Species-level problems in the Aphis (Bursaphis) complex are reconsidered based on the partial sequences of the mitochondrial cox1 gene together with morphological and ecological data. This indicates that the American species A. oenotherae is a complex of four species (A. oenotherae, A. holoenotherae, A. costalis and A. neomexicana) and the taxonomic status of the species couples A. varians - A. manitobensis and A. epilobii - A. grossulariae require further clarification. Aphis sp. (USA: California, Oregon) of Blackman & Eastop (2006, p. 415) deserves the status of a species provided there is information on its host association and life cycle. Partial cox1 sequences might be misleading when used as standard DNA barcodes of aphid species of the subgenus Bursaphis. and Rimantas Rakauskas, Jurga Turčinavičienė, Jekaterina Bašilova.
Eudiplozoon nipponicum (Goto, 1891) Khotenovsky, 1985 (Monogenea: Diplozoidae), is known to parasitise Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus and species of Carassius. In this study, we conducted a taxonomic re-examination of E. nipponicum using genetic analysis and morphological comparisons from different host species from a single water system. rDNA nucleotide sequences of the internal transcription spacer 2 (ITS-2) region (645 bp) showed interspecific-level genetic differences among diplozoids from species of Carassius and C. carpio (p-distance: 3.1-4.0%) but no difference among those from different species of Carassius (0-0.4%) or between those from C. carpio collected in Asia and Europe (0-1.1%). Large variation was observed among 346 bp cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences (0.3-16.0 %); the topology of the phylogenetic tree showed no relationship to host genera or geographical regions of origin. Morphological observation showed that average clamp size of diplozoids from C. carpio was larger than those from Carassius spp. The number of folds on the hindbody was 10-25 for diplozoids from C. carpio and 12-19 for those from Carassius spp. Thus, our ITS-2 sequence and morphological comparison results indicate that diplozoids from C. carpio and species of Carassius belong to different species. The scientific name E. nipponicum should be applied to the species infected to the type host, Carassius sp. of Nakabo (2013) (Japanese name ginbuna). The diplozoid infecting C. carpio (Eurasian type) should be established as a new species: Eudiplozoon kamegaii sp. n. A neotype of E. nipponicum is designated in this report because the original E. nipponicum specimens are thought to have been lost.
Bentholebouria colubrosa gen. n. et sp. n. (Digenea: Opecoelidae) is described in the wenchman, Pristipomoides aquilonaris (Goode et Bean), from the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and new combinations are proposed: Bentholebouria blatta (Bray et Justine, 2009) comb. n., Bentholebouria longisaccula (Yamaguti, 1970) comb. n., Bentholebouria rooseveltiae (Yamaguti, 1970) comb. n., and Bentholebouria ulaula (Yamaguti, 1970) comb. n. The new genus is morphologically similar to Neolebouria Gibson, 1976, but with a longer cirrus sac, entire testes, a rounded posterior margin with a cleft, and an apparent restriction to the deepwater snappers. Morphologically, the new species is closest to B. blatta from Pristipomoides argyrogrammicus (Valenciennes) off New Caledonia but can be differentiated by the nature of the internal seminal vesicle (2-6 turns or loops rather than constrictions), a longer internal seminal vesicle (occupying about 65% rather than 50% of the cirrus sac), a cirrus sac that extends further into the hindbody (averaging 136% rather than 103% of the distance from the posterior margin of the ventral sucker to the ovary), and a narrower body (27% rather than 35% mean width as % of body length). A Bayesian inference analysis of partial sequence of the 28S rDNA from Neolebouria lanceolata (Price, 1934), Cainocreadium lintoni (Siddiqi et Cable, 1960), Hamacreadium mutabile Linton, 1910, Opecoeloides fimbriatus (Linton, 1910), Podocotyloides brevis Andres et Overstreet, 2013, the new species, and previously published comparable sequences from 10 opecoelid species revealed two clades. One clade includes deep-sea (≥ 200 m) and freshwater fish opecoelids + Opecoeloides Bremser in Rudolphi, 1819, and a second clade included those opecoelids from shallow-water marine, perciform fishes.
Phylogenetic relationships within the suborder Trypanosomatina were inferred from the kinetoplast DNA minicircle conserved region sequences. Trees built using distancc-matrix (Neighbor-Joining) and maximum parsimony methods showed that the minicircle conserved regions (CRs) provide a sensitive and specific molecular marker suitable for phylogenetic analyses of subspecies and strains of trypanosomalid flagellates, as testified by the subdivision of the genus Leishmania into the subgenera Leishmania, Viannia and Sauroleishmania. However, since Phytomonas and monogenetic parasites of insects represent the earliest diverging groups, the CRs do not seem to be useful for inference of relationships among major lineages of the order Kinetoplastida.
We present a phylogenetic analysis of snow voles by combining all published cytochrome b sequences of 47 species of Microtus, Blanfordimys, Neodon and Chionomys and a new sequence from Chionomys gud. By applying powerful, modern approaches to phylogenetic reconstruction such as maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference methods (BI), we provide new information on the relationships between Chionomys and Microtus. Both phylogenetic analysis methods showed that the genus Microtus is paraphyletic with respect to Blanfordimys, Neodon and Microtus gregalis. The BI topology recovered strong support for the monophyly of Chionomys + Microtus gregalis, while th monophyly of Chionomys was supported only by the ML analysis. The two Chionomys lineages (defined by molar morphology and karyological features), “nivalis” (C. nivalis) and “roberti” (C. gud and C. roberti), were strongly supported by cytochrome b analysis.
