Nosocomial HIV-transmission in an outpatient clinic detected by epidemiologicaland phylogenetic analyses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Katzenstein, T.L.; Jørgensen, L.B.; H, Permin

1999-01-01

.9% respectively. In addition, GP harboured HIV RNA with a foscarnet resistance mutation further lendingsupport to virus from the foscarnet-treated FDL being the source of the infection. Interestingly, GP experienced increases inimmunoglobulin production after contracting the HIV-infection, and decreases after...... antiretroviral-induced viral suppression. Aclinical procedure which, under stressful conditions, could lead to breaches in infection control measures was identified. The source ofthe infection was most likely a contaminated multidose vial. CONCLUSION: Through epidemiological and phylogenetic analyses acase...

Comparative analyses of the complete mitochondrial genomes of Dosinia clams and their phylogenetic position within Veneridae.

Science.gov (United States)

Lv, Changda; Li, Qi; Kong, Lingfeng

2018-01-01

Mitochondrial genomes have proved to be a powerful tool in resolving phylogenetic relationship. In order to understand the mitogenome characteristics and phylogenetic position of the genus Dosinia, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genomes of Dosinia altior and Dosinia troscheli (Bivalvia: Veneridae), compared them with that of Dosinia japonica and established a phylogenetic tree for Veneridae. The mitogenomes of D. altior (17,536 bp) and D. troscheli (17,229 bp) are the two smallest in Veneridae, which include 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and non-coding regions. The mitogenomes of the Dosinia species are similar in size, gene content, AT content, AT- and GC- skews, and gene arrangement. The phylogenetic relationships of family Veneridae were established based on 12 concatenated protein-coding genes using maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses, which supported that Dosininae and Meretricinae have a closer relationship, with Tapetinae being the sister taxon. The information obtained in this study will contribute to further understanding of the molecular features of bivalve mitogenomes and the evolutionary history of the genus Dosinia.

Integrative taxonomy of ciliates: Assessment of molecular phylogenetic content and morphological homology testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Vďačný, Peter

2017-10-01

The very diverse and comparatively complex morphology of ciliates has given rise to numerous taxonomic concepts. However, the information content of the utilized molecular markers has seldom been explored prior to phylogenetic analyses and taxonomic decisions. Likewise, robust testing of morphological homology statements and the apomorphic nature of diagnostic characters of ciliate taxa is rarely carried out. Four phylogenetic techniques that may help address these issues are reviewed. (1) Split spectrum analysis serves to determine the exact number and quality of nucleotide positions supporting individual nodes in phylogenetic trees and to discern long-branch artifacts that cause spurious phylogenies. (2) Network analysis can depict all possible evolutionary trajectories inferable from the dataset and locate and measure the conflict between them. (3) A priori likelihood mapping tests the suitability of data for reconstruction of a well resolved tree, visualizes the tree-likeness of quartets, and assesses the support of an internal branch of a given tree topology. (4) Reconstruction of ancestral morphologies can be applied for analyzing homology and apomorphy statements without circular reasoning. Since these phylogenetic tools are rarely used, their principles and interpretation are introduced and exemplified using various groups of ciliates. Finally, environmental sequencing data are discussed in this light. Copyright © 2017 The Author. Published by Elsevier GmbH.. All rights reserved.

Sampling strategies for improving tree accuracy and phylogenetic analyses: a case study in ciliate protists, with notes on the genus Paramecium.

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Zhenzhen; Strüder-Kypke, Michaela; Hu, Xiaozhong; Lin, Xiaofeng; Song, Weibo

2014-02-01

In order to assess how dataset-selection for multi-gene analyses affects the accuracy of inferred phylogenetic trees in ciliates, we chose five genes and the genus Paramecium, one of the most widely used model protist genera, and compared tree topologies of the single- and multi-gene analyses. Our empirical study shows that: (1) Using multiple genes improves phylogenetic accuracy, even when their one-gene topologies are in conflict with each other. (2) The impact of missing data on phylogenetic accuracy is ambiguous: resolution power and topological similarity, but not number of represented taxa, are the most important criteria of a dataset for inclusion in concatenated analyses. (3) As an example, we tested the three classification models of the genus Paramecium with a multi-gene based approach, and only the monophyly of the subgenus Paramecium is supported. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diversity and Phylogenetic Analyses of Bacterial Symbionts in Three Whitefly Species from Southeast Europe

OpenAIRE

Skaljac, Marisa; Kanakala, Surapathrudu; Zanic, Katja; Puizina, Jasna; Lepen Pleic, Ivana; Ghanim, Murad

2017-01-01

Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), and Siphoninus phillyreae (Haliday) are whitefly species that harm agricultural crops in many regions of the world. These insects live in close association with bacterial symbionts that affect host fitness and adaptation to the environment. In the current study, we surveyed the infection of whitefly populations in Southeast Europe by various bacterial symbionts and performed phylogenetic analyses on the different symbionts dete...

Systematics of Plant-Pathogenic and Related Streptomyces Species Based on Phylogenetic Analyses of Multiple Gene Loci

Science.gov (United States)

The 10 species of Streptomyces implicated as the etiological agents in scab disease of potatoes or soft rot disease of sweet potatoes are distributed among 7 different phylogenetic clades in analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, but high sequence similarity of this gene among Streptomyces speci...

Opposing assembly mechanisms in a neotropical dry forest: implications for phylogenetic and functional community ecology.

Science.gov (United States)

Swenson, Nathan G; Enquist, Brian J

2009-08-01

Species diversity is promoted and maintained by ecological and evolutionary processes operating on species attributes through space and time. The degree to which variability in species function regulates distribution and promotes coexistence of species has been debated. Previous work has attempted to quantify the relative importance of species function by using phylogenetic relatedness as a proxy for functional similarity. The key assumption of this approach is that function is phylogenetically conserved. If this assumption is supported, then the phylogenetic dispersion in a community should mirror the functional dispersion. Here we quantify functional trait dispersion along several key axes of tree life-history variation and on multiple spatial scales in a Neotropical dry-forest community. We next compare these results to previously reported patterns of phylogenetic dispersion in this same forest. We find that, at small spatial scales, coexisting species are typically more functionally clustered than expected, but traits related to adult and regeneration niches are overdispersed. This outcome was repeated when the analyses were stratified by size class. Some of the trait dispersion results stand in contrast to the previously reported phylogenetic dispersion results. In order to address this inconsistency we examined the strength of phylogenetic signal in traits at different depths in the phylogeny. We argue that: (1) while phylogenetic relatedness may be a good general multivariate proxy for ecological similarity, it may have a reduced capacity to depict the functional mechanisms behind species coexistence when coexisting species simultaneously converge and diverge in function; and (2) the previously used metric of phylogenetic signal provided erroneous inferences about trait dispersion when married with patterns of phylogenetic dispersion.

Phylogenetic turnover during subtropical forest succession across environmental and phylogenetic scales

OpenAIRE

Purschke, Oliver; Michalski, Stefan G.; Bruelheide, Helge; Durka, Walter

2017-01-01

Abstract Although spatial and temporal patterns of phylogenetic community structure during succession are inherently interlinked and assembly processes vary with environmental and phylogenetic scales, successional studies of community assembly have yet to integrate spatial and temporal components of community structure, while accounting for scaling issues. To gain insight into the processes that generate biodiversity after disturbance, we combine analyses of spatial and temporal phylogenetic ...

Secondary structure analyses of the nuclear rRNA internal transcribed spacers and assessment of its phylogenetic utility across the Brassicaceae (mustards.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick P Edger

Full Text Available The internal transcribed spacers of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene cluster, termed ITS1 and ITS2, are the most frequently used nuclear markers for phylogenetic analyses across many eukaryotic groups including most plant families. The reasons for the popularity of these markers include: 1. Ease of amplification due to high copy number of the gene clusters, 2. Available cost-effective methods and highly conserved primers, 3. Rapidly evolving markers (i.e. variable between closely related species, and 4. The assumption (and/or treatment that these sequences are non-functional, neutrally evolving phylogenetic markers. Here, our analyses of ITS1 and ITS2 for 50 species suggest that both sequences are instead under selective constraints to preserve proper secondary structure, likely to maintain complete self-splicing functions, and thus are not neutrally-evolving phylogenetic markers. Our results indicate the majority of sequence sites are co-evolving with other positions to form proper secondary structure, which has implications for phylogenetic inference. We also found that the lowest energy state and total number of possible alternate secondary structures are highly significantly different between ITS regions and random sequences with an identical overall length and Guanine-Cytosine (GC content. Lastly, we review recent evidence highlighting some additional problematic issues with using these regions as the sole markers for phylogenetic studies, and thus strongly recommend additional markers and cost-effective approaches for future studies to estimate phylogenetic relationships.

Depictions of mental illness in print media: a prospective national sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Coverdale, John; Nairn, Raymond; Claasen, Donna

2002-10-01

Because there are no published reports of depictions of mental illness in print media based on national samples, we set out to prospectively collect and analyse a near complete New Zealand sample of print media. A commercial clipping bureau was contracted to provide cuttings of all items with any mental health or illness aspect over a four week period. These items were analysed for potentially positive and negative depictions and how mental illness was represented within each item. An independent search for additional newspaper items concerning one prominently featured topic indicated that the rate of identification of relevant stories was at least 91%. The collection consisted of six hundred print items which were most commonly news or editorial pieces (n = 562, 93.7%). Negative depictions predominated, with dangerousness to others (n = 368, 61.3%) and criminality (n = 284, 47.3%) being the most common. Positive depictions, including human rights themes, leadership and educational accomplishments occurred in 27% (n = 164) of all items. Generic mental illness terminology without reference to specific diagnostic categories was present in 47% of all items (n = 284). Negative depictions that predominate confirm the stereotypic understanding of mental illness that is stigmatizing. These findings underscore the challenge facing us as mental health professionals attempting to change attitudes towards mental disorders when the stereotypes are so regularly reinforced.

