenetic tree. To evaluate the selective or functional importance of genes, we used a parameter that measures the level of ad…

2014

A pure culture of an actinobacterium previously described as ‘Candidatus Rhodoluna lacicola ’ strain MWH-Ta8 was established and deposited in two public culture collections. Strain MWH-Ta8T represents a free-living planktonic freshwater bacterium obtained from hypertrophic Meiliang Bay, Lake Taihu, PR China. The strain was characterized by phylogenetic and taxonomic investigations, as well as by determination of its complete genome sequence. Strain MWH-Ta8T is noticeable due to its unusually low values of cell size (0.05 µm3), genome size (1.43 Mbp), and DNA G+C content (51.5 mol%). Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene and RpoB sequences suggested that strain MWH-Ta8T is affiliated …

Characterization of two globin genes from the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae: Divergent origin of nematoceran haemoglobins

2007

The chironomid midges are the only insects that harbour true haemoglobin in their haemolymph. Here we report the identification of haemoglobin genes in two other nematoceran species. Two paralogous haemoglobin genes (glob1 and glob2) from the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae were cloned and sequenced. Furthermore, we identified two orthologous haemoglobin genes in the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti. All four haemoglobins were predicted to be intracellular proteins, with the amino acids required for heme- and oxygen-binding being conserved. In situ-hybridization studies showed that glob1 and glob2 expression in An. gambiae is mainly associated with the tracheal system. This pattern re…