Mitochondrial retrograde signaling is a pathway of communication from mitochondria to the nucleus. Recently, natural mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) polymorphisms (haplogroups) received increasing attention in the pathophysiology of human common diseases. However, retrograde effects of mtDNA variants on such traits are difficult to study in humans. The conplastic strains represent key animal models to elucidate regulatory roles of mtDNA haplogroups on defined nuclear genome background. To analyze the relationship between mtDNA variants and cardiometabolic traits, we derived a set of rat conplastic strains (SHR-mtBN, SHR-mtF344 and SHR-mtLEW), harboring all major mtDNA haplotypes present in common inbred strains on the nuclear background of the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). The BN, F344 and LEW mtDNA differ from the SHR in multiple amino acid substitutions in protein coding genes and also in variants of tRNA and rRNA genes. Different mtDNA haplotypes were found to predispose to various sets of cardiometabolic phenotypes which provided evidence for significant retrograde effects of mtDNA in the SHR. In the future, these animals could be used to decipher individual biochemical components involved in the retrograde signaling.
Analysis of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (CR) was used to examine the dispersal of females of a geometrid moth, Epirrita autumnata, in Fennoscandia. A 542-bp-portion of the CR of 200 individuals from four northern and four southern localities was sequenced. The mtDNA CR of E. autumnata contains a substantial amount of variation as a total of 108 mtDNA haplotypes were observed. Between the northern and the southern localities (~1100 km), there was a moderate level of genetic differentiation (FST = 0.128). The amount of variation in the mtDNA CR of E. autumnata was lower in the north than in the south. The reduction in genetic variability may result from a combination of historical bottlenecks that date back to the post-glacial recolonization of Fennoscandia and, present-day bottlenecks due to the northern E. autumnata populations experiencing repeated outbreaks followed by collapse in population size. On a small spatial scale (0.6-19 km), within the northern and southern areas, no genetic differentiation was detected suggesting ongoing gene flow due to the dispersal of E. autumnata females among the localities. This finding was contrary to our earlier expectation of poor flying ability of E. autumnata females.
Inter-population variability within Sabanejewia populations from the western Balkans, and their phylogenetic position in comparison to other European populations were investigated. Of 79 samples analysed, 51 unique haplotypes were identified. Network analysis divided thirteen populations from five river basins into two clusters: cluster I was composed of populations from the Vardar drainage and tributaries of the neighbouring River Morava (River Danube basin), while cluster II contained the River Timok (eastern Serbia) and all the River Sava populations. The only locality that housed haplotypes of both clusters was the River Kutinska reka in the upper Morava basin. When compared with the haplotypes reported in former studies, both clusters fell within the ‘Danubian-Balkanian complex’. Cluster II was included in the most heterogeneous sub-lineage S. montana – S. bulgarica – S. balcanica (III), while cluster I was related to the sub-lineages S. doiranica – S. balcanica (II) and S. balcanica (VI). Recently published haplotypes from the Croatian Sava (rivers Petrinjčica and Rijeka) and Drava (rivers Drava and Voćinska) basins, as well as Czech and Slovak individuals from the Danube and Tisza river basins were included. The River Drava showed the same population subdivision as the River Kutinska reka.
The genetic differentiation of Oxynoemacheilus bureschi (Drensky, 1928) from all three drainages (Struma=Strymon, Mesta=Nestos, Vardar=Axios) where this species occurs, as well as its phylogenetic relationships with other European stone loaches, was assessed using the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. The phylogenetic reconstruction revealed two distinct clades within the European stone loaches with high bootstrap values. Very low genetic variability with no internal haplotypic structure has been found between and within all examined O. bureschi populations, indicated by low polymorphism and similar haplotypes. According to the nesting design and demographic patterns, the range of O. bureschi was not constant, but underwent expansion in the recent past. Lack of variation, a rather unusual phenomenon for fishes from the southern Balkans, is ascribed to facilitation of dispersal due to seashore regression, confluence events and river capture during the Pleistocene.
Taxonomists have described chromatic and morphological variation for a number of European bumble bee species, although molecular studies have so far failed to find significant differentiation. We investigated the genetic variation of Bombus pascuorum from 13 locations by sequencing a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. We find considerably more variation than in published COII sequences for B. terrestris. The DNA sequences from these bees suggest that a difference exists between areas north and south of the Alps, and that the bees within these two areas are very similar over large areas. Therefore, mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences may be able to reveal geographic subdivision in B. pascuorum across the Alps.
