scholarly journals Are Megabats Flying Primates? Contrary Evidence from a Mitochondrial DNA Sequence

1988 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 327 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Bennett ◽  
LJ Alexander ◽  
RH Crozier ◽  
AG Mackinlay
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Dna Sequence ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Fruit Bats ◽  
Fruit Bat ◽  
Pteropus Poliocephalus ◽  
Connection System ◽  
Considerable Doubt ◽  
Contrary Evidence

Bats (Chiroptera) are divided into the suborders Megachiroptera (fruit bats, 'megabats') and Microchiroptera (predominantly insectivores, 'microbats'). It had been found that megabats and primates share a connection system between the retina and the midbrain not seen in microbats or other eutherian mammals, and challenging but plausible hypotheses were made that (a) bats are diphyletic and (b) megabats are flying primates. We obtained two DNA sequences from the mitochondrion of the fruit bat Pteropus poliocephalus, and performed phylogenetic analyses using the bat sequences in conjunction with homologous Drosophila, mouse, cow and human sequences. Two trees stand out as significantly more likely than any other; neither of these links the bat and human as the closest sequences. These results cast considerable doubt on the hypothesis that megabats are particularly close to primates.

A NEW SPECIES OF BEAKED WHALE MESOPLODON PERRINI SP. N. (CETACEA: ZIPHIIDAE) DISCOVERED THROUGH PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSES OF MITOCHONDRIAL DNA SEQUENCES

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 577-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merel L. Dalebout ◽  
James G. Mead ◽  
C. Scott Baker ◽  
Alan N. Baker ◽  
Anton L. Helden
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
New Species ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Beaked Whale ◽  
A New Species

scholarly journals Hierarchical Models for Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Data

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Berchialla
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Dna Sequence ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Population History ◽  
Parametric Models ◽  
Italian Population ◽  
Bayesian Hierarchical ◽  
Dna Sequence Data ◽  
Mitochondrial Dna Sequence

We introduce a Bayesian hierarchical model for mitochondrial DNA sequence data, which is fitted via acceptance-rejection algorithms. The model incorporates parametric models of population history explicitly as well as a mutational process allowing for a simultaneous parameter estimation whose importance has become increasingly clear in many recent studies. The model is applied to a sample of DNA sequences from the Italian population.

scholarly journals Green Warbler Phylloscopus nitidus ringed at Blåvand: molecular confirmation of a Danish first and European eighth vagrant record

Ornis Svecica ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2–4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Stervander ◽  
Henrik Knudsen ◽  
Henrik Bruun Kristensen
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
First Record ◽  
Breeding Range ◽  
The Third ◽  
Morphological Basis

On 27 May 2015, a Green Warbler Phylloscopus nitidus was caught and ringed at Blåvand Bird Observatory, the westernmost point in Denmark. The species is challenging to identify on morphological basis alone, and the bird’s identity was confirmed with phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences. This constitutes the first record of Green Warbler in Denmark, the third record in Fennoscandia – following records on Öland, Sweden, on 29 May 2003, and Åland, Finland, on 20 May 2012 – and the eighth vagrant record in Europe outside the species’ very restricted peripheral breeding range.

scholarly journals Attenuated infection by a Pteropine orthoreovirus isolated from an Egyptian fruit bat in Zambia

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. e0009768
Author(s):  
Hayato Harima ◽  
Michihito Sasaki ◽  
Yasuko Orba ◽  
Kosuke Okuya ◽  
Yongjin Qiu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
Replication Capacity ◽  
Fruit Bats ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Fruit Bat ◽  
Eidolon Helvum ◽  
Severe Respiratory Illness ◽  
Generation Sequencing

Background Pteropine orthoreovirus (PRV) is an emerging bat-borne zoonotic virus that causes severe respiratory illness in humans. Although PRVs have been identified in fruit bats and humans in Australia and Asia, little is known about the prevalence of PRV infection in Africa. Therefore, this study performed an PRV surveillance in fruit bats in Zambia. Methods Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus, n = 47) and straw-colored fruit bats (Eidolon helvum, n = 33) captured in Zambia in 2017–2018 were screened for PRV infection using RT-PCR and serum neutralization tests. The complete genome sequence of an isolated PRV strain was determined by next generation sequencing and subjected to BLAST and phylogenetic analyses. Replication capacity and pathogenicity of the strain were investigated using Vero E6 cell cultures and BALB/c mice, respectively. Results An PRV strain, tentatively named Nachunsulwe-57, was isolated from one Egyptian fruit bat. Serological assays demonstrated that 98% of sera (69/70) collected from Egyptian fruit bats (n = 37) and straw-colored fruit bats (n = 33) had neutralizing antibodies against PRV. Genetic analyses revealed that all 10 genome segments of Nachunsulwe-57 were closely related to a bat-derived Kasama strain found in Uganda. Nachunsulwe-57 showed less efficiency in viral growth and lower pathogenicity in mice than another PRV strain, Miyazaki-Bali/2007, isolated from a patient. Conclusions A high proportion of Egyptian fruit bats and straw-colored fruit bats were found to be seropositive to PRV in Zambia. Importantly, a new PRV strain (Nachunsulwe-57) was isolated from an Egyptian fruit bat in Zambia, which had relatively weak pathogenicity in mice. Taken together, our findings provide new epidemiological insights about PRV infection in bats and indicate the first isolation of an PRV strain that may have low pathogenicity to humans.

