Project description:The now-emerging mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) population genomics provides information for reconstructing a well-resolved mtDNA phylogeny and for discerning the phylogenetic status of the subcontinentally specific haplogroups. Although several major East Asian mtDNA haplogroups have been identified in studies elsewhere, some of the most basal haplogroups, as well as numerous minor subhaplogroups, were not yet determined or fully characterized. To fill the lacunae, we selected 48 mtDNAs from >2,000 samples across China for complete sequencing that cover virtually all (sub)haplogroups discernible to date in East Asia. This East Asian mtDNA phylogeny can henceforth serve as a solid basis for phylogeographic analyses of mtDNAs, as well as for studies of mitochondrial diseases in East and Southeast Asia.
Project description:Baboons (genus Papio) are an interesting phylogeographical primate model for the evolution of savanna species during the Pleistocene. Earlier studies, based on partial mitochondrial sequence information, revealed seven major haplogroups indicating multiple para- and polyphylies among the six baboon species. The most basal splits among baboon lineages remained unresolved and the credibility intervals for divergence time estimates were rather large. Assuming that genetic variation within the two studied mitochondrial loci so far was insufficient to infer the apparently rapid early radiation of baboons we used complete mitochondrial sequence information of ten specimens, representing all major baboon lineages, to reconstruct a baboon phylogeny and to re-estimate divergence times. Our data confirmed the earlier tree topology including the para- and polyphyletic relationships of most baboon species; divergence time estimates are slightly younger and credibility intervals narrowed substantially, thus making the estimates more precise. However, the most basal relationships could not be resolved and it remains open whether (1) the most southern population of baboons diverged first or (2) a major split occurred between southern and northern clades. Our study shows that complete mitochondrial genome sequences are more effective to reconstruct robust phylogenies and to narrow down estimated divergence time intervals than only short portions of the mitochondrial genome, although there are also limitations in resolving phylogenetic relationships.
Project description:Although multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is highly discriminatory and useful for outbreak investigations and epidemiological surveillance, it has always been controversial whether clustering and phylogeny inferred from the MLST gene loci can represent the real phylogeny of bacterial strains. In this study, we compare the phylogenetic trees constructed using three approaches, (1) concatenated blocks of homologous sequence shared between the bacterial genomes, (2) genome single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) profile and (3) concatenated nucleotide sequences of gene loci in the corresponding MLST schemes, for 10 bacterial species with >30 complete genome sequences available. Major differences in strain clustering at more than one position were observed between the phylogeny inferred using genome/SNP data and MLST for all 10 bacterial species. Shimodaira-Hasegawa test revealed significant difference between the topologies of the genome and MLST trees for nine of the 10 bacterial species, and significant difference between the topologies of the SNP and MLST trees were present for all 10 bacterial species. Matching Clusters and R-F Clusters metrics showed that the distances between the genome/SNP and MLST trees were larger than those between the SNP and genome trees. Phylogeny inferred from MLST failed to represent genome phylogeny with the same bacterial species.
Project description:To resolve the phylogeny of the autochthonous mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups of India and determine the relationship between the Indian and western Eurasian mtDNA pools more precisely, a diverse subset of 75 macrohaplogroup N lineages was chosen for complete sequencing from a collection of >800 control-region sequences sampled across India. We identified five new autochthonous haplogroups (R7, R8, R30, R31, and N5) and fully characterized the autochthonous haplogroups (R5, R6, N1d, U2a, U2b, and U2c) that were previously described only by first hypervariable segment (HVS-I) sequencing and coding-region restriction-fragment-length polymorphism analysis. Our findings demonstrate that the Indian mtDNA pool, even when restricted to macrohaplogroup N, harbors at least as many deepest-branching lineages as the western Eurasian mtDNA pool. Moreover, the distribution of the earliest branches within haplogroups M, N, and R across Eurasia and Oceania provides additional evidence for a three-founder-mtDNA scenario and a single migration route out of Africa.
Project description:BackgroundHypnales comprise over 50% of all pleurocarpous mosses. They provide a young radiation complicating phylogenetic analyses. To resolve the hypnalean phylogeny, it is necessary to use a phylogenetic marker providing highly variable features to resolve species on the one hand and conserved features enabling a backbone analysis on the other. Therefore we used highly variable internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequences and conserved secondary structures, as deposited with the ITS2 Database, simultaneously.FindingsWe built an accurate and in parts robustly resolved large scale phylogeny for 1,634 currently available hypnalean ITS2 sequence-structure pairs.ConclusionsProfile Neighbor-Joining revealed a possible hypnalean backbone, indicating that most of the hypnalean taxa classified as different moss families are polyphyletic assemblages awaiting taxonomic changes.