The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), is a notorious insect pest of cruciferous plants. To examine the pattern and magnitude of genetic variation in this species in China a portion of the mitochondrial (mt) COI gene of P. xylostella, collected at six Chinese and two Korean localities, which cover ~2,151,600 km2, was sequenced. Sequence analysis of the 681-bp mt COI gene from 80 individuals resulted in 16 haplotypes, ranging in sequence divergence from 0.1% (one nucleotide) to 0.9% (six nucleotides). One nucleotide position among 16 variable sites was a transversional substitution and the remaining positions were transitional substitutions. No position resulted in amino acid substitution. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all haplotypes were highly interrelated and no discernable haplotype group was found. From a geographical perspective, most haplotypes were found singly at one or two localities, with three haplotypes widely distributed. Little genetic differentiation (FST = -0.038-0.309) and a high rate of female migration (Nm = 1.117 - infinite) between Chinese populations suggests that dispersal over long distances is a major factor in the demography of this species.
Species of the Agrilus viridis-complex and the genus Trachys are morphologically difficult to identify or even indistinguishable. However, all of them are ecologically clearly separated because their larvae develop in different host plants. Hitherto, it was unclear whether they represent varieties, ecological races or true species. In this paper the genetic variation and phylogenetic relationships within these groups are analysed using partial sequence data from mitochondrial genes (12S rDNA, and a fragment containing regions of ND1 and 16S rDNA). The phylogenetic analyses yielded largely congruent tree topologies and indicate that all species and varieties of the Agrilus viridis-complex belong to a monophyletic group, which is closely related to A. cuprescens. Compared to all other Agrilus-species tested, the genetic distances within the A. viridis-complex are very small. However, all varieties and species are clearly separated. Thus, our data support the view that both the members of the Agrilus viridis-complex and the species of the Trachys-group represent genetically separated taxa.
Phylogenetic relations among five species of Hipposideridae and seven species of Rhinolophidae including one endemic species (Rhinolophus rex) were examined by partially sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (528 bp). Analyses of the cytochrome b sequences of Hipposideridae and Rhinolophidae suggest that each formed a monophyletic group. All phylogenetic analyses indicate that Aselliscus should remain as a genus within Hipposideridae, with the mean percentage sequence differences (16.43%) and transition: transversion ratios (2.032) between Aselliscus and Hipposideros. Within Hipposideros, H. armiger shows close affinity to H. larvatus although it possesses superficial similarity morphological characters to H. pratti. Genetic distance values suggest that H. larvatus and H. armiger diverged from each other approximately 1.7–4.3 million years ago, and H. pratti diverged from the larvatus-armiger clade approximately 2.1–5.2 million years ago.
Mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences have been identified in Miniopterus schreibersii (Kuhl, 1817) from the Oriental-Australasian areas. All phylogenetic analyses indicate that the Oriental-Australasian M. schreibersii diverged from the Spanish M. schreibersii, with the mean percentage sequence differences ranging from 15.81% to 18.92% between them. A large and significant percentage sequence difference (10.91%) also separated the Chinese/Japanese specimens from the Australian specimens. Our molecular results corroborate a previous report based on morphological characters by M a e d a (1982), which suggested that Miniopterus schreibersii in Europe, Asia and Australia should be regarded as three distinct species, named Miniopterus schreibersii, M. fuliginosus and M. oceanensis. However, the specimen from Hainan should be grouped together with the other Chinese specimens in one species. The results also confirmed Appleton’s recent molecular study on Oriental-Australasian Miniopterus schreibersii.
The Sympetrum vulgatum (Linnaeus, 1758) complex is composed of the subspecies S. vulgatum vulgatum, S. vulgatum decoloratum (Selys, 1884) and S. vulgatum ibericum Ocharan, 1985 in the West Palaearctic. These taxa have parapatric distributions and noticeable morphological differences in colour and body size, and their taxonomic status is debated. Here we revise the systematics of this group using molecular taxonomy, including molecular analyses of mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, COI) and nuclear (internal transcribed spacer, ITS1) DNA taking into account known morphological differences. Each subspecies has a unique and differentiated COI haplotype, although divergences among them are low (0.4% maximum uncorrected p-distance). The subspecies are not differentiated by the nuclear marker ITS1. The genetic results for these taxa contrast with the deep divergence of the sister species S. striolatum (Charpentier, 1840). Given current evidence, we propose to maintain the subspecific status of the S. vulgatum complex and hypothesize their biogeographical history. It is likely that the three subspecies became isolated during one of the latest glacial periods, each in a different refugium: S. vulgatum ibericum possibly occupied the Iberian Peninsula, S. vulgatum vulgatum the Balkan Peninsula or territories further east and S. vulgatum decoloratum Anatolia., Joan C. Hinojosa, Ricard Martín, Xavier Maynou, Roger Vila., and Obsahuje bibliografii