The limitations of ontogenetic data in phylogenetic analyses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koenemann, Stefan; Schram, Frederick R.

2002-01-01

The analysis of consecutive ontogenetic stages, or events, introduces a new class of data to phylogenetic systematics that are distinctly different from traditional morphological characters and molecular sequence data. Ontogenetic event sequences are distinguished by varying degrees of both a

SuperTRI: A new approach based on branch support analyses of multiple independent data sets for assessing reliability of phylogenetic inferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Ropiquet, Anne; Li, Blaise; Hassanin, Alexandre

2009-09-01

Supermatrix and supertree are two methods for constructing a phylogenetic tree by using multiple data sets. However, these methods are not a panacea, as conflicting signals between data sets can lead to misinterpret the evolutionary history of taxa. In particular, the supermatrix approach is expected to be misleading if the species-tree signal is not dominant after the combination of the data sets. Moreover, most current supertree methods suffer from two limitations: (i) they ignore or misinterpret secondary (non-dominant) phylogenetic signals of the different data sets; and (ii) the logical basis of node robustness measures is unclear. To overcome these limitations, we propose a new approach, called SuperTRI, which is based on the branch support analyses of the independent data sets, and where the reliability of the nodes is assessed using three measures: the supertree Bootstrap percentage and two other values calculated from the separate analyses: the mean branch support (mean Bootstrap percentage or mean posterior probability) and the reproducibility index. The SuperTRI approach is tested on a data matrix including seven genes for 82 taxa of the family Bovidae (Mammalia, Ruminantia), and the results are compared to those found with the supermatrix approach. The phylogenetic analyses of the supermatrix and independent data sets were done using four methods of tree reconstruction: Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood, and unweighted and weighted maximum parsimony. The results indicate, firstly, that the SuperTRI approach shows less sensitivity to the four phylogenetic methods, secondly, that it is more accurate to interpret the relationships among taxa, and thirdly, that interesting conclusions on introgression and radiation can be drawn from the comparisons between SuperTRI and supermatrix analyses.

PhyDesign: an online application for profiling phylogenetic informativeness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Townsend Jeffrey P

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The rapid increase in number of sequenced genomes for species across of the tree of life is revealing a diverse suite of orthologous genes that could potentially be employed to inform molecular phylogenetic studies that encompass broader taxonomic sampling. Optimal usage of this diversity of loci requires user-friendly tools to facilitate widespread cost-effective locus prioritization for phylogenetic sampling. The Townsend (2007 phylogenetic informativeness provides a unique empirical metric for guiding marker selection. However, no software or automated methodology to evaluate sequence alignments and estimate the phylogenetic informativeness metric has been available. Results Here, we present PhyDesign, a platform-independent online application that implements the Townsend (2007 phylogenetic informativeness analysis, providing a quantitative prediction of the utility of loci to solve specific phylogenetic questions. An easy-to-use interface facilitates uploading of alignments and ultrametric trees to calculate and depict profiles of informativeness over specified time ranges, and provides rankings of locus prioritization for epochs of interest. Conclusions By providing these profiles, PhyDesign facilitates locus prioritization increasing the efficiency of sequencing for phylogenetic purposes compared to traditional studies with more laborious and low capacity screening methods, as well as increasing the accuracy of phylogenetic studies. Together with a manual and sample files, the application is freely accessible at http://phydesign.townsend.yale.edu.

Who's coming to dinner? Microbial phylogenetic analyses of various subsurface petroleum well environments for MEOR applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Keeler, Sharon J.; Fallon, Robert; Jackson, Scott; Zhang, Shiping; Tomb, Jean-Francois; Miller, Mark A.; Rees, Bethany [Central Research and Development (Canada)

2011-07-01

This paper discussed the microbial phylogenetic analyses of various subsurface petroleum well environments for microbial-enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) applications. The objective is to add nutrients and microbes to injection water. Close to 47,000 compounds are present in petroleum and most of them are polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Microbes that can predominate the biomass produced and the over all bioactivity are needed. Changing the electron acceptor modifies the microbial community. Characterization of microbial diversity in production water with two independent molecular methods is shown. The geology of well systems in North America was analyzed; the analyses and the results are given. Summarizing the North Slope reservoir system phylogenetics, it can be said that many genera found in association with other petroleum environments suggest they are autocthonous and transiently very high levels of acetate signify a mutual metabolic codependency on the amount of acetate present in the system.

Diversity and Phylogenetic Analyses of Bacterial Symbionts in Three Whitefly Species from Southeast Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Skaljac, Marisa; Zanic, Katja; Puizina, Jasna; Lepen Pleic, Ivana; Ghanim, Murad

2017-01-01

Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), and Siphoninus phillyreae (Haliday) are whitefly species that harm agricultural crops in many regions of the world. These insects live in close association with bacterial symbionts that affect host fitness and adaptation to the environment. In the current study, we surveyed the infection of whitefly populations in Southeast Europe by various bacterial symbionts and performed phylogenetic analyses on the different symbionts detected. Arsenophonus and Hamiltonella were the most prevalent symbionts in all three whitefly species. Rickettsia was found to infect mainly B. tabaci, while Wolbachia mainly infected both B. tabaci and S. phillyreae. Furthermore, Cardinium was rarely found in the investigated whitefly populations, while Fritschea was never found in any of the whitefly species tested. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a diversity of several symbionts (e.g., Hamiltonella, Arsenophonus, Rickettsia), which appeared in several clades. Reproductively isolated B. tabaci and T. vaporariorum shared the same (or highly similar) Hamiltonella and Arsenophonus, while these symbionts were distinctive in S. phillyreae. Interestingly, Arsenophonus from S. phillyreae did not cluster with any of the reported sequences, which could indicate the presence of Arsenophonus, not previously associated with whiteflies. In this study, symbionts (Wolbachia, Rickettsia, and Cardinium) known to infect a wide range of insects each clustered in the same clades independently of the whitefly species. These results indicate horizontal transmission of bacterial symbionts between reproductively isolated whitefly species, a mechanism that can establish new infections that did not previously exist in whiteflies. PMID:29053633

Diversity and Phylogenetic Analyses of Bacterial Symbionts in Three Whitefly Species from Southeast Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marisa Skaljac

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius, Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood, and Siphoninus phillyreae (Haliday are whitefly species that harm agricultural crops in many regions of the world. These insects live in close association with bacterial symbionts that affect host fitness and adaptation to the environment. In the current study, we surveyed the infection of whitefly populations in Southeast Europe by various bacterial symbionts and performed phylogenetic analyses on the different symbionts detected. Arsenophonus and Hamiltonella were the most prevalent symbionts in all three whitefly species. Rickettsia was found to infect mainly B. tabaci, while Wolbachia mainly infected both B. tabaci and S. phillyreae. Furthermore, Cardinium was rarely found in the investigated whitefly populations, while Fritschea was never found in any of the whitefly species tested. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a diversity of several symbionts (e.g., Hamiltonella, Arsenophonus, Rickettsia, which appeared in several clades. Reproductively isolated B. tabaci and T. vaporariorum shared the same (or highly similar Hamiltonella and Arsenophonus, while these symbionts were distinctive in S. phillyreae. Interestingly, Arsenophonus from S. phillyreae did not cluster with any of the reported sequences, which could indicate the presence of Arsenophonus, not previously associated with whiteflies. In this study, symbionts (Wolbachia, Rickettsia, and Cardinium known to infect a wide range of insects each clustered in the same clades independently of the whitefly species. These results indicate horizontal transmission of bacterial symbionts between reproductively isolated whitefly species, a mechanism that can establish new infections that did not previously exist in whiteflies.

Phylogenetic trees in bioinformatics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burr, Tom L [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2008-01-01

Genetic data is often used to infer evolutionary relationships among a collection of viruses, bacteria, animal or plant species, or other operational taxonomic units (OTU). A phylogenetic tree depicts such relationships and provides a visual representation of the estimated branching order of the OTUs. Tree estimation is unique for several reasons, including: the types of data used to represent each OTU; the use ofprobabilistic nucleotide substitution models; the inference goals involving both tree topology and branch length, and the huge number of possible trees for a given sample of a very modest number of OTUs, which implies that fmding the best tree(s) to describe the genetic data for each OTU is computationally demanding. Bioinformatics is too large a field to review here. We focus on that aspect of bioinformatics that includes study of similarities in genetic data from multiple OTUs. Although research questions are diverse, a common underlying challenge is to estimate the evolutionary history of the OTUs. Therefore, this paper reviews the role of phylogenetic tree estimation in bioinformatics, available methods and software, and identifies areas for additional research and development.

Phylogenetic turnover during subtropical forest succession across environmental and phylogenetic scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Purschke, Oliver; Michalski, Stefan G; Bruelheide, Helge; Durka, Walter

2017-12-01

Although spatial and temporal patterns of phylogenetic community structure during succession are inherently interlinked and assembly processes vary with environmental and phylogenetic scales, successional studies of community assembly have yet to integrate spatial and temporal components of community structure, while accounting for scaling issues. To gain insight into the processes that generate biodiversity after disturbance, we combine analyses of spatial and temporal phylogenetic turnover across phylogenetic scales, accounting for covariation with environmental differences. We compared phylogenetic turnover, at the species- and individual-level, within and between five successional stages, representing woody plant communities in a subtropical forest chronosequence. We decomposed turnover at different phylogenetic depths and assessed its covariation with between-plot abiotic differences. Phylogenetic turnover between stages was low relative to species turnover and was not explained by abiotic differences. However, within the late-successional stages, there was high presence-/absence-based turnover (clustering) that occurred deep in the phylogeny and covaried with environmental differentiation. Our results support a deterministic model of community assembly where (i) phylogenetic composition is constrained through successional time, but (ii) toward late succession, species sorting into preferred habitats according to niche traits that are conserved deep in phylogeny, becomes increasingly important.

