The complete mitochondrial genome of Ophiocordyceps gracilis and its comparison with related species

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of O. gracilis was sequenced and assembled before being compared with related species. As the second largest mitogenome reported in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae, the mitogenome of O. gracilis (voucher OG201301) is a circular DNA molecule of 134,288 bp that contains numerous introns and longer intergenomic regions. UCA was detected as anticodon in tRNA-Sec of O. gracilis, while comparative mitogenome analysis of nine Ophiocordycipitaceae fungi indicated that the order and contents of PCGs and rRNA genes were considerably conserved and could descend from a common ancestor in Ophiocordycipitaceae. In addition, the expansion of mitochondrial organization, introns, gene length, and order of O. gracilis were determined to be similar to those of O. sinensis, which indicated common mechanisms underlying adaptive evolution in O. gracilis and O. sinensis. Based on the mitochondrial gene dataset (15 PCGs and 2 RNA genes), a close genetic relationship between O. gracilis and O. sinensis was revealed through phylogenetic analysis. This study is the first to investigate the molecular evolution, phylogenetic pattern, and genetic structure characteristics of mitogenome in O. gracilis. Based on the obtained results, the mitogenome of O. gracilis can increase understanding of the genetic diversity and evolution of cordycipitoid fungi.

Candida auris Invasive Infections During a COVID-19 Case Surge

Clinical cases of C. auris noted during a COVID-19 surge led to an epidemiological, clinical, and genomic investigation. Evaluation identified a close genetic relationship but no conclusive epidemiologic link between all cases. Prolonged hospitalization due to critical illness from COVID-19 and use of antimicrobials may have contributed to clinical infections.

Comparative Mitogenomics of Two Critically Endangered Turtles, Batagur Kachuga and Batagur Dhongoka (Testudines: Geoemydidae): Implications in Phylogenetics of Freshwater Turtles

The Red-crowned roofed turtle (Batagur kachuga) and Three-striped roofed turtle (B. dhongoka) are ‘critically endangered’ turtles in the Geoemydidae family. Herein, we generated the novel mitochondrial genome sequence of B. kachuga (16,155) and B. dhongoka (15,620) and compared it with other turtles species. Batagur mitogenome has 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), and one control region (CR). The genome composition was biased toward A + T, with positive AT-skew and negative GC-skew. In the examined species, all 13 PCGs were started by ATG codons, except COI gene, which was initiated by GTG. The majority of mito-genes were encoded on the heavy strand, except eight tRNAs and the ND6 region. We observed a typical cloverleaf structure for all tRNA, excluding tRNASer (AGN), where the base pairs of the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm were abridged. Bayesian Inference (BI) based phylogenetic analysis was constructed among 39 species from six Testudines families, exhibited a close genetic relationship between Batagur and Pangshura with a high supporting value (PP ~ 0.99). It provides additional mitogenomic resources for further study of the Testudines evolutionary patterns.

Variations in the Distribution and Genetic Relationships among Luciola unmunsana Populations in South Korea

The firefly species Luciola unmunsana was first discovered on the Unmunsan Mountain in Cheongdo-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea and consequently named after the mountain. The population and habitats of this once-abundant species have recently decreased significantly due to light and environmental pollution caused by industrialization and urbanization. This study investigated the distribution and density of L. unmunsana around the ecological landscape conservation area of the Unmunsan Mountain. Additionally, we conducted molecular experiments on regional variations, genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships among the various populations of L. unmunsana in South Korea. The genetic relationships among populations were also analyzed using mitochondrial DNA by collecting 15 male adults from each of the 10 regions across South Korea selected for analysis. Differences were observed between populations in the east, west and south of the Baekdudaegan Mountain Range. The firefly populations collected from the eastern region, which included Gyeongsang-do, showed a close genetic relationship with fireflies collected from the Unmunsan Mountain. Thus, the findings of this study can be used as baseline data for re-introducing L. unmunsana to the Unmunsan Mountain.

MtCOI DNA sequences from Sycanus aurantiacus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) provide evidence of a possible new harpactorine species from Bali, Indonesia

Sycanus aurantiacus Ishikawa & Okajima, found in Bali, was first described in 2007 as a new harpactorine species based on morphological and biological characteristics; however, its genome has not yet been sequenced. In this study, we examine the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (MtCOI) nucleotide sequence of S. aurantiacus in order to determine whether it represents a new harpactorine species. A sample from Pancasari, Bali, Indonesia was collected at the same location S. aurantiacus was first discovered in 2007. The selected mtCOI gene (650 bp) was successfully amplified using mtCOI primer pairs LCO1490 and HCO2198, and the resulting MtCOI sequence of the S. aurantiacus sample was compared with those from other hapactorine species recorded in GenBank. This comparison revealed low genetic similarity between S. aurantiacus and most other harpactorine species worldwide, except for the Genus Sycanus (JQ888697) from USA whose mtCOI shares approximately 91% similarity with the Pancasari sample. Phylogenetic analysis indicated a close genetic relationship between Sycanus from Bali and the Genus Sycanus (JQ888697) from the USA. The mtCOI sequence of S. aurantiacus had not been recorded previously, and our comparison with existing Sycanus sequences provides support to the understanding that S. aurantiacus is indeed its own species.

