Phylogenetic Analyses of DNA and Allozyme Data Suggest that Gonioctena Leaf Beetles (Coleoptera; Chrysomelidae) Experienced Convergent Evolution in their History of Host-Plant Family Shifts

AbstractEvolutionary history of coronaviruses holds the key to understand mutational behavior and prepare for possible future outbreaks. By performing comparative genome analysis of nidovirales that contain the family of coronaviruses, we traced the origin of proofreading, surprisingly to the eukaryotic antiviral component ZNFX1. This common recent ancestor contributes two zinc finger (ZnF) motifs that are unique to viral exonuclease, segregating them from DNA proof-readers. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that following acquisition, genomes of coronaviruses retained and further fine-tuned proofreading exonuclease, whereas related families harbor substitution of key residues in ZnF1 motif concomitant to a reduction in their genome sizes. Structural modelling followed by simulation suggests the role of ZnF in RNA binding. Key ZnF residues strongly coevolve with replicase, and the helicase involved in duplex RNA unwinding. Hence, fidelity of replication in coronaviruses is a result of convergent evolution, that enables maintenance of genome stability akin to cellular proofreading systems.

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DNA barcoding insect–host plant associations

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2008.1264 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 276 (1657) ◽

pp. 639-648 ◽

Cited By ~ 134

Author(s):

José A Jurado-Rivera ◽

Alfried P Vogler ◽

Chris A.M Reid ◽

Eduard Petitpierre ◽

Jesús Gómez-Zurita

Keyword(s):

Host Plant ◽

Host Plants ◽

Sequence Similarity ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Dna Barcodes ◽

Host Association ◽

Leaf Beetles ◽

Host Shifts ◽

Plant Associations ◽

Plant Families

Short-sequence fragments (‘DNA barcodes’) used widely for plant identification and inventorying remain to be applied to complex biological problems. Host–herbivore interactions are fundamental to coevolutionary relationships of a large proportion of species on the Earth, but their study is frequently hampered by limited or unreliable host records. Here we demonstrate that DNA barcodes can greatly improve this situation as they (i) provide a secure identification of host plant species and (ii) establish the authenticity of the trophic association. Host plants of leaf beetles (subfamily Chrysomelinae) from Australia were identified using the chloroplast trnL (UAA) intron as barcode amplified from beetle DNA extracts. Sequence similarity and phylogenetic analyses provided precise identifications of each host species at tribal, generic and specific levels, depending on the available database coverage in various plant lineages. The 76 species of Chrysomelinae included—more than 10 per cent of the known Australian fauna—feed on 13 plant families, with preference for Australian radiations of Myrtaceae (eucalypts) and Fabaceae (acacias). Phylogenetic analysis of beetles shows general conservation of host association but with rare host shifts between distant plant lineages, including a few cases where barcodes supported two phylogenetically distant host plants. The study demonstrates that plant barcoding is already feasible with the current publicly available data. By sequencing plant barcodes directly from DNA extractions made from herbivorous beetles, strong physical evidence for the host association is provided. Thus, molecular identification using short DNA fragments brings together the detection of species and the analysis of their interactions.

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Linking morphological and molecular sources to disentangle the case of Xylodon australis

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-78399-8 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Javier Fernández-López ◽

M. Teresa Telleria ◽

Margarita Dueñas ◽

Mara Laguna-Castro ◽

Klaus Schliep ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Single Species ◽

R Package ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Historical Collections ◽

Close Relationship ◽

Kinship Relations ◽

History Of ◽

Different Sources

AbstractThe use of different sources of evidence has been recommended in order to conduct species delimitation analyses to solve taxonomic issues. In this study, we use a maximum likelihood framework to combine morphological and molecular traits to study the case of Xylodon australis (Hymenochaetales, Basidiomycota) using the locate.yeti function from the phytools R package. Xylodon australis has been considered a single species distributed across Australia, New Zealand and Patagonia. Multi-locus phylogenetic analyses were conducted to unmask the actual diversity under X. australis as well as the kinship relations respect their relatives. To assess the taxonomic position of each clade, locate.yeti function was used to locate in a molecular phylogeny the X. australis type material for which no molecular data was available using morphological continuous traits. Two different species were distinguished under the X. australis name, one from Australia–New Zealand and other from Patagonia. In addition, a close relationship with Xylodon lenis, a species from the South East of Asia, was confirmed for the Patagonian clade. We discuss the implications of our results for the biogeographical history of this genus and we evaluate the potential of this method to be used with historical collections for which molecular data is not available.

