A new hip-pocket frog from mid-eastern Australia (Anura: Myobatrachidae: Assa)

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5057 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-486
Author(s):  
MICHAEL J. MAHONY ◽  
HARRY B. HINES ◽  
STEPHEN V. MAHONY ◽  
BEDE MOSES ◽  
SARAH R. CATALANO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Relationships ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Nuclear Genome ◽  
Critically Endangered ◽  
Nominal Species ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Conservation Assessment ◽  
Separate Species ◽  
Eastern Australia

The hip-pocket frog (Assa darlingtoni), a small terrestrial myobatrachid frog found in mid-eastern Australia, has a highly derived, unusual, reproductive mode involving a unique form of male parental care. Males have subcutaneous pouches that open near the hip, and the developing tadpoles are carried in these pouches to post metamorphosis. It is found on several isolated mountain ranges in closed forest habitats, associated with high rainfall and temperate or sub-tropical climates. We established genetic relationships among specimens sampled across the range using phylogenetic analyses of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the nuclear genome and mitochondrial ND2 gene nucleotide sequences. These analyses uncovered two lineages that are genetically distinct in both nDNA and mtDNA analyses and that have low levels of divergence in male advertisement calls and are morphologically cryptic. Our data support separate species status for each lineage, based on the molecular genetic data. The first, which we name as a new species, Assa wollumbin sp. nov., is restricted to a single mountain, Wollumbin (= Mount Warning), the eroded cone of an ancient shield volcano—the Tweed Volcano. The second, the nominal species A. darlingtoni, has a wider distribution in five geographically disjunct subpopulations along 430 km of the Great Dividing Range in south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales. The distributions of the two species closely approach within 15 km of each other on the central plug and rim of the caldera of the Tweed Volcano. Assa wollumbin sp. nov. meets the conservation criteria for Critically Endangered [A3(e), B2(a,b)]. When all subpopulations of A. darlingtoni are combined the conservation assessment is Endangered [A3(e), B2(a,b)]. Because of the fragmented nature of the distribution of A. darlingtoni, combined with the genetic evidence of concordant sub-structuring, we also conducted a conservation assessment on the five subpopulations. Two were assessed as Critically Endangered (D’Aguilar Range and Conondale/Blackall Ranges), and the remainder as Endangered (Dorrigo Plateau, McPherson Ranges, and Gibraltar Ranges/Washpool).  

scholarly journals Genotyping-by-Sequencing of Gossypium hirsutum Races and Cultivars Uncovers Novel Patterns of Genetic Relationships and Domestication Footprints

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 117693431988994
Author(s):  
Shulin Zhang ◽  
Yaling Cai ◽  
Jinggong Guo ◽  
Kun Li ◽  
Renhai Peng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gossypium Hirsutum ◽  
Genetic Relationships ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Genotyping By Sequencing ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
Breeding Programs ◽  
Association Analyses ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Candidate Gene Locus

Determining the genetic rearrangement and domestication footprints in Gossypium hirsutum cultivars and primitive race genotypes are essential for effective gene conservation efforts and the development of advanced breeding molecular markers for marker-assisted breeding. In this study, 94 accessions representing the 7 primitive races of G hirsutum, along with 9 G hirsutum and 12 Gossypium barbadense cultivated accessions were evaluated. The genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) approach was employed and 146 558 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were generated. Distinct SNP signatures were identified through the combination of selection scans and association analyses. Phylogenetic analyses were also conducted, and we concluded that the Latifolium, Richmondi, and Marie-Galante race accessions were more genetically related to the G hirsutum cultivars and tend to cluster together. Fifty-four outlier SNP loci were identified by selection-scan analysis, and 3 SNPs were located in genes related to the processes of plant responding to stress conditions and confirmed through further genome-wide signals of marker-phenotype association analysis, which indicate a clear selection signature for such trait. These results identified useful candidate gene locus for cotton breeding programs.

A new species of frog in the Litoria ewingii species group (Anura: Pelodryadidae) from south-eastern Australia

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4858 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-230
Author(s):  
MICHAEL MAHONY ◽  
BEDE MOSES ◽  
STEPHEN V. MAHONY ◽  
FRANK L. LEMCKERT ◽  
STEPHEN DONNELLAN
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Nuclear Genome ◽  
Species Group ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Genetic Groups ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
A New Species