Phylogenetic relationships of Sciurus were examined based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences of three Old World and four New World species. The purpose was to test for monophyly in Old World Sciurus (S. anomalus, S. lis, and S. vulgaris). Phylogenetic trees well supported clustering of (1) S. anomalus, (2) S. lis and S. vulgaris, and (3) the four New World Sciurus species. Sciurus anomalus was more closely related to the clade consisting of New World Sciurus species than the one consisting of S. lis and S. vulgaris, indicating a polyphyletic relationship in Old World Sciurus. The primary divergence of Sciurus may have taken place early on the Eurasian Continent. Then, the ancestral stock of modern New World Sciurus would have migrated from the Eurasian Continent to the North American Continent.
The systematic position and phylogenetic relationships of the family Cortrematidae Yamaguti, 1958 have always been controversial. In the present study, the phylogenetic relationships of this family and its constituent genera and families within the superfamily Microphalloidea were evaluated using previously published and newly obtained sequences of 28S rDNA of Cortrema magnicaudata (Bykhovskaya-Pavlovskaya, 1950) (Cortrematidae), Phaneropsolus praomydis Baer, 1971 and Microtrema barusi Sitko, 2013 (Phaneropsolidae). Results clearly demonstrate that the genus Cortrema Tang, 1951 is closest to Gyrabascus Macy 1935, both genera forming one of the clades within the family Pleurogenidae in the superfamily Microphalloidea and sharing several important morphological features. Thus, the family Cortrematidae should be considered among synonyms of the Pleurogenidae. Based on the analysis of morphology, C. corti Tang, 1951, C. testilobata (Bykhovskaya-Pavlovskaya, 1953) and C. niloticus Ashour, Ahmed et Lewis, 1994 are considered junior synonyms of C. magnicaudata. The phylogenetic position of P. praomydis as a family-level branch not showing close relationships with other families of the Microphalloidea, supports the status of the Phaneropsolidae as an independent family. The genus Parabascus Looss, 1907 previously considered within the Phaneropsolidae clearly belongs to the Pleurogenidae. In addition, the molecular phylogeny has demonstrated that the recently described phaneropsolid Microtrema barusi belongs to the microphallid genus Microphallus Ward, 1901. Therefore, Microtrema Sitko, 2013 is considered a junior synonym of Microphallus. Our analysis has also confirmed the status of Collyriclidae as a family within the Microphalloidea. Not yet sequenced representatives of other families within the Microphalloidea (e.g. Anenterotrematidae, Eumegacetidae, Renschtrematidae, Stomylotrematidae, etc.) need to be included in future molecular phylogenetic studies to better unravel the taxonomic structure and content of this diverse digenean superfamily.
Phylogenetic relationships among Palaearctic Ribes and/or Onagraceae inhabiting Aphis species from five countries were examined using mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I (CO-I) and nuclear gene elongation factor 1 α (EF-1α) sequences. There was no major conflict between the trees obtained from two data sets; nodes with strong bootstrap support from one analysis never contradicted those strongly supported by the other analysis. Palaearctic species of the subgenus Bursaphis (= "grossulariae" species group of the genus Aphis) form a monophyletic group within the genus Aphis. All these analyses indicated that Aphis grossulariae and A. schneideri are close relatives, which is supported by the information on experimental and probably also natural hybridisation. Our data indicate the independent colonisation of Ribes spp. by two species groups of the genus Aphis: A. triglochinis (subgenus Aphis s. str.), and A. grossulariae and A. schneideri (subgenus Bursaphis). Once the subgenus Bursaphis (and other subgenera) is accepted, the subgenus Aphis s. str. will require further subdivision.
This study reports the results of a molecular phylogenetic analysis of thirty three species of Ennominae (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). The aim of this analysis was to determine the phylogenetic affinities of 13 European species not previously studied using these methods. Fragments of seven nuclear genes, elongation factor 1 alpha (EF-1α), wingless (wgl), isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), ribosomal protein S5 (RpS5) and expansion segments D1 and D2 of the 28S rRNA gene and fragment of one mitochondrial gene, cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), were used. In the analysis using Bayesian phylogenetic inference, original gene sequences of the target species were combined with a larger data matrix of 20 species of Ennominae, used in a previous study (Wahlberg et al., 2010, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 55: 929-938). Most notably, the results indicate that the representatives of the genera Cepphis, Plagodis, Pseudopanthera and Selenia form a well-supported monophyletic group which appeared as the sister clade to the rest of the "ennomine" group of tribes. On the other hand, Crocallis and Opisthograptis group together with Ennomos. These results conflict with previous tribal subdivisions of the subfamily pointing to the need to reconsider the concepts of Ennomini and Ourapterygini. Within the tribe Macariini, the genus Macaria appears to be more closely related to Itame (= Speranza) than to Chiasmia clathrata. The emerging phylogenetic tree of Ennominae suggests only a limited phylogenetic inertia in body size making this group a promising target for comparative studies on this central life history trait and its correlates. and Erki Õunap, Juhan Javoiš, Jaan Viidalepp, Toomas Tammaru.
Relationships of nine Italian Chrysotoxum species were analysed using morphological and molecular data. The morphology-derived cladogram revealed three well-defined groups: (i) C. cautum, (ii) the arcuatum group (C. arcuatum, C. fasciolatum) and (iii) the festivum group (C. festivum - C. vernale, C. bicinctum, C. elegans, C. octomaculatum and C. parmense). Trees inferred from COI-tRNALeu-COII sequences were largely in agreement, but they identified (i) C. parmense as an isolated branch, (ii) C. festivum and C. vernale as separate entities, (iii) C. elegans within a paraphyletic C. festivum clade. ITS2 trees were partially unresolved but C. parmense sequence emerged as a sister to the festivum group. The monophyly of the festivum group derived from morphological data was rejected by a phylogenetic test performed on combined molecular data set. The diagnostic value of some morphological characters commonly used to identify Chrysotoxum species is therefore questioned.