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Molecular Analysis of Targeted Insecticide Resistance Gene Mutations in Field-Caught Mosquitos of Medical Importance From Saudi Arabia

Journal of Medical Entomology ◽

10.1093/jme/tjab048 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yuan Fang ◽

Ernest Tambo ◽

Jing-Bo Xue ◽

Yi Zhang ◽

Xiao-Nong Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Insecticide Resistance ◽

Resistance Gene ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Gene Mutations ◽

Mosquito Vector ◽

Dengue Disease ◽

The Status ◽

History Of ◽

Exon 20

Abstract Gene mutations on target sites can be a valuable indicator of the status of insecticide resistance. Jeddah, a global commercial and major port-of-entry city, is bearing the brunt of dengue disease burden in Saudi Arabia. In the current study, six genotypes of three codon combinations (989, 1016, and 1534) were observed on voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) gene in Jeddah’s Aedes aegypti population, with PGF/PGC as the dominant one. Two types of introns between exon 20 and 21 on VGSC have been identified for the first time in Ae. aegypti in Saudi Arabia. Statistical and phylogenetic analyses showed that the intron type was significantly associated with the 1016 allele and may reflect the history of insecticide treatment in different continents. In addition, fixation of the L1014F allele on VGSC and G119S on acetylcholinesterase 1 gene was detected in local Culex quinquefasciatus populations, with frequencies of 95.24 and 100%, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of resistant-associated mutations in field-caught Cx. quinquefasciatus in Saudi Arabia. The high prevalence of insecticide resistance gene mutations in local primary mosquito vector species highlights the urgent need to carry out comprehensive insecticide resistance surveillance in Saudi Arabia.

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Nephromyces represents a diverse and novel lineage of the Apicomplexa that has retained apicoplasts

Genome Biology and Evolution ◽

10.1093/gbe/evz155 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Sergio A Muñoz-Gómez ◽

Keira Durnin ◽

Laura Eme ◽

Christopher Paight ◽

Christopher E Lane ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Style ◽

Metabolic Pathways ◽

Evolutionary History ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Phylogenetic Position ◽

Biosynthetic Pathways ◽

History Of ◽

Sea Squirts ◽

Shed Light ◽

Apicoplast Genome

Abstract A most interesting exception within the parasitic Apicomplexa is Nephromyces, an extracellular, probably mutualistic, endosymbiont found living inside molgulid ascidian tunicates (i.e., sea squirts). Even though Nephromyces is now known to be an apicomplexan, many other questions about its nature remain unanswered. To gain further insights into the biology and evolutionary history of this unusual apicomplexan, we aimed to (1) find the precise phylogenetic position of Nephromyces within the Apicomplexa, (2) search for the apicoplast genome of Nephromyces, and (3) infer the major metabolic pathways in the apicoplast of Nephromyces. To do this, we sequenced a metagenome and a metatranscriptome from the molgulid renal sac, the specialized habitat where Nephromyces thrives. Our phylogenetic analyses of conserved nucleus-encoded genes robustly suggest that Nephromyces is a novel lineage sister to the Hematozoa, which comprises both the Haemosporidia (e.g., Plasmodium) and the Piroplasmida (e.g., Babesia and Theileria). Furthermore, a survey of the renal sac metagenome revealed 13 small contigs that closely resemble the genomes of the non-photosynthetic reduced plastids, or apicoplasts, of other apicomplexans. We show that these apicoplast genomes correspond to a diverse set of most closely related but genetically divergent Nephromyces lineages that co-inhabit a single tunicate host. In addition, the apicoplast of Nephromyces appears to have retained all biosynthetic pathways inferred to have been ancestral to parasitic apicomplexans. Our results shed light on the evolutionary history of the only probably mutualistic apicomplexan known, Nephromyces, and provide context for a better understanding of its life style and intricate symbiosis.

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Phylogeographic structure and gene flow of Himalayan snowcock (Tetraogallus himalayensis)

Animal Biology ◽

10.1163/157075610x523314 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 60 (4) ◽

pp. 449-465

Author(s):

Wen Longying ◽

Zhang Lixun ◽

An Bei ◽

Luo Huaxing ◽

Liu Naifa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Demographic History ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Divergence Time ◽

Population Expansion ◽

Population History ◽

Tibet Plateau ◽

Phylogeographic Structure ◽

Mitochondrial Cytochrome B ◽

History Of ◽

Qinghai Tibet Plateau

AbstractWe have used phylogeographic methods to investigate the genetic structure and population history of the endangered Himalayan snowcock (Tetraogallus himalayensis) in northwestern China. The mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was sequenced of 102 individuals sampled throughout the distribution range. In total, we found 26 different haplotypes defined by 28 polymorphic sites. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that the samples were divided into two major haplogroups corresponding to one western and one eastern clade. The divergence time between these major clades was estimated to be approximately one million years. An analysis of molecular variance showed that 40% of the total genetic variability was found within local populations, 12% among populations within regional groups and 48% among groups. An analysis of the demographic history of the populations suggested that major expansions have occurred in the Himalayan snowcock populations and these correlate mainly with the first and the second largest glaciations during the Pleistocene. In addition, the data indicate that there was a population expansion of the Tianshan population during the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, approximately 2 million years ago.

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Molecular and Biological Characterisation of Turnip mosaic virus Isolates Infecting Poppy (Papaver somniferum and P. rhoeas) in Slovakia

Viruses ◽

10.3390/v10080430 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 430 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Miroslav Glasa ◽

Katarína Šoltys ◽

Lukáš Predajňa ◽

Nina Sihelská ◽

Slavomíra Nováková ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mosaic Virus ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Turnip Mosaic Virus ◽

Biological Assays ◽

Genetic Complexity ◽

The World ◽

History Of ◽

Virus Isolates

In recent years, the accumulated molecular data of Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) isolates from various hosts originating from different parts of the world considerably helped to understand the genetic complexity and evolutionary history of the virus. In this work, four complete TuMV genomes (HC9, PK1, MS04, MS15) were characterised from naturally infected cultivated and wild-growing Papaver spp., hosts from which only very scarce data were available previously. Phylogenetic analyses showed the affiliation of Slovak Papaver isolates to the world-B and basal-B groups. The PK1 isolate showed a novel intra-lineage recombination pattern, further confirming the important role of recombination in the shaping of TuMV genetic diversity. Biological assays indicated that the intensity of symptoms in experimentally inoculated oilseed poppy are correlated to TuMV accumulation level in leaves. This is the first report of TuMV in poppy plants in Slovakia.

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Evolutionary History of Cucumber Mosaic Virus Deduced by Phylogenetic Analyses

Journal of Virology ◽

10.1128/jvi.76.7.3382-3387.2002 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 76 (7) ◽

pp. 3382-3387 ◽

Cited By ~ 155

Author(s):

Marilyn J. Roossinck

Keyword(s):

Cucumber Mosaic Virus ◽

Mosaic Virus ◽

Virus Isolate ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Open Reading Frames ◽

Broad Host Range ◽

Nontranslated Region ◽

History Of ◽

Evolutionary Success ◽

Reading Frames

ABSTRACT Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) is an RNA plant virus with a tripartite genome and an extremely broad host range. Previous evolutionary analyses with the coat protein (CP) and 5′ nontranslated region (NTR) of RNA 3 suggested subdivision of the virus into three groups, subgroups IA, IB, and II. In this study 15 strains of CMV whose nucleotide sequences have been determined were used for a complete phylogenetic analysis of the virus. The trees estimated for open reading frames (ORFs) located on the different RNAs were not congruent and did not completely support the subgrouping indicated by the CP ORF, indicating that different RNAs had independent evolutionary histories. This is consistent with a reassortment mechanism playing an important role in the evolution of the virus. The evolutionary trees of the 1a and 3a ORFs were more compact and displayed more branching than did those of the 2a and CP ORFs. This may reflect more rigid host-interactive constraints exerted on the 1a and 3a ORFs. In addition, analysis of the 3′ NTR that is conserved among all RNAs indicated that evolutionary constraints on this region are specific to the RNA component rather than the virus isolate. This indicates that functions other than replication are encoded in the 3′ NTR. Reassortment may have led to the genetic diversity found among CMV strains and contributed to its enormous evolutionary success.

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