Population declines and range contractions among Australian frogs that commenced in the early 1980s continue in some species that were once widespread. The generality of this pattern has been difficult to discern, especially for those species that are encountered rarely because they have restricted periods of calling activity with poorly defined habitat preferences, and are not common. Several lines of evidence indicate that Litoria littlejohni is such a species. This frog was once known from mid-eastern New South Wales to eastern Victoria, and evidence from wildlife atlas databases and targeted searches indicate that it has declined in large portions of its former range, leaving several populations that are isolated, in some cases restricted in distribution, and of small size. We investigated the relationships among populations using mitochondrial ND4 nucleotide sequences and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the nuclear genome. We found that northern and southern populations form two highly divergent genetic groups whose distributions abut at the southern margin of the Sydney Basin Bioregion and these genetic groups also show divergence in morphology and male advertisement calls. Here we describe the populations to the south of the Sydney Basin Bioregion as a new species and provide information on its distribution and ecology. In light of the apparent isolation and small size of known populations of the new species and the consequent restriction of the range of L. littlejohni, we assessed the conservation status of both species. 

scholarly journals Carybdea alata auct. (Cubozoa): rediscovery of the Alatina grandis type

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2713 (1) ◽  
pp. 52 ◽  
Author(s):  
BASTIAN BENTLAGE
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Smithsonian Institution ◽  
Type Specimen ◽  
Nominal Species ◽  
Separate Species ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
History Of ◽  
Morphological Differences

Numerous nominal species have been considered synonymous with Carybdea alata Reynaud, 1830 (cf. Gershwin 2005). A recent revision concluded that several of the species collectively referred to as C. alata are valid and indeed separate species (Gershwin 2005; but see also Bentlage et al. 2010). Additionally, these species (including C. alata) were moved into the genus Alatina Gershwin 2005 (family Alatinidae Gershwin, 2005) because of stark morphological differences they display compared to the other species of Carybdea. In particular, Alatina species possess crescentic phacellae and a rhopaliar niche ostium that is covered by a single upper and two lateral scales (t-shaped sensu Gershwin 2005; cf. Bigelow 1938) compared to a single upper covering scale (heart-shaped sensu Gershwin 2005; cf. Bigelow 1938) and epaulette-like or linear phacellae in the corners of the stomach in Carybdea species. Recent molecular phylogenetic analyses support the separation of Carybdea and Alatina (Bentlage et al. 2010). Alatina grandis posed a problem in Gershwin's (2005) revision, as the type of this species appeared to be lost to science, preventing a closer investigation of its identity. I located a type specimen of the species in the collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (USNM). The purpose of this letter is to draw attention to this important specimen, and highlight directions for future studies on the evolutionary history of the genus Alatina.

scholarly journals A glimpse in the dark? A first phylogenetic approach in a widespread freshwater snail from tropical Asia and northern Australia (Cerithioidea, Thiaridae)

2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dusit Boonmekam ◽  
Duangduen Krailas ◽  
France Gimnich ◽  
Marco T. Neiber ◽  
Matthias Glaubrecht
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Reproductive Mode ◽  
Freshwater Snail ◽  
Shell Morphology ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Nominal Species ◽  
Oriental Region ◽  
Tropical Asia ◽  
Tropical Areas

Thiaridae are a speciose group of freshwater snails in tropical areas including a high number of described nominal taxa for which modern revisions are mostly lacking. Using an integrative approach, the systematic status of a group of thiarids from the Oriental region, including the nominal speciesMelaniaasperaandM.rudis, is reassessed on the basis of shell morphology and biometry, radula dentition patterns, and reproductive biology along with molecular genetic methods. Our results suggest that populations from the Oriental region cannot be distinguished on the basis of shell morphology, radula characters and their reproductive mode and are monophyletic based on mitochondrial sequences. Hence,M.rudiswithM.asperaare regarded as belonging to the same species along with several other nominal taxa that were previously included inM.rudis. Moreover, populations from Thailand and Australia, from where the species was not previously recorded, could be shown to form a monophyletic group together with samples from Indonesia. However, a generic affiliation withThiara, in which the investigated taxa were often included in the past, was not supported in our phylogenetic analyses, highlighting the need for a comprehensive revision of the genus-group systematics of Thiaridae as a whole.

scholarly journals Morphological and Molecular Variation Between Fusarium avenaceum, Fusarium arthrosporioides and Fusarium anguioides Strains

Pathogens ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Tapani Yli-Mattila ◽  
Taha Hussien ◽  
Olga Gavrilova ◽  
Tatiana Gagkaeva
Keyword(s):  
Species Complex ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Fusarium Avenaceum ◽  
Beta Tubulin ◽  
Separate Species ◽  
High Genetic Diversity ◽  
Wheat Seedlings ◽  
Climatic Regions