scholarly journals Redefining the Distributional Boundaries and Phylogenetic Relationships for Ctenomids From Central Argentina

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Soledad Carnovale ◽  
Gabriela Paula Fernández ◽  
Mariano Lisandro Merino ◽  
Matías Sebastián Mora
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Biological Species ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Subterranean Rodents ◽  
Calibration Data ◽  
Loop Region ◽  
Pampas Region

With about 68 recognized living species, subterranean rodents of the genus Ctenomys are found in a multiplicity of habitats, from the dunes of the Atlantic coast to the Andes Mountains, including environments ranging from humid steppes of Pampas to the dry deserts of Chaco region. However, this genus needs an exhaustive reevaluation of its systematic and phylogenetic relationships regarding the different groups that compose it. This knowledge is essential to propose biodiversity conservation strategies both at species level and at higher hierarchical levels. In order to clarify the taxonomy and the recent evolutionary history from populations of Ctenomys in the Pampas region, Argentina, phylogenetic relationships among them were evaluated using mitochondrial DNA sequences: gene encoding cytochrome b protein (1,140 bp) and the non-coding D-loop region (434 bp). To infer the divergence times inside the Ctenomys clade, a Bayesian calibrate tree using fossil remains data from different families within Caviomorpha was performed at first. Secondly, that calibration data was used as priors in a new Bayesian phylogenetic inference within the genus Ctenomys. This phylogenetic tree emphasized on species currently distributed on the Pampas region, more precisely considering both the talarum and mendocinus groups. Bayesian inferences (BI) were integrated with the results of a Maximum Likelihood approach (ML). Based on these results, the distributional limits of the mendocinus and talarum groups appear to be related to the physiognomy of the Pampas region soils. On the other hand, the validity of C. pundti complex as a differentiated species of C. talarum is debated. According to previous evidence from morphological and chromosomal studies, these results show a very low divergence between those species that originally were classified within the talarum group. Mitochondrial DNA sequences from populations associated with these putative species have not recovered as reciprocal monophyletic groups in the phylogenetic analyses. In conclusion, C. talarum and C. pundti complex might be considered as the same biological species, or lineages going through a recent or incipient differentiation process. The results obtained in this study have important implications for conservation policies and practices, since both species are currently categorized as Vulnerable and Endangered, respectively.

Genetic variation within African spiny-tailed lizards (Agamidae: Uromastyx) estimated using mitochondrial DNA sequences

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Brito ◽  
Raquel Vaconcelos ◽  
D. James Harris
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
North African ◽  
History Of ◽  
Current Species

AbstractAfrican spiny-tailed lizards (Uromastyx) are large, herbivorous lizards extensively traded locally for food and internationally as pets. Several species have recently been described, although some remain controversial. To determine relationships within North African forms, twenty individuals were analysed for over 1000 bases of mitochondrial DNA sequences. Phylogenetic analyses indicate four deeply divergent lineages that correspond to sampling areas, but not to current species designations. These results indicate that present taxonomy does not reflect the evolutionary history of these species.

scholarly journals From famine to feast? Selecting nuclear DNA sequence loci for plant species-level phylogeny reconstruction

2005 ◽  
Vol 361 (1465) ◽  
pp. 211-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin E Hughes ◽  
Ruth J Eastwood ◽  
C Donovan Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequence ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Related Species ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Gene Trees ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Nuclear Loci

Phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences have prompted spectacular progress in assembling the Tree of Life. However, progress in constructing phylogenies among closely related species, at least for plants, has been less encouraging. We show that for plants, the rapid accumulation of DNA characters at higher taxonomic levels has not been matched by conventional sequence loci at the species level, leaving a lack of well-resolved gene trees that is hindering investigations of many fundamental questions in plant evolutionary biology. The most popular approach to address this problem has been to use low-copy nuclear genes as a source of DNA sequence data. However, this has had limited success because levels of variation among nuclear intron sequences across groups of closely related species are extremely variable and generally lower than conventionally used loci, and because no universally useful low-copy nuclear DNA sequence loci have been developed. This suggests that solutions will, for the most part, be lineage-specific, prompting a move away from ‘universal’ gene thinking for species-level phylogenetics. The benefits and limitations of alternative approaches to locate more variable nuclear loci are discussed and the potential of anonymous non-genic nuclear loci is highlighted. Given the virtually unlimited number of loci that can be generated using these new approaches, it is clear that effective screening will be critical for efficient selection of the most informative loci. Strategies for screening are outlined.

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