Project description:BackgroundPhylogenetic relationships within Gastrotricha are poorly known. Attempts to shed light on this subject using morphological traits have led to hypotheses lacking satisfactory statistical support; it seemed therefore that a different approach was needed.Methodology/principal findingsIn this paper we attempt to elucidate the relationships within the taxonomically vast family Thaumastodermatidae (Macrodasyida) using molecular sequence data. The study includes representatives of all the extant genera of the family and for the first time uses a multi-gene approach to infer evolutionary liaisons within Gastrotricha. The final data set comprises sequences of three genes (18S, 28S rDNA and COI mtDNA) from 41 species, including 29 thaumastodermatids, 11 non-thaumastodermatid macrodasyidans and a single chaetonotidan. Molecular data was analyzed as a combined set of 3 genes and as individual genes, using Bayesian and maximum likelihood approaches. Two different outgroups were used: Xenotrichula intermedia (Chaetonotida) and members of the putative basal Dactylopodola (Macrodasyida). Thaumastodermatidae and all other sampled macrodasyidan families were found monophyletic except for Cephalodasyidae. Within Thaumastodermatidae Diplodasyinae and Thaumastodermatinae are monophyletic and so are most genera. Oregodasys turns out to be the most basal group within Thaumastodermatinae in analyses of the concatenated data set as well as in analyses of the nuclear genes. Thaumastoderma appears as the sister taxon to the remaining species. Surprisingly, Tetranchyroderma is non-monophyletic in our analyses as one group of species clusters with Ptychostomella while another appears as the sister group of Pseudostomella.Conclusions/significanceResults in general agree with the current classification; however, a revision of the more derived thaumastodermatid taxa seems necessary. We also found that the ostensible COI sequences from several species do not conform to the general invertebrate or any other published mitochondrial genetic code; they may be mitochondrially derived nuclear genes (numts), or one or more modifications of the mitochondrial genetic code within Gastrotricha.
Project description:BackgroundMacrohaplogroups 'M' and 'N' have evolved almost in parallel from a founder haplogroup L3. Macrohaplogroup N in India has already been defined in previous studies and recently the macrohaplogroup M among the Indian populations has been characterized. In this study, we attempted to reconstruct and re-evaluate the phylogeny of Macrohaplogroup M, which harbors more than 60% of the Indian mtDNA lineage, and to shed light on the origin of its deep rooting haplogroups.ResultsUsing 11 whole mtDNA and 2231 partial coding sequence of Indian M lineage selected from 8670 HVS1 sequences across India, we have reconstructed the tree including Andamanese-specific lineage M31 and calculated the time depth of all the nodes. We defined one novel haplogroup M41, and revised the classification of haplogroups M3, M18, and M31.ConclusionOur result indicates that the Indian mtDNA pool consists of several deep rooting lineages of macrohaplogroup 'M' suggesting in-situ origin of these haplogroups in South Asia, most likely in the India. These deep rooting lineages are not language specific and spread over all the language groups in India. Moreover, our reanalysis of the Andamanese-specific lineage M31 suggests population specific two clear-cut subclades (M31a1 and M31a2). Onge and Jarwa share M31a1 branch while M31a2 clade is present in only Great Andamanese individuals. Overall our study supported the one wave, rapid dispersal theory of modern humans along the Asian coast.
Project description:Gene duplication is a substrate of evolution. However, the relative importance of positive selection versus relaxation of constraints in the functional divergence of gene copies is still under debate. Plant MADS-box genes encode transcriptional regulators key in various aspects of development and have undergone extensive duplications to form a large family. We recovered 104 MADS sequences from the Arabidopsis genome. Bayesian phylogenetic trees recover type II lineage as a monophyletic group and resolve a branching sequence of monophyletic groups within this lineage. The type I lineage is comprised of several divergent groups. However, contrasting gene structure and patterns of chromosomal distribution between type I and II sequences suggest that they had different evolutionary histories and support the placement of the root of the gene family between these two groups. Site-specific and site-branch analyses of positive Darwinian selection (PDS) suggest that different selection regimes could have affected the evolution of these lineages. We found evidence for PDS along the branch leading to flowering time genes that have a direct impact on plant fitness. Sites with high probabilities of having been under PDS were found in the MADS and K domains, suggesting that these played important roles in the acquisition of novel functions during MADS-box diversification. Detected sites are targets for further experimental analyses. We argue that adaptive changes in MADS-domain protein sequences have been important for their functional divergence, suggesting that changes within coding regions of transcriptional regulators have influenced phenotypic evolution of plants.
Project description:Apidae is the most speciose and behaviorally diverse family of bees. It includes solitary, eusocial, socially parasitic, and an exceptionally high proportion of cleptoparasitic species. Cleptoparasitic bees, which are brood parasites in the nests of other bees, have long caused problems in resolving the phylogenetic relationships within Apidae based on morphological data because of the tendency for parasites to converge on a suite of traits, making it difficult to differentiate similarity caused by common ancestry from convergence. Here, we resolve the evolutionary history of apid cleptoparasitism by conducting a detailed, comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of all 33 apid tribes (based on 190 species), including representatives from every hypothesized origin of cleptoparasitism. Based on Bayesian ancestral state reconstruction, we show that cleptoparasitism has arisen just four times in Apidae, which is fewer times than previously estimated. Our results indicate that 99% of cleptoparasitic apid bees form a monophyletic group. Divergence time estimates reveal that cleptoparasitism is an ancient behavior in bees that first evolved in the late Cretaceous 95 Mya [95% highest posterior density (HPD) = 87-103]. Our phylogenetic analysis of the Apidae sheds light on the macroevolution of a bee family that is of evolutionary, ecological, and economic importance.