Fusarium avenaceum and closely related species are common fungi on various plants, cultivated in different climatic regions. The aim of this study was to determine the taxonomic affiliations of the F. avenaceum, Fusarium arthrosporioides, and Fusarium anguioides strains by using morphological, physiological and molecular-genetic approaches. Twenty-six single-spored morphologically identified strains, which were mainly from cereals, were investigated in order to find out, if they belong to a separate species. Pathogenicity of strains to wheat seedlings and ISSR (Inter Simple Sequence Repeats) fingerprint and beta-tubulin DNA sequence patterns were analyzed. According to phylogenetic analyses, the strains could be divided into two big groups consisting of mostly F. avenaceum or F. anguioides strains. F. arthrosporioides was not detected as a separate species by the sum of the characters. F. anguioides was characterized as a separate species, which could be identified by morphological and molecular data. High genetic diversity of the F. avenaceum species complex was revealed. One F. anguioides strain (rudbeckia, Vladivostok, Russia), had an identical beta-tubulin sequence with two previously sequenced strains of Fusarium tricinctum species complex, which were isolated from dicotyledonous plants in Asia.

Taxonomic re-assessment of the Australian and New Guinean green-eyed treefrogs Litoria eucnemis, L. genimaculata and L. serrata (Anura: Hylidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2391 (1) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEPHEN J. RICHARDS ◽  
CONRAD J. HOSKIN ◽  
MICHAEL J. CUNNINGHAM ◽  
KEITH MCDONALD ◽  
STEPHEN C. DONNELLAN
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Relationships ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Species Group ◽  
Type Material ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Northern Cape ◽  
Wet Tropics ◽  
Cape York

The green-eyed treefrogs (Litoria eucnemis species-group) are found throughout New Guinea and some of its offshore islands, and in two geographically separated regions in north-eastern Queensland, Australia. We examine the genetic relationships among populations of the complex from across its range and find that populations fall into two major lineages: 1) specimens referable to L. genimaculata from New Guinea and its offshore islands, and L. exophthalmia, and 2) samples referable to L. eucnemis from New Guinea and northern Cape York, Australia, and two lineages from the Wet Tropics of north-eastern Australia that are currently assigned to L. genimaculata. Based on our molecular genetic analyses, morphological assessment of new collections and re-examination of type material, we retain L. eucnemis as currently recognised for northern Cape York populations but resurrect the name L. serrata for the Wet Tropics populations. The degree of reproductive isolation between the two Wet Tropics lineages is being studied currently and so at this point we refer both to L. serrata. The degree of genetic variation observed in L. genimaculata across New Guinea locations and possible paraphyly with L. exophthalmia suggest the presence of additional undescribed species. Reexamination of type material and collection of new specimens, allow us to reassess the status of several other names currently synonymised with L. eucnemis and L. genimaculata. Our observations support the present synonymy of Hyla rhacophorus with L. eucnemis and we remove Nyctimystes loveridgei from the synonymy of L. genimaculata and place it in the synonymy of L. eucnemis.

scholarly journals Taxonomy of dark- and white-barked birches related to Betula pendula and B. pubescens (Betulaceae) in Ukraine based on both morphological traits and DNA markers

2019 ◽  
Vol 191 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrii Tarieiev ◽  
Igor Olshanskyi ◽  
Oliver Gailing ◽  
Konstantin V Krutovsky
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Traits ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Betula Pubescens ◽  
Internal Transcribed Spacers ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Separate Species ◽  
Molecular Genetic Data

Abstract Distribution, taxonomy, nomenclature and molecular genetic data are presented for two closely related pairs of birch taxa: (1) dark-barked Betula pubescens var. sibakademica (Baran.) Kuzeneva (basionym B. sibakademica Baranov) and white-barked B. pubescens var. pubescens, and (2) dark-barked B. kotulae Zaverucha = B. pendula var. obscura (Kotula ex Fiek) Olšavská (basionym B. obscura Kotula ex Fiek, heterotypic synonym B. kotulae) and white-barked B. pendula, respectively. Using published data and sequences obtained in this study, it was found that, although these pairs can be distinguished not only by morphological characters but also by two diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the internal transcribed spacers ITS1 and ITS2, no sequence differences within each pair were detected. These results suggest that the colour of the bark cannot be used as a taxonomic trait at the species level, and the dark-barked birches within each pair should not be treated as separate species or varieties, but as forms, respectively. Therefore, we reassessed the taxonomic status of B. sibakademica and B. kotulae using morphological traits and molecular genetic markers and suggest that B. pubescens f. sibakademica (Baranov) Tarieiev comb. nov. and B. pendula f. obscura (Kotula ex Fiek) Tarieiev comb. nov. should be used for them, respectively. Betula pubescens f. sibakademica was described in Ukraine for the first time.

The systematics of freshwater crayfish of the genus Cherax Erichson (Decapoda : Parastacidae) in eastern Australia re-examined using nucleotide sequences from 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes

2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 215 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. N. Munasinghe ◽  
C. P. Burridge ◽  
C. M. Austin
Keyword(s):  
16S Rrna ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
16S Rrna Genes ◽  
Rrna Genes ◽  
12S Rrna ◽  
Freshwater Crayfish ◽  
Separate Species ◽  
Nucleotide Sequence Data ◽  
Eastern Australia

Nucleotide sequence data were used to re-examine systematic relationships and species boundaries within the genus Cherax from eastern Australia. Partial sequences were amplified from the 12S (~365 bp) and 16S (~545 bp) rRNA mitochondrial gene regions. Levels of intra- and inter-specific divergence for Cherax species were very similar between the two gene regions and similar to that reported for other freshwater crayfish for 16S rRNA. Phylogenetic analyses using the combined data provided strong support for a monophyletic group containing 11�eastern Australian species and comprising three well-defined species-groups: the 'C. destructor' group containing three species, the 'C. cairnsensis' group containing four species and the 'C. cuspidatus' group containing two species. Cherax dispar and C. robustus are distinct from all other species and each other. In addition, two northern Australian and a New Guinean species were placed in the 'Astaconephrops' group, which is the sister-group to the eastern Australian Cherax lineage. Several relationships were clarified, including: the status of northern and southern C. cuspidatus as separate species; a close relationship between C. cairnsensis and C. depressus; the validity of C. rotundus and C. setosus as separate species and their close affinities with C. destructor; and the distinctiveness of the northern forms of Cherax. The analysis of the 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA data is highly concordant with the results of previous allozyme studies.

A new species of Pseudophryne (Anura: Myobatrachidae) from the central Australian ranges

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 3476 (1) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. DONNELLAN ◽  
M. J. MAHONY ◽  
T. BERTOZZI
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Nominal Species ◽  
Separate Species ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Western Half ◽  
North Western

The myobatrachid frog genus Pseudophryne is highly variable in color pattern in eastern Australia where many species are distinguished by distinctive dorsal patterns. In contrast Pseudophryne from the western half of the continent are morphologically conservative. Two nominal species are widespread in south-western Australia and north-western South Australia, with one, P. occidentalis, being found in semi-arid and arid regions. Using mitochondrial DNA and morphological characters we establish that populations in the ranges of north-western South Australia assigned to P. occidentalis are a separate species. The new species comprises one of four major lineages of Pseudophryne while P. occidentalis falls within another lineage confined to south-western Australia.

scholarly journals Molecular Genetic Analyses of Mating Pheromones Reveal Intervariety Mating or Hybridization in Cryptococcus neoformans

2002 ◽  
Vol 70 (9) ◽  
pp. 5225-5235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishnu Chaturvedi ◽  
Jinjiang Fan ◽  
Birgit Stein ◽  
Melissa J. Behr ◽  
William A. Samsonoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cryptococcus Neoformans ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Purifying Selection ◽  
Neutral Evolution ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Pathogenic Yeast ◽  
Fungal Virulence ◽  
Mating Pheromones ◽  
Copy Numbers

ABSTRACT The sexual mating of the pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans is important for pathogenesis studies because the fungal virulence is linked to the α mating type (MATα). We characterized C. neoformans mating pheromones (MFα 1 and MFa1) from 122 strains to understand intervariety hybridization or mating and intervariety virulence. MFα 1 in three C. neoformans varieties showed (a) specific nucleotide polymorphisms, (b) different copy numbers and chromosomal localizations, and (c) unique deduced amino acids in two geographic populations of C. neoformans var. gattii. MFα 1 of different varieties cross-hybridized in Southern hybridizations. Their phylogenetic analyses showed purifying selection (neutral evolution). These observations suggested that MATα strains from any of the three C. neoformans varieties could mate or hybridize in nature with MAT a strains of C. neoformans var. neoformans. A few serotype A/D diploid strains provided evidence for mating or hybridization, while a majority of A/D strains tested positive for haploid MFα 1 identical to that of C. neoformans var. grubii. MFα 1 sequence and copy numbers in diploids were identical to those of C. neoformans var. grubii, while their MFa1 sequences were identical to those of C. neoformans var. neoformans; thus, these strains were hybrids. The mice survival curves and histological lesions revealed A/D diploids to be highly pathogenic, with pathogenicity levels similar to that of the C. neoformans var. grubii type strain and unlike the low pathogenicity levels of C. neoformans var. neoformans strains. In contrast to MFα 1 in three varieties, MFa1 amplicons and hybridization signals could be obtained only from two C. neoformans var. neoformans reference strains and eight A/D diploids. This suggested that a yet undiscovered MFa pheromone(s) in C. neoformans var. gattii and C. neoformans var. grubii is unrelated to, highly divergent from, or rarer than that in C. neoformans var. neoformans. These observations could form the basis for future studies on the role of intervariety mating in C. neoformans biology and virulence.

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