Advanced genebank management of genetic resources of European wild apple, Malus sylvestris, using genome-wide SNP array data

The Netherlands’ field genebank collection of European wild apple (Malus sylvestris), consisting of 115 accessions, was studied in order to determine whether duplicates and mistakes had been introduced, and to develop a strategy to optimize the planting design of the collection as a seed orchard. We used the apple 20K Infinium single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array, developed in M. domestica, for the first time for genotyping in M. sylvestris. We could readily detect the clonal copies and unexpected duplicates. Thirty-two M. sylvestris accessions (29%) showed a close genetic relationship (parent-child, full-sib, or half-sib) to another accession, which reflects the small effective population size of the in situ populations. Traces of introgression from M. domestica were only found in 7 individuals. This indicates that pollination preferentially took place among the M. sylvestris trees. We conclude that the collection can be considered as mainly pure M. sylvestris accessions. The results imply that it should be managed as one unit when used for seed production. A bias in allele frequencies in the seeds may be prevented by not harvesting all accessions with a close genetic relationship to the others in the seed orchard. We discuss the value of using the SNP array to elaborate the M. sylvestris genetic resources more in depth, including for phasing the markers in a subset of the accessions, as a first step towards genetic resources management at the level of haplotypes.

DNA Barcode of Barred Mudskipper (Periophthalmus argentilineatus Valenciennes, 1837) from Tekolok Estuary (West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia) and Their Phylogenetic Relationship with Other Indonesian Barred Mudskippers

Barred mudskipper (Periophthalmus argentilineatus) has a potency to be developed as protein for human consumption and ornamental fish. The fish also has an important role in mangrove ecosystems. Nevertheless, many barred mudskippers have been considered a cryptic species. Therefore, accurate identification is needed to clarify species identification of the barred mudskipper using DNA barcoding. This research aimed to identify barred mudskippers from Tekolok Estuary (East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia) using COI mitochondrial gene as a DNA barcode and analyze genetic relationship with other barred mudskippers from several regions of Indonesia recorded in GenBank. This study used a PCR method with universal primers FishF2 and FishR2. The data was then analysed using DNASTAR, BLAST, Mesquite, MEGA, DnaSP, BEAST, GenAlEx, and NETWORK. The results revealed that barred mudskipper from Tekolok Estuary has been verified as Periophthalmus argentilineatus. The results also exhibited that P. argentilineatus from Tekolok Estuary has a close genetic relationship to P.argentilineatus from Tukad Bilukpoh (Jembrana, Bali). In addition, phylogenetic analysis showed that P.argentilineatus from Indonesia consisted of two clades with a genetic distance of approximately 6.64%. This analysis revealed evidence of the cryptic diversity of P.argentilineatus from Indonesia. Further detailed studies are needed to clarify whether Indonesian P.argentilineatus should be categorized into more than one species or single species with several subspecies.

The role of molecular taxonomy in uncovering local ornamental Palo Fish (Betta sp.: Osphronemidae) and other Betta based on Cytochrome b gene

Cytochrome b gene mitochondrial DNA was used to study the Palo fish from Bukit Rangkak tributary, Harau Valley, West Sumatra. The study aimed to determine the taxonomy of Palo fish, which morphological suspected as the Betta group. Phylogenetic analysis was used to solve the relationship of Palo fish with other species of the Betta. The alignment of the DNA sequences was carried out with Clustal X version 2 and analysis of phylogenetic tree using MEGA 6 software program. Based on the analysis of the cytochrome b gene sequence (1047 bp), it is known that the genetic differences of Palo fish from two tributaries of Bukit Rangkak river is 0.0% and with other Betta fish ranges from 13.0-35.5%. The phylogenetic tree has shown that Palo fish has a close genetic relationship with the Betta picta (13.0%). The result showed that Palo fish is at the different species in the genus of Betta and proposed as a new species.

Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of orf virus isolated from goats in Sokoto metropolis, Nigeria

Aim: The aim of this study was to molecularly characterize orf virus isolated from clinical infections in goats in Sokoto metropolis. Materials & methods: Embryonated chicken eggs were used to isolate orf virus according to the established protocol. Viral DNA was extracted and full coding region of B2L gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction, sequenced and blasted for identification and phylogenetically analyzed. Results and discussion: The B2L gene sequences of the isolate showed slight variability (96–98.7%) with the reference sequences as it clustered within the same clade with Korean, Zambian and Ethiopian strains, signifying a close genetic relationship. Unique amino acid substitutions were noted. This is the first genetic characterization of B2L gene of orf virus circulating in Nigeria. Conclusion: This study has provided in sight into the genetic diversity of orf virus in the study area.