Bayesian models for comparative analysis integrating phylogenetic uncertainty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Villemereuil Pierre de

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Uncertainty in comparative analyses can come from at least two sources: a phylogenetic uncertainty in the tree topology or branch lengths, and b uncertainty due to intraspecific variation in trait values, either due to measurement error or natural individual variation. Most phylogenetic comparative methods do not account for such uncertainties. Not accounting for these sources of uncertainty leads to false perceptions of precision (confidence intervals will be too narrow and inflated significance in hypothesis testing (e.g. p-values will be too small. Although there is some application-specific software for fitting Bayesian models accounting for phylogenetic error, more general and flexible software is desirable. Methods We developed models to directly incorporate phylogenetic uncertainty into a range of analyses that biologists commonly perform, using a Bayesian framework and Markov Chain Monte Carlo analyses. Results We demonstrate applications in linear regression, quantification of phylogenetic signal, and measurement error models. Phylogenetic uncertainty was incorporated by applying a prior distribution for the phylogeny, where this distribution consisted of the posterior tree sets from Bayesian phylogenetic tree estimation programs. The models were analysed using simulated data sets, and applied to a real data set on plant traits, from rainforest plant species in Northern Australia. Analyses were performed using the free and open source software OpenBUGS and JAGS. Conclusions Incorporating phylogenetic uncertainty through an empirical prior distribution of trees leads to more precise estimation of regression model parameters than using a single consensus tree and enables a more realistic estimation of confidence intervals. In addition, models incorporating measurement errors and/or individual variation, in one or both variables, are easily formulated in the Bayesian framework. We show that BUGS is a useful, flexible

Bayesian models for comparative analysis integrating phylogenetic uncertainty

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Uncertainty in comparative analyses can come from at least two sources: a) phylogenetic uncertainty in the tree topology or branch lengths, and b) uncertainty due to intraspecific variation in trait values, either due to measurement error or natural individual variation. Most phylogenetic comparative methods do not account for such uncertainties. Not accounting for these sources of uncertainty leads to false perceptions of precision (confidence intervals will be too narrow) and inflated significance in hypothesis testing (e.g. p-values will be too small). Although there is some application-specific software for fitting Bayesian models accounting for phylogenetic error, more general and flexible software is desirable. Methods We developed models to directly incorporate phylogenetic uncertainty into a range of analyses that biologists commonly perform, using a Bayesian framework and Markov Chain Monte Carlo analyses. Results We demonstrate applications in linear regression, quantification of phylogenetic signal, and measurement error models. Phylogenetic uncertainty was incorporated by applying a prior distribution for the phylogeny, where this distribution consisted of the posterior tree sets from Bayesian phylogenetic tree estimation programs. The models were analysed using simulated data sets, and applied to a real data set on plant traits, from rainforest plant species in Northern Australia. Analyses were performed using the free and open source software OpenBUGS and JAGS. Conclusions Incorporating phylogenetic uncertainty through an empirical prior distribution of trees leads to more precise estimation of regression model parameters than using a single consensus tree and enables a more realistic estimation of confidence intervals. In addition, models incorporating measurement errors and/or individual variation, in one or both variables, are easily formulated in the Bayesian framework. We show that BUGS is a useful, flexible general purpose tool for

3. Depiction and Intention

OpenAIRE

Blumson, Ben

2016-01-01

Whereas the analysis of meaning in terms of intention is orthodoxy in the philosophy of language, it is highly controversial in the philosophy of art. So even if it is agreed that inserting resemblance into the analysis of speaker meaning in terms of intention escapes counterexamples to the sufficiency of resemblance for depiction, it’s likely to be argued that defining depiction as a kind of intentional representation draws too close an analogy between depiction and description. Counterexamp...

Examination of muscularity and body fat depictions in magazines that target heterosexual and gay men.

Science.gov (United States)

Lanzieri, Nicholas; Cook, Brian J

2013-03-01

Previous content analyses of magazine images have typically examined within genres but failed to include comparisons between publications intended for various populations. The purpose of this study was to examine depictions of muscularity and thinness of male images in several widely distributed magazines that target male audiences from a variety of genres. Twenty-three magazine titles with the highest circulation rates that targeted heterosexual men, gay men, and general audiences were selected for image analyses. We found that magazines that target gay male audiences depicted images of men who were thinner in comparison to magazines targeting heterosexual men. Both gay and heterosexual magazines depicted male images with greater muscularity than magazines intended for general audiences. Differences in male image depictions in magazines may contribute to the promotion of an unattainable body ideal in some subgroups of gay culture. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DupTree: a program for large-scale phylogenetic analyses using gene tree parsimony.

Science.gov (United States)

Wehe, André; Bansal, Mukul S; Burleigh, J Gordon; Eulenstein, Oliver

2008-07-01

DupTree is a new software program for inferring rooted species trees from collections of gene trees using the gene tree parsimony approach. The program implements a novel algorithm that significantly improves upon the run time of standard search heuristics for gene tree parsimony, and enables the first truly genome-scale phylogenetic analyses. In addition, DupTree allows users to examine alternate rootings and to weight the reconciliation costs for gene trees. DupTree is an open source project written in C++. DupTree for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux along with a sample dataset and an on-line manual are available at http://genome.cs.iastate.edu/CBL/DupTree

Healthy depictions? Depicting adoption and adoption news events on broadcast news.

Science.gov (United States)

Kline, Susan L; Chatterjee, Karishma; Karel, Amanda I

2009-01-01

Given that the public uses the media to learn about adoption as a family form, this study analyzes U.S. television news coverage of adoption between 2001 and 2005 (N = 309 stories), to identify the types of news events covered about adoption. A majority of news stories covered fraud, crime, legal disputes, and negative international adoption cases. Adoptees as defective or unhealthy were depicted more in negative news event stories, birth parents appeared less overall, and adoptive parents were most likely to have healthy depictions in positively oriented adoption experience, big family, and reunion stories. Although three quarters of the stories used primary adoption participants as news sources, one-third of the negative event stories did not contain healthy depictions of adoption participants. The authors discuss ways journalists and researchers might improve adoption news coverage.

Comparative analyses of plastid genomes from fourteen Cornales species: inferences for phylogenetic relationships and genome evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Chao-Nan; Li, Hong-Tao; Milne, Richard; Zhang, Ting; Ma, Peng-Fei; Yang, Jing; Li, De-Zhu; Gao, Lian-Ming

2017-12-08

The Cornales is the basal lineage of the asterids, the largest angiosperm clade. Phylogenetic relationships within the order were previously not fully resolved. Fifteen plastid genomes representing 14 species, ten genera and seven families of Cornales were newly sequenced for comparative analyses of genome features, evolution, and phylogenomics based on different partitioning schemes and filtering strategies. All plastomes of the 14 Cornales species had the typical quadripartite structure with a genome size ranging from 156,567 bp to 158,715 bp, which included two inverted repeats (25,859-26,451 bp) separated by a large single-copy region (86,089-87,835 bp) and a small single-copy region (18,250-18,856 bp) region. These plastomes encoded the same set of 114 unique genes including 31 transfer RNA, 4 ribosomal RNA and 79 coding genes, with an identical gene order across all examined Cornales species. Two genes (rpl22 and ycf15) contained premature stop codons in seven and five species respectively. The phylogenetic relationships among all sampled species were fully resolved with maximum support. Different filtering strategies (none, light and strict) of sequence alignment did not have an effect on these relationships. The topology recovered from coding and noncoding data sets was the same as for the whole plastome, regardless of filtering strategy. Moreover, mutational hotspots and highly informative regions were identified. Phylogenetic relationships among families and intergeneric relationships within family of Cornales were well resolved. Different filtering strategies and partitioning schemes do not influence the relationships. Plastid genomes have great potential to resolve deep phylogenetic relationships of plants.

Untangling hybrid phylogenetic signals: horizontal gene transfer and artifacts of phylogenetic reconstruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Beiko, Robert G; Ragan, Mark A

2009-01-01

Phylogenomic methods can be used to investigate the tangled evolutionary relationships among genomes. Building 'all the trees of all the genes' can potentially identify common pathways of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) among taxa at varying levels of phylogenetic depth. Phylogenetic affinities can be aggregated and merged with the information about genetic linkage and biochemical function to examine hypotheses of adaptive evolution via HGT. Additionally, the use of many genetic data sets increases the power of statistical tests for phylogenetic artifacts. However, large-scale phylogenetic analyses pose several challenges, including the necessary abandonment of manual validation techniques, the need to translate inferred phylogenetic discordance into inferred HGT events, and the challenges involved in aggregating results from search-based inference methods. In this chapter we describe a tree search procedure to recover the most parsimonious pathways of HGT, and examine some of the assumptions that are made by this method.

Phylogenetic Analyses of Armillaria Reveal at Least 15 Phylogenetic Lineages in China, Seven of Which Are Associated with Cultivated Gastrodia elata.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ting Guo

Full Text Available Fungal species of Armillaria, which can act as plant pathogens and/or symbionts of the Chinese traditional medicinal herb Gastrodia elata ("Tianma", are ecologically and economically important and have consequently attracted the attention of mycologists. However, their taxonomy has been highly dependent on morphological characterization and mating tests. In this study, we phylogenetically analyzed Chinese Armillaria samples using the sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region, translation elongation factor-1 alpha gene and beta-tubulin gene. Our data revealed at least 15 phylogenetic lineages of Armillaria from China, of which seven were newly discovered and two were recorded from China for the first time. Fourteen Chinese biological species of Armillaria, which were previously defined based on mating tests, could be assigned to the 15 phylogenetic lineages identified herein. Seven of the 15 phylogenetic lineages were found to be disjunctively distributed in different continents of the Northern Hemisphere, while eight were revealed to be endemic to certain continents. In addition, we found that seven phylogenetic lineages of Armillaria were used for the cultivation of Tianma, only two of which had been recorded to be associated with Tianma previously. We also illustrated that G. elata f. glauca ("Brown Tianma" and G. elata f. elata ("Red Tianma", two cultivars of Tianma grown in different regions of China, form symbiotic relationships with different phylogenetic lineages of Armillaria. These findings should aid the development of Tianma cultivation in China.

Phylogenetic analyses and nitrate-reducing activity of fungal cultures isolated from the permanent, oceanic oxygen minimum zone of the Arabian Sea

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Manohar, C.S; Menezes, L.D.; Ramasamy, K.P.; Meena, R.M.

of the oxygen-depleted environments is less than that of mangrove regions and deep-sea habitats. Phylogenetic analyses of 18S rRNA sequences revealed a few divergent isolates that clustered with environmental sequences previously obtained by others...

Phylogenetic Analysis Using Protein Mass Spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Shiyong; Downard, Kevin M; Wong, Jason W H

2017-01-01

Through advances in molecular biology, comparative analysis of DNA sequences is currently the cornerstone in the study of molecular evolution and phylogenetics. Nevertheless, protein mass spectrometry offers some unique opportunities to enable phylogenetic analyses in organisms where DNA may be difficult or costly to obtain. To date, the methods of phylogenetic analysis using protein mass spectrometry can be classified into three categories: (1) de novo protein sequencing followed by classical phylogenetic reconstruction, (2) direct phylogenetic reconstruction using proteolytic peptide mass maps, and (3) mapping of mass spectral data onto classical phylogenetic trees. In this chapter, we provide a brief description of the three methods and the protocol for each method along with relevant tools and algorithms.

The affinities of Homo floresiensis based on phylogenetic analyses of cranial, dental, and postcranial characters.

Science.gov (United States)

Argue, Debbie; Groves, Colin P; Lee, Michael S Y; Jungers, William L

2017-06-01

Although the diminutive Homo floresiensis has been known for a decade, its phylogenetic status remains highly contentious. A broad range of potential explanations for the evolution of this species has been explored. One view is that H. floresiensis is derived from Asian Homo erectus that arrived on Flores and subsequently evolved a smaller body size, perhaps to survive the constrained resources they faced in a new island environment. Fossil remains of H. erectus, well known from Java, have not yet been discovered on Flores. The second hypothesis is that H. floresiensis is directly descended from an early Homo lineage with roots in Africa, such as Homo habilis; the third is that it is Homo sapiens with pathology. We use parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic methods to test these hypotheses. Our phylogenetic data build upon those characters previously presented in support of these hypotheses by broadening the range of traits to include the crania, mandibles, dentition, and postcrania of Homo and Australopithecus. The new data and analyses support the hypothesis that H. floresiensis is an early Homo lineage: H. floresiensis is sister either to H. habilis alone or to a clade consisting of at least H. habilis, H. erectus, Homo ergaster, and H. sapiens. A close phylogenetic relationship between H. floresiensis and H. erectus or H. sapiens can be rejected; furthermore, most of the traits separating H. floresiensis from H. sapiens are not readily attributable to pathology (e.g., Down syndrome). The results suggest H. floresiensis is a long-surviving relict of an early (>1.75 Ma) hominin lineage and a hitherto unknown migration out of Africa, and not a recent derivative of either H. erectus or H. sapiens. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phylogenetic tests of distribution patterns in South Asia: towards

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The last four decades have seen an increasing integration of phylogenetics and biogeography. However, a dearth of phylogenetic studies has precluded such biogeographic analyses in South Asia until recently. Noting the increase in phylogenetic research and interest in phylogenetic biogeography in the region, we ...

Phylogenetic comparative methods on phylogenetic networks with reticulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Bastide, Paul; Solís-Lemus, Claudia; Kriebel, Ricardo; Sparks, K William; Ané, Cécile

2018-04-25

The goal of Phylogenetic Comparative Methods (PCMs) is to study the distribution of quantitative traits among related species. The observed traits are often seen as the result of a Brownian Motion (BM) along the branches of a phylogenetic tree. Reticulation events such as hybridization, gene flow or horizontal gene transfer, can substantially affect a species' traits, but are not modeled by a tree. Phylogenetic networks have been designed to represent reticulate evolution. As they become available for downstream analyses, new models of trait evolution are needed, applicable to networks. One natural extension of the BM is to use a weighted average model for the trait of a hybrid, at a reticulation point. We develop here an efficient recursive algorithm to compute the phylogenetic variance matrix of a trait on a network, in only one preorder traversal of the network. We then extend the standard PCM tools to this new framework, including phylogenetic regression with covariates (or phylogenetic ANOVA), ancestral trait reconstruction, and Pagel's λ test of phylogenetic signal. The trait of a hybrid is sometimes outside of the range of its two parents, for instance because of hybrid vigor or hybrid depression. These two phenomena are rather commonly observed in present-day hybrids. Transgressive evolution can be modeled as a shift in the trait value following a reticulation point. We develop a general framework to handle such shifts, and take advantage of the phylogenetic regression view of the problem to design statistical tests for ancestral transgressive evolution in the evolutionary history of a group of species. We study the power of these tests in several scenarios, and show that recent events have indeed the strongest impact on the trait distribution of present-day taxa. We apply those methods to a dataset of Xiphophorus fishes, to confirm and complete previous analysis in this group. All the methods developed here are available in the Julia package PhyloNetworks.

Phylogenetic Analyses of Quasars and Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Fraix-Burnet, Didier; D'Onofrio, Mauro; Marziani, Paola

2017-10-01

Phylogenetic approaches have proven to be useful in astrophysics. We have recently published a Maximum Parsimony (or cladistics) analysis on two samples of 215 and 85 low-z quasars (z phylogeny of quasars may be represented by the ontogeny of their central black hole, i.e. the increase of the black hole mass. However these exciting results are based on a small sample of low-z quasars, so that the work must be extended. We are here faced with two difficulties. The first one is the current lack of a larger sample with similar observables. The second one is the prohibitive computation time to perform a cladistic analysis on more that about one thousand objects. We show in this paper an experimental strategy on about 1500 galaxies to get around this difficulty. Even if it not related to the quasar study, it is interesting by itself and opens new pathways to generalize the quasar findings.

Genes with minimal phylogenetic information are problematic for coalescent analyses when gene tree estimation is biased.

Science.gov (United States)

Xi, Zhenxiang; Liu, Liang; Davis, Charles C

2015-11-01

The development and application of coalescent methods are undergoing rapid changes. One little explored area that bears on the application of gene-tree-based coalescent methods to species tree estimation is gene informativeness. Here, we investigate the accuracy of these coalescent methods when genes have minimal phylogenetic information, including the implementation of the multilocus bootstrap approach. Using simulated DNA sequences, we demonstrate that genes with minimal phylogenetic information can produce unreliable gene trees (i.e., high error in gene tree estimation), which may in turn reduce the accuracy of species tree estimation using gene-tree-based coalescent methods. We demonstrate that this problem can be alleviated by sampling more genes, as is commonly done in large-scale phylogenomic analyses. This applies even when these genes are minimally informative. If gene tree estimation is biased, however, gene-tree-based coalescent analyses will produce inconsistent results, which cannot be remedied by increasing the number of genes. In this case, it is not the gene-tree-based coalescent methods that are flawed, but rather the input data (i.e., estimated gene trees). Along these lines, the commonly used program PhyML has a tendency to infer one particular bifurcating topology even though it is best represented as a polytomy. We additionally corroborate these findings by analyzing the 183-locus mammal data set assembled by McCormack et al. (2012) using ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) and flanking DNA. Lastly, we demonstrate that when employing the multilocus bootstrap approach on this 183-locus data set, there is no strong conflict between species trees estimated from concatenation and gene-tree-based coalescent analyses, as has been previously suggested by Gatesy and Springer (2014). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multi-locus analyses of an Antarctic fish species flock (Teleostei, Notothenioidei, Trematominae): Phylogenetic approach and test of the early-radiation event

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janko, K.; Musilova, Z.; Marshall, C.; Van Houdt, J.; Couloux, A.; Cruaud, C.; Lecointre, G.

2011-01-01

Clades that have undergone episodes of rapid cladogenesis are challenging from a phylogenetic point of view. They are generally characterised by short or missing internal branches in phylogenetic trees and by conflicting topologies among individual gene trees. This may be the case of the subfamily Trematominae, a group of marine teleosts of coastal Antarctic waters, which is considered to have passed through a period of rapid diversification. Despite much phylogenetic attention, the relationships among Trematominae species remain unclear. In contrast to previous studies that were mostly based on concatenated datasets of mitochondrial and/or single nuclear loci, we applied various single-locus and multi-locus phylogenetic approaches to sequences from 11 loci (eight nuclear) and we also used several methods to assess the hypothesis of a radiation event in Trematominae evolution. Diversification rate analyses support the hypothesis of a period of rapid diversification during Trematominae history and only a few nodes in the hypothetical species tree were consistently resolved with various phylogenetic methods. We detected significant discrepancies among trees from individual genes of these species, most probably resulting from incomplete lineage sorting, suggesting that concatenation of loci is not the most appropriate way to investigate Trematominae species interrelationships. These data also provide information about the possible effects of historic climate changes on the diversification rate of this group of fish. (authors)

Efficient FPT Algorithms for (Strict) Compatibility of Unrooted Phylogenetic Trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Baste, Julien; Paul, Christophe; Sau, Ignasi; Scornavacca, Celine

2017-04-01

In phylogenetics, a central problem is to infer the evolutionary relationships between a set of species X; these relationships are often depicted via a phylogenetic tree-a tree having its leaves labeled bijectively by elements of X and without degree-2 nodes-called the "species tree." One common approach for reconstructing a species tree consists in first constructing several phylogenetic trees from primary data (e.g., DNA sequences originating from some species in X), and then constructing a single phylogenetic tree maximizing the "concordance" with the input trees. The obtained tree is our estimation of the species tree and, when the input trees are defined on overlapping-but not identical-sets of labels, is called "supertree." In this paper, we focus on two problems that are central when combining phylogenetic trees into a supertree: the compatibility and the strict compatibility problems for unrooted phylogenetic trees. These problems are strongly related, respectively, to the notions of "containing as a minor" and "containing as a topological minor" in the graph community. Both problems are known to be fixed parameter tractable in the number of input trees k, by using their expressibility in monadic second-order logic and a reduction to graphs of bounded treewidth. Motivated by the fact that the dependency on k of these algorithms is prohibitively large, we give the first explicit dynamic programming algorithms for solving these problems, both running in time [Formula: see text], where n is the total size of the input.

Comparative metagenomic, phylogenetic and physiological analyses of soil microbial communities across nitrogen gradients.

Science.gov (United States)

Fierer, Noah; Lauber, Christian L; Ramirez, Kelly S; Zaneveld, Jesse; Bradford, Mark A; Knight, Rob

2012-05-01

Terrestrial ecosystems are receiving elevated inputs of nitrogen (N) from anthropogenic sources and understanding how these increases in N availability affect soil microbial communities is critical for predicting the associated effects on belowground ecosystems. We used a suite of approaches to analyze the structure and functional characteristics of soil microbial communities from replicated plots in two long-term N fertilization experiments located in contrasting systems. Pyrosequencing-based analyses of 16S rRNA genes revealed no significant effects of N fertilization on bacterial diversity, but significant effects on community composition at both sites; copiotrophic taxa (including members of the Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes phyla) typically increased in relative abundance in the high N plots, with oligotrophic taxa (mainly Acidobacteria) exhibiting the opposite pattern. Consistent with the phylogenetic shifts under N fertilization, shotgun metagenomic sequencing revealed increases in the relative abundances of genes associated with DNA/RNA replication, electron transport and protein metabolism, increases that could be resolved even with the shallow shotgun metagenomic sequencing conducted here (average of 75 000 reads per sample). We also observed shifts in the catabolic capabilities of the communities across the N gradients that were significantly correlated with the phylogenetic and metagenomic responses, indicating possible linkages between the structure and functioning of soil microbial communities. Overall, our results suggest that N fertilization may, directly or indirectly, induce a shift in the predominant microbial life-history strategies, favoring a more active, copiotrophic microbial community, a pattern that parallels the often observed replacement of K-selected with r-selected plant species with elevated N.

Phylogenetic systematics and biogeography of hummingbirds: Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses of partitioned data and selection of an appropriate partitioning strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

McGuire, Jimmy A; Witt, Christopher C; Altshuler, Douglas L; Remsen, J V

2007-10-01

Hummingbirds are an important model system in avian biology, but to date the group has been the subject of remarkably few phylogenetic investigations. Here we present partitioned Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses for 151 of approximately 330 species of hummingbirds and 12 outgroup taxa based on two protein-coding mitochondrial genes (ND2 and ND4), flanking tRNAs, and two nuclear introns (AK1 and BFib). We analyzed these data under several partitioning strategies ranging between unpartitioned and a maximum of nine partitions. In order to select a statistically justified partitioning strategy following partitioned Bayesian analysis, we considered four alternative criteria including Bayes factors, modified versions of the Akaike information criterion for small sample sizes (AIC(c)), Bayesian information criterion (BIC), and a decision-theoretic methodology (DT). Following partitioned maximum likelihood analyses, we selected a best-fitting strategy using hierarchical likelihood ratio tests (hLRTS), the conventional AICc, BIC, and DT, concluding that the most stringent criterion, the performance-based DT, was the most appropriate methodology for selecting amongst partitioning strategies. In the context of our well-resolved and well-supported phylogenetic estimate, we consider the historical biogeography of hummingbirds using ancestral state reconstructions of (1) primary geographic region of occurrence (i.e., South America, Central America, North America, Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles), (2) Andean or non-Andean geographic distribution, and (3) minimum elevational occurrence. These analyses indicate that the basal hummingbird assemblages originated in the lowlands of South America, that most of the principle clades of hummingbirds (all but Mountain Gems and possibly Bees) originated on this continent, and that there have been many (at least 30) independent invasions of other primary landmasses, especially Central America.

Global patterns of amphibian phylogenetic diversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fritz, Susanne; Rahbek, Carsten

2012-01-01

Aim  Phylogenetic diversity can provide insight into how evolutionary processes may have shaped contemporary patterns of species richness. Here, we aim to test for the influence of phylogenetic history on global patterns of amphibian species richness, and to identify areas where macroevolutionary...... processes such as diversification and dispersal have left strong signatures on contemporary species richness. Location  Global; equal-area grid cells of approximately 10,000 km2. Methods  We generated an amphibian global supertree (6111 species) and repeated analyses with the largest available molecular...... phylogeny (2792 species). We combined each tree with global species distributions to map four indices of phylogenetic diversity. To investigate congruence between global spatial patterns of amphibian species richness and phylogenetic diversity, we selected Faith’s phylogenetic diversity (PD) index...

The best of both worlds: Phylogenetic eigenvector regression and mapping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Alexandre Felizola Diniz Filho

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Eigenfunction analyses have been widely used to model patterns of autocorrelation in time, space and phylogeny. In a phylogenetic context, Diniz-Filho et al. (1998 proposed what they called Phylogenetic Eigenvector Regression (PVR, in which pairwise phylogenetic distances among species are submitted to a Principal Coordinate Analysis, and eigenvectors are then used as explanatory variables in regression, correlation or ANOVAs. More recently, a new approach called Phylogenetic Eigenvector Mapping (PEM was proposed, with the main advantage of explicitly incorporating a model-based warping in phylogenetic distance in which an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (O-U process is fitted to data before eigenvector extraction. Here we compared PVR and PEM in respect to estimated phylogenetic signal, correlated evolution under alternative evolutionary models and phylogenetic imputation, using simulated data. Despite similarity between the two approaches, PEM has a slightly higher prediction ability and is more general than the original PVR. Even so, in a conceptual sense, PEM may provide a technique in the best of both worlds, combining the flexibility of data-driven and empirical eigenfunction analyses and the sounding insights provided by evolutionary models well known in comparative analyses.

Phylogenetic tree based on complete genomes using fractal and correlation analyses without sequence alignment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zu-Guo Yu

2006-06-01

Full Text Available The complete genomes of living organisms have provided much information on their phylogenetic relationships. Similarly, the complete genomes of chloroplasts have helped resolve the evolution of this organelle in photosynthetic eukaryotes. In this review, we describe two algorithms to construct phylogenetic trees based on the theories of fractals and dynamic language using complete genomes. These algorithms were developed by our research group in the past few years. Our distance-based phylogenetic tree of 109 prokaryotes and eukaryotes agrees with the biologists' "tree of life" based on the 16S-like rRNA genes in a majority of basic branchings and most lower taxa. Our phylogenetic analysis also shows that the chloroplast genomes are separated into two major clades corresponding to chlorophytes s.l. and rhodophytes s.l. The interrelationships among the chloroplasts are largely in agreement with the current understanding on chloroplast evolution.

Orthology prediction at scalable resolution by phylogenetic tree analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huynen Martijn A

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Orthology is one of the cornerstones of gene function prediction. Dividing the phylogenetic relations between genes into either orthologs or paralogs is however an oversimplification. Already in two-species gene-phylogenies, the complicated, non-transitive nature of phylogenetic relations results in inparalogs and outparalogs. For situations with more than two species we lack semantics to specifically describe the phylogenetic relations, let alone to exploit them. Published procedures to extract orthologous groups from phylogenetic trees do not allow identification of orthology at various levels of resolution, nor do they document the relations between the orthologous groups. Results We introduce "levels of orthology" to describe the multi-level nature of gene relations. This is implemented in a program LOFT (Levels of Orthology From Trees that assigns hierarchical orthology numbers to genes based on a phylogenetic tree. To decide upon speciation and gene duplication events in a tree LOFT can be instructed either to perform classical species-tree reconciliation or to use the species overlap between partitions in the tree. The hierarchical orthology numbers assigned by LOFT effectively summarize the phylogenetic relations between genes. The resulting high-resolution orthologous groups are depicted in colour, facilitating visual inspection of (large trees. A benchmark for orthology prediction, that takes into account the varying levels of orthology between genes, shows that the phylogeny-based high-resolution orthology assignments made by LOFT are reliable. Conclusion The "levels of orthology" concept offers high resolution, reliable orthology, while preserving the relations between orthologous groups. A Windows as well as a preliminary Java version of LOFT is available from the LOFT website http://www.cmbi.ru.nl/LOFT.

Extended mitogenomic phylogenetic analyses yield new insight into crocodylian evolution and their survival of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary.

Science.gov (United States)

Roos, Jonas; Aggarwal, Ramesh K; Janke, Axel

2007-11-01

The mitochondrial genomes of the dwarf crocodile, Osteolaemus tetraspis, and two species of dwarf caimans, the smooth-fronted caiman, Paleosuchus trigonatus, and Cuvier's dwarf caiman, Paleosuchus palpebrosus, were sequenced and included in a mitogenomic phylogenetic study. The phylogenetic analyses, which included a total of ten crocodylian species, yielded strong support to a basal split between Crocodylidae and Alligatoridae. Osteolaemus fell within the Crocodylidae as the sister group to Crocodylus. Gavialis and Tomistoma, which joined on a common branch, constituted a sister group to Crocodylus/Osteolaemus. This suggests that extant crocodylians are organized in two families: Alligatoridae and Crocodylidae. Within the Alligatoridae there was a basal split between Alligator and a branch that contained Paleosuchus and Caiman. The analyses also provided molecular estimates of various divergences applying recently established crocodylian and outgroup fossil calibration points. Molecular estimates based on amino acid data placed the divergence between Crocodylidae and Alligatoridae at 97-103 million years ago and that between Alligator and Caiman/Paleosuchus at 65-72 million years ago. Other crocodilian divergences were placed after the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Thus, according to the molecular estimates, three extant crocodylian lineages have their roots in the Cretaceous. Considering the crocodylian diversification in the Cretaceous the molecular datings suggest that the extinction of the dinosaurs was also to some extent paralleled in the crocodylian evolution. However, for whatever reason, some crocodylian lineages survived into the Tertiary.

phangorn: phylogenetic analysis in R.

Science.gov (United States)

Schliep, Klaus Peter

2011-02-15

phangorn is a package for phylogenetic reconstruction and analysis in the R language. Previously it was only possible to estimate phylogenetic trees with distance methods in R. phangorn, now offers the possibility of reconstructing phylogenies with distance based methods, maximum parsimony or maximum likelihood (ML) and performing Hadamard conjugation. Extending the general ML framework, this package provides the possibility of estimating mixture and partition models. Furthermore, phangorn offers several functions for comparing trees, phylogenetic models or splits, simulating character data and performing congruence analyses. phangorn can be obtained through the CRAN homepage http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/phangorn/index.html. phangorn is licensed under GPL 2.

One tree to link them all: a phylogenetic dataset for the European tetrapoda.

Science.gov (United States)

Roquet, Cristina; Lavergne, Sébastien; Thuiller, Wilfried

2014-08-08

Since the ever-increasing availability of phylogenetic informative data, the last decade has seen an upsurge of ecological studies incorporating information on evolutionary relationships among species. However, detailed species-level phylogenies are still lacking for many large groups and regions, which are necessary for comprehensive large-scale eco-phylogenetic analyses. Here, we provide a dataset of 100 dated phylogenetic trees for all European tetrapods based on a mixture of supermatrix and supertree approaches. Phylogenetic inference was performed separately for each of the main Tetrapoda groups of Europe except mammals (i.e. amphibians, birds, squamates and turtles) by means of maximum likelihood (ML) analyses of supermatrix applying a tree constraint at the family (amphibians and squamates) or order (birds and turtles) levels based on consensus knowledge. For each group, we inferred 100 ML trees to be able to provide a phylogenetic dataset that accounts for phylogenetic uncertainty, and assessed node support with bootstrap analyses. Each tree was dated using penalized-likelihood and fossil calibration. The trees obtained were well-supported by existing knowledge and previous phylogenetic studies. For mammals, we modified the most complete supertree dataset available on the literature to include a recent update of the Carnivora clade. As a final step, we merged the phylogenetic trees of all groups to obtain a set of 100 phylogenetic trees for all European Tetrapoda species for which data was available (91%). We provide this phylogenetic dataset (100 chronograms) for the purpose of comparative analyses, macro-ecological or community ecology studies aiming to incorporate phylogenetic information while accounting for phylogenetic uncertainty.

Improved phylogenetic analyses corroborate a plausible position of Martialis heureka in the ant tree of life.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Kück

Full Text Available Martialinae are pale, eyeless and probably hypogaeic predatory ants. Morphological character sets suggest a close relationship to the ant subfamily Leptanillinae. Recent analyses based on molecular sequence data suggest that Martialinae are the sister group to all extant ants. However, by comparing molecular studies and different reconstruction methods, the position of Martialinae remains ambiguous. While this sister group relationship was well supported by Bayesian partitioned analyses, Maximum Likelihood approaches could not unequivocally resolve the position of Martialinae. By re-analysing a previous published molecular data set, we show that the Maximum Likelihood approach is highly appropriate to resolve deep ant relationships, especially between Leptanillinae, Martialinae and the remaining ant subfamilies. Based on improved alignments, alignment masking, and tree reconstructions with a sufficient number of bootstrap replicates, our results strongly reject a placement of Martialinae at the first split within the ant tree of life. Instead, we suggest that Leptanillinae are a sister group to all other extant ant subfamilies, whereas Martialinae branch off as a second lineage. This assumption is backed by approximately unbiased (AU tests, additional Bayesian analyses and split networks. Our results demonstrate clear effects of improved alignment approaches, alignment masking and data partitioning. We hope that our study illustrates the importance of thorough, comprehensible phylogenetic analyses using the example of ant relationships.

Estimation of main diversification time-points of hantaviruses using phylogenetic analyses of complete genomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Castel, Guillaume; Tordo, Noël; Plyusnin, Alexander

2017-04-02

Because of the great variability of their reservoir hosts, hantaviruses are excellent models to evaluate the dynamics of virus-host co-evolution. Intriguing questions remain about the timescale of the diversification events that influenced this evolution. In this paper we attempted to estimate the first ever timing of hantavirus diversification based on thirty five available complete genomes representing five major groups of hantaviruses and the assumption of co-speciation of hantaviruses with their respective mammal hosts. Phylogenetic analyses were used to estimate the main diversification points during hantavirus evolution in mammals while host diversification was mostly estimated from independent calibrators taken from fossil records. Our results support an earlier developed hypothesis of co-speciation of known hantaviruses with their respective mammal hosts and hence a common ancestor for all hantaviruses carried by placental mammals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Increased phylogenetic resolution using target enrichment in Rubus

Science.gov (United States)

Phylogenetic analyses in Rubus L. have been challenging due to polyploidy, hybridization, and apomixis within the genus. Wide morphological diversity occurs within and between species, contributing to challenges at lower and higher systematic levels. Phylogenetic inferences to date have been based o...

Depicted welfare-recipient stereotypes in Norway and Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dencker-Larsen, Sofie; Lundberg, Kjetil G.

2016-01-01

Welfare recipients are continuously subjected to media debates and governmental campaigns drawing on images and symbols encouraging improved work ethic and individual responsibility. Only few studies, however, have analysed how welfare recipients as ‘othered’ citizens react to these often...... stereotypical symbols and images targeting them. In this study we have investigated how welfare recipients in Norway and Denmark, and caseworkers in Denmark, understand and account for images which, through the use of stereotypes, directly or indirectly may question welfare recipients’ work ethic...... and deservedness. Analysing photo-elicitation interview data, we have uncovered a variety of reactions characterized by ‘problematization’. The interviewees problematize the image and depicted stereotypes, which they link both with motif and symbols and with surrounding public debates on the work ethic...

Depicted welfare recipient stereotypes in Norway and Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dencker-Larsen, Sofie; Lundberg, Kjetil G.

2016-01-01

Welfare recipients are continuously subjected to media debates and governmental campaigns drawing on images and symbols encouraging improved work ethic and individual responsibility. Only few studies, however, have analysed how welfare recipients as ‘othered’ citizens react to these often...... stereotypical symbols and images targeting them. In this study we have investigated how welfare recipients in Norway and Denmark, and caseworkers in Denmark, understand and account for images which, through the use of stereotypes, directly or indirectly may question welfare recipients’ work ethic...... and deservedness. Analysing photo-elicitation interview data, we have uncovered a variety of reactions characterized by ‘problematization’. The interviewees problematize the image and depicted stereotypes, which they link both with motif and symbols and with surrounding public debates on the work ethic...

Food depictions in picture books for preschool children: Frequency, centrality, and affect.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldman, Jane A; Descartes, Lara

2016-01-01

The food content and messages depicted in popular children's picture books were examined using a set of 100 "Favorite Books for Preschoolers." Sixty-nine of these books depicted food and comprised the sample. Examined were: the types and frequencies of food depicted in the text and/or illustrations of the books; the centrality (central, background); and the affect (positive, neutral, or negative) of those depictions. Each food item was counted, categorized by type, and where possible, coded for centrality and affect. Fruit was the most frequently depicted food, followed by sweetened baked goods, dairy, and vegetables. However, centrality and affect differed for these foods. For example, sweet baked goods were high in both centrality and affect. In contrast vegetables were relatively high in centrality but most often neutral in affect. Ice cream, although not in many books, always was associated with positive outcomes. Results were compared to findings in the literature on food messages presented in children's television programs. The ratio of healthy foods to nutrient-poor foods was higher in the books. However, as in television, the books emphasized the desirability of sweetened foods. The results point to the need for detailed analyses of the types of presentations associated with different foods presented in books for children, as well as for continued investigations into food messages in the growing range of media available to young children. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genome-Wide Identification, Phylogenetic and Expression Analyses of the Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzyme Gene Family in Maize

Science.gov (United States)

Jue, Dengwei; Sang, Xuelian; Lu, Shengqiao; Dong, Chen; Zhao, Qiufang; Chen, Hongliang; Jia, Liqiang

2015-01-01

Background Ubiquitination is a post-translation modification where ubiquitin is attached to a substrate. Ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2s) play a major role in the ubiquitin transfer pathway, as well as a variety of functions in plant biological processes. To date, no genome-wide characterization of this gene family has been conducted in maize (Zea mays). Methodology/Principal Findings In the present study, a total of 75 putative ZmUBC genes have been identified and located in the maize genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that ZmUBC proteins could be divided into 15 subfamilies, which include 13 ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (ZmE2s) and two independent ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme variant (UEV) groups. The predicted ZmUBC genes were distributed across 10 chromosomes at different densities. In addition, analysis of exon-intron junctions and sequence motifs in each candidate gene has revealed high levels of conservation within and between phylogenetic groups. Tissue expression analysis indicated that most ZmUBC genes were expressed in at least one of the tissues, indicating that these are involved in various physiological and developmental processes in maize. Moreover, expression profile analyses of ZmUBC genes under different stress treatments (4°C, 20% PEG6000, and 200 mM NaCl) and various expression patterns indicated that these may play crucial roles in the response of plants to stress. Conclusions Genome-wide identification, chromosome organization, gene structure, evolutionary and expression analyses of ZmUBC genes have facilitated in the characterization of this gene family, as well as determined its potential involvement in growth, development, and stress responses. This study provides valuable information for better understanding the classification and putative functions of the UBC-encoding genes of maize. PMID:26606743

Candelariella placodizans (Candelariaceae reported new to mainland China and Taiwan based on morphological, chemical and molecular phylogenetic analyses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lidia Yakovchenko

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Candelariella placodizans is newly reported from China. It was collected on exposed rocks with mosses on the alpine areas of Taiwan and Yunnan Province, China at elevation between 3200-4400 m. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on ITS rDNA sequences were also performed to confirm the monophyly of the Chinese populations with respect to already existing sequences of the species, and then further to examine their relationships to other members of the genus. An identification key to all 14 known taxa of Candelariella in China is provided.

Potential pitfalls of modelling ribosomal RNA data in phylogenetic tree reconstruction: evidence from case studies in the Metazoa.

Science.gov (United States)

Letsch, Harald O; Kjer, Karl M

2011-05-27

Failure to account for covariation patterns in helical regions of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes has the potential to misdirect the estimation of the phylogenetic signal of the data. Furthermore, the extremes of length variation among taxa, combined with regional substitution rate variation can mislead the alignment of rRNA sequences and thus distort subsequent tree reconstructions. However, recent developments in phylogenetic methodology now allow a comprehensive integration of secondary structures in alignment and tree reconstruction analyses based on rRNA sequences, which has been shown to correct some of these problems. Here, we explore the potentials of RNA substitution models and the interactions of specific model setups with the inherent pattern of covariation in rRNA stems and substitution rate variation among loop regions. We found an explicit impact of RNA substitution models on tree reconstruction analyses. The application of specific RNA models in tree reconstructions is hampered by interaction between the appropriate modelling of covarying sites in stem regions, and excessive homoplasy in some loop regions. RNA models often failed to recover reasonable trees when single-stranded regions are excessively homoplastic, because these regions contribute a greater proportion of the data when covarying sites are essentially downweighted. In this context, the RNA6A model outperformed all other models, including the more parametrized RNA7 and RNA16 models. Our results depict a trade-off between increased accuracy in estimation of interdependencies in helical regions with the risk of magnifying positions lacking phylogenetic signal. We can therefore conclude that caution is warranted when applying rRNA covariation models, and suggest that loop regions be independently screened for phylogenetic signal, and eliminated when they are indistinguishable from random noise. In addition to covariation and homoplasy, other factors, like non-stationarity of substitution rates

Phylogenetic Analyses of Quasars and Galaxies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fraix-Burnet, Didier [University Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, Grenoble (France); D' Onofrio, Mauro [Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (INAF), Padua (Italy); Marziani, Paola, E-mail: didier.fraix-burnet@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr [Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Padova, Padua (Italy)

2017-10-10

Phylogenetic approaches have proven to be useful in astrophysics. We have recently published a Maximum Parsimony (or cladistics) analysis on two samples of 215 and 85 low-z quasars (z < 0.7) which offer a satisfactory coverage of the Eigenvector 1-derived main sequence. Cladistics is not only able to group sources radiating at higher Eddington ratios, to separate radio-quiet (RQ) and radio-loud (RL) quasars and properly distinguishes core-dominated and lobe-dominated quasars, but it suggests a black hole mass threshold for powerful radio emission as already proposed elsewhere. An interesting interpretation from this work is that the phylogeny of quasars may be represented by the ontogeny of their central black hole, i.e. the increase of the black hole mass. However these exciting results are based on a small sample of low-z quasars, so that the work must be extended. We are here faced with two difficulties. The first one is the current lack of a larger sample with similar observables. The second one is the prohibitive computation time to perform a cladistic analysis on more that about one thousand objects. We show in this paper an experimental strategy on about 1,500 galaxies to get around this difficulty. Even if it not related to the quasar study, it is interesting by itself and opens new pathways to generalize the quasar findings.

Phylogenetic Analyses of Quasars and Galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fraix-Burnet, Didier; D'Onofrio, Mauro; Marziani, Paola

2017-01-01

Phylogenetic approaches have proven to be useful in astrophysics. We have recently published a Maximum Parsimony (or cladistics) analysis on two samples of 215 and 85 low-z quasars (z < 0.7) which offer a satisfactory coverage of the Eigenvector 1-derived main sequence. Cladistics is not only able to group sources radiating at higher Eddington ratios, to separate radio-quiet (RQ) and radio-loud (RL) quasars and properly distinguishes core-dominated and lobe-dominated quasars, but it suggests a black hole mass threshold for powerful radio emission as already proposed elsewhere. An interesting interpretation from this work is that the phylogeny of quasars may be represented by the ontogeny of their central black hole, i.e. the increase of the black hole mass. However these exciting results are based on a small sample of low-z quasars, so that the work must be extended. We are here faced with two difficulties. The first one is the current lack of a larger sample with similar observables. The second one is the prohibitive computation time to perform a cladistic analysis on more that about one thousand objects. We show in this paper an experimental strategy on about 1,500 galaxies to get around this difficulty. Even if it not related to the quasar study, it is interesting by itself and opens new pathways to generalize the quasar findings.

Identification of three new isolates of Tomato spotted wilt virus from different hosts in China: molecular diversity, phylogenetic and recombination analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhenjia; Wang, Deya; Yu, Chengming; Wang, Zenghui; Dong, Jiahong; Shi, Kerong; Yuan, Xuefeng

2016-01-14

Destructive diseases caused by Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) have been reported associated with many important plants worldwide. Recently, TSWV was reported to infect different hosts in China. It is of value to clone TSWV isolates from different hosts and examine diversity and evolution among different TSWV isolates in China as well as worldwide. RT-PCR was used to clone the full-length genome (L, M and S segments) of three new isolates of TSWV that infected different hosts (tobacco, red pepper and green pepper) in China. Identity of nucleotide and amino acid sequences among TSWV isolates were analyzed by DNAMAN. MEGA 5.0 was used to construct phylogenetic trees. RDP4 was used to detect recombination events during evolution of these isolates. Whole-genome sequences of three new TSWV isolates in China were determined. Together with other available isolates, 29 RNA L, 62 RNA M and 66 RNA S of TSWV isolates were analyzed for molecular diversity, phylogenetic and recombination events. This analysis revealed that the entire TSWV genome, especially the M and S RNAs, had major variations in genomic size that mainly involve the A-U rich intergenic region (IGR). Phylogenetic analyses on TSWV isolates worldwide revealed evidence for frequent reassortments in the evolution of tripartite negative-sense RNA genome. Significant numbers of recombination events with apparent 5' regional preference were detected among TSWV isolates worldwide. Moreover, TSWV isolates with similar recombination events usually had closer relationships in phylogenetic trees. All five Chinese TSWV isolates including three TSWV isolates of this study and previously reported two isolates can be divided into two groups with different origins based on molecular diversity and phylogenetic analysis. During their evolution, both reassortment and recombination played roles. These results suggest that recombination could be an important mechanism in the evolution of multipartite RNA viruses, even negative

Phylogenetic analyses provide insights into the historical biogeography and evolution of Brachyrhaphis fishes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ingley, Spencer J; Reina, Ruth G; Bermingham, Eldredge; Johnson, Jerald B

2015-08-01

The livebearing fish genus Brachyrhaphis (Poeciliidae) has become an increasingly important model in evolution and ecology research, yet the phylogeny of this group is not well understood, nor has it been examined thoroughly using modern phylogenetic methods. Here, we present the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Brachyrhaphis by using four molecular markers (3mtDNA, 1nucDNA) to infer relationships among species in this genus. We tested the validity of this genus as a monophyletic group using extensive outgroup sampling based on recent phylogenetic hypotheses of Poeciliidae. We also tested the validity of recently described species of Brachyrhaphis that are part of the B. episcopi complex in Panama. Finally, we examined the impact of historical events on diversification of Brachyrhaphis, and made predictions regarding the role of different ecological environments on evolutionary diversification where known historical events apparently fail to explain speciation. Based on our results, we reject the monophyly of Brachyrhaphis, and question the validity of two recently described species (B. hessfeldi and B. roswithae). Historical biogeography of Brachyrhaphis generally agrees with patterns found in other freshwater taxa in Lower Central America, which show that geological barriers frequently predict speciation. Specifically, we find evidence in support of an 'island' model of Lower Central American formation, which posits that the nascent isthmus was partitioned by several marine connections before linking North and South America. In some cases where historic events (e.g., vicariance) fail to explain allopatric species breaks in Brachyrhaphis, ecological processes (e.g., divergent predation environments) offer additional insight into our understanding of phylogenetic diversification in this group. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Phylogenetic diversity and biodiversity indices on phylogenetic networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Wicke, Kristina; Fischer, Mareike

2018-04-01

In biodiversity conservation it is often necessary to prioritize the species to conserve. Existing approaches to prioritization, e.g. the Fair Proportion Index and the Shapley Value, are based on phylogenetic trees and rank species according to their contribution to overall phylogenetic diversity. However, in many cases evolution is not treelike and thus, phylogenetic networks have been developed as a generalization of phylogenetic trees, allowing for the representation of non-treelike evolutionary events, such as hybridization. Here, we extend the concepts of phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic diversity indices from phylogenetic trees to phylogenetic networks. On the one hand, we consider the treelike content of a phylogenetic network, e.g. the (multi)set of phylogenetic trees displayed by a network and the so-called lowest stable ancestor tree associated with it. On the other hand, we derive the phylogenetic diversity of subsets of taxa and biodiversity indices directly from the internal structure of the network. We consider both approaches that are independent of so-called inheritance probabilities as well as approaches that explicitly incorporate these probabilities. Furthermore, we introduce our software package NetDiversity, which is implemented in Perl and allows for the calculation of all generalized measures of phylogenetic diversity and generalized phylogenetic diversity indices established in this note that are independent of inheritance probabilities. We apply our methods to a phylogenetic network representing the evolutionary relationships among swordtails and platyfishes (Xiphophorus: Poeciliidae), a group of species characterized by widespread hybridization. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reader responses to literary depictions of rape

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E.M. Koopman (Emy); M. Hilscher (Michelle); G.C. Cupchik (Gerald)

2012-01-01

textabstractThis study explored reader responses to different literary depictions of rape. Four literary excerpts were used and divided as aesthetic versus nonaesthetic (style) and allusive versus explicit (detail). The general question was how readers would react to literary fragments depicting

Mitogenomic phylogenetic analyses of the Delphinidae with an emphasis on the Globicephalinae

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mouatt, Julia Thidamarth Vilstrup; Ho, Simon Y. W.; Foote, Andrew David

2011-01-01

Previous DNA-based phylogenetic studies of the Delphinidae family suggest it has undergone rapid diversification, as characterised by unresolved and poorly supported taxonomic relationships (polytomies) for some of the species within this group. Using an increased amount of sequence data we test ...

Phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses of dengue viruses isolated in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Lestari, C S Whinie; Yohan, Benediktus; Yunita, Anisa; Meutiawati, Febrina; Hayati, Rahma Fitri; Trimarsanto, Hidayat; Sasmono, R Tedjo

2017-12-01

Dengue has affected Indonesia for the last five decades and become a major health problem in many cities in the country. Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, reports dengue cases annually, with several outbreaks documented. To gain information on the dynamic and evolutionary history of dengue virus (DENV) in Jakarta, we conducted phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses of DENV isolated in 2009. Three hundred thirty-three dengue-suspected patients were recruited. Our data revealed that dengue predominantly affected young adults, and the majority of cases were due to secondary infection. A total of 171 virus isolates were successfully serotyped. All four DENV serotypes were circulating in the city, and DENV-1 was the predominant serotype. The DENV genotyping of 17 isolates revealed the presence of Genotypes I and IV in DENV-1, while DENV-2 isolates were grouped into the Cosmopolitan genotype. The grouping of isolates into Genotype I and II was seen for DENV-3 and DENV-4, respectively. Evolutionary analysis revealed the relatedness of Jakarta isolates with other isolates from other cities in Indonesia and isolates from imported cases in other countries. We revealed the endemicity of DENV and the role of Jakarta as the potential source of imported dengue cases in other countries. Our study provides genetic information regarding DENV from Jakarta, which will be useful for upstream applications, such as the study of DENV epidemiology and evolution and transmission dynamics.

Phylogenetic analyses of behavior support existence of culture among wild chimpanzees.

Science.gov (United States)

Lycett, Stephen J; Collard, Mark; McGrew, William C

2007-11-06

Culture has long been considered to be not only unique to humans, but also responsible for making us qualitatively different from all other forms of life. In recent years, however, researchers studying chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) have challenged this idea. Natural populations of chimpanzees have been found to vary greatly in their behavior. Because many of these interpopulation differences cannot be readily explained by ecological factors, it has been argued that they result from social learning and, therefore, can be regarded as cultural variations. Recent studies showing social transmission in captive chimpanzee populations suggest that this hypothesis is plausible. However, the culture hypothesis has been questioned on the grounds that the behavioral variation may be explained at a proximate level by genetic differences between subspecies. Here we use cladistic analyses of the major cross-site behavioral data set to test the hypothesis that the behavioral differences among the best-documented chimpanzee populations are genetically determined. If behavioral diversity is primarily the product of genetic differences between subspecies, then population data should show less phylogenetic structure when data from a single subspecies (P. t. schweinfurthii) are compared with data from two subspecies (P. t. verus and P. t. schweinfurthii) analyzed together. Our findings are inconsistent with the hypothesis that the observed behavioral patterns of wild chimpanzee populations can be explained primarily by genetic differences between subspecies. Instead, our results support the suggestion that the behavioral patterns are the product of social learning and, therefore, can be considered cultural.

Towards an integrated phylogenetic classification of the Tremellomycetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, X-Z; Wang, Q-M; Göker, M; Groenewald, M; Kachalkin, A V; Lumbsch, H T; Millanes, A M; Wedin, M; Yurkov, A M; Boekhout, T; Bai, F-Y

2015-06-01

Families and genera assigned to Tremellomycetes have been mainly circumscribed by morphology and for the yeasts also by biochemical and physiological characteristics. This phenotype-based classification is largely in conflict with molecular phylogenetic analyses. Here a phylogenetic classification framework for the Tremellomycetes is proposed based on the results of phylogenetic analyses from a seven-genes dataset covering the majority of tremellomycetous yeasts and closely related filamentous taxa. Circumscriptions of the taxonomic units at the order, family and genus levels recognised were quantitatively assessed using the phylogenetic rank boundary optimisation (PRBO) and modified general mixed Yule coalescent (GMYC) tests. In addition, a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis on an expanded LSU rRNA (D1/D2 domains) gene sequence dataset covering as many as available teleomorphic and filamentous taxa within Tremellomycetes was performed to investigate the relationships between yeasts and filamentous taxa and to examine the stability of undersampled clades. Based on the results inferred from molecular data and morphological and physiochemical features, we propose an updated classification for the Tremellomycetes. We accept five orders, 17 families and 54 genera, including seven new families and 18 new genera. In addition, seven families and 17 genera are emended and one new species name and 185 new combinations are proposed. We propose to use the term pro tempore or pro tem. in abbreviation to indicate the species names that are temporarily maintained.

Covering Adoption: General Depictions in Broadcast News

Science.gov (United States)

Kline, Susan L.; Karel, Amanda I.; Chatterjee, Karishma

2006-01-01

Using theories of stigma (Goffman, 1963) and media frames (Iyengar, 1991), 292 news stories pertaining to adoption that appeared on major broadcast networks between 2001 and 2004 were analyzed. Media coverage of adoptees contained more problematic than positive depictions. Although birth parents were not always depicted, adoptive parent and…

Bayesian phylogenetic estimation of fossil ages.

Science.gov (United States)

Drummond, Alexei J; Stadler, Tanja

2016-07-19

Recent advances have allowed for both morphological fossil evidence and molecular sequences to be integrated into a single combined inference of divergence dates under the rule of Bayesian probability. In particular, the fossilized birth-death tree prior and the Lewis-Mk model of discrete morphological evolution allow for the estimation of both divergence times and phylogenetic relationships between fossil and extant taxa. We exploit this statistical framework to investigate the internal consistency of these models by producing phylogenetic estimates of the age of each fossil in turn, within two rich and well-characterized datasets of fossil and extant species (penguins and canids). We find that the estimation accuracy of fossil ages is generally high with credible intervals seldom excluding the true age and median relative error in the two datasets of 5.7% and 13.2%, respectively. The median relative standard error (RSD) was 9.2% and 7.2%, respectively, suggesting good precision, although with some outliers. In fact, in the two datasets we analyse, the phylogenetic estimate of fossil age is on average less than 2 Myr from the mid-point age of the geological strata from which it was excavated. The high level of internal consistency found in our analyses suggests that the Bayesian statistical model employed is an adequate fit for both the geological and morphological data, and provides evidence from real data that the framework used can accurately model the evolution of discrete morphological traits coded from fossil and extant taxa. We anticipate that this approach will have diverse applications beyond divergence time dating, including dating fossils that are temporally unconstrained, testing of the 'morphological clock', and for uncovering potential model misspecification and/or data errors when controversial phylogenetic hypotheses are obtained based on combined divergence dating analyses.This article is part of the themed issue 'Dating species divergences using

A molecular phylogenetic appraisal of the acanthostomines Acanthostomum and Timoniella and their position within Cryptogonimidae (Trematoda: Opisthorchioidea).

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-Aquino, Andrés; Vidal-Martínez, Victor M; Aguirre-Macedo, M Leopoldina

2017-01-01

The phylogenetic position of three taxa from two trematode genera, belonging to the subfamily Acanthostominae (Opisthorchioidea: Cryptogonimidae), were analysed using partial 28S ribosomal DNA (Domains 1-2) and internal transcribed spacers (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2). Bayesian inference and Maximum likelihood analyses of combined 28S rDNA and ITS1 + 5.8S + ITS2 sequences indicated the monophyly of the genus Acanthostomum ( A. cf. americanum and A. burminis ) and paraphyly of the Acanthostominae . These phylogenetic relationships were consistent in analyses of 28S alone and concatenated 28S + ITS1 + 5.8S + ITS2 sequences analyses. Based on molecular phylogenetic analyses, the subfamily Acanthostominae is therefore a paraphyletic taxon, in contrast with previous classifications based on morphological data. Phylogenetic patterns of host specificity inferred from adult stages of other cryptogonimid taxa are also well supported. However, analyses using additional genera and species are necessary to support the phylogenetic inferences from this study. Our molecular phylogenetic reconstruction linked two larval stages of A. cf. americanum cercariae and metacercariae. Here, we present the evolutionary and ecological implications of parasitic infections in freshwater and brackish environments.

A molecular phylogenetic appraisal of the acanthostomines Acanthostomum and Timoniella and their position within Cryptogonimidae (Trematoda: Opisthorchioidea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrés Martínez-Aquino

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The phylogenetic position of three taxa from two trematode genera, belonging to the subfamily Acanthostominae (Opisthorchioidea: Cryptogonimidae, were analysed using partial 28S ribosomal DNA (Domains 1–2 and internal transcribed spacers (ITS1–5.8S–ITS2. Bayesian inference and Maximum likelihood analyses of combined 28S rDNA and ITS1 + 5.8S + ITS2 sequences indicated the monophyly of the genus Acanthostomum (A. cf. americanum and A. burminis and paraphyly of the Acanthostominae. These phylogenetic relationships were consistent in analyses of 28S alone and concatenated 28S + ITS1 + 5.8S + ITS2 sequences analyses. Based on molecular phylogenetic analyses, the subfamily Acanthostominae is therefore a paraphyletic taxon, in contrast with previous classifications based on morphological data. Phylogenetic patterns of host specificity inferred from adult stages of other cryptogonimid taxa are also well supported. However, analyses using additional genera and species are necessary to support the phylogenetic inferences from this study. Our molecular phylogenetic reconstruction linked two larval stages of A. cf. americanum cercariae and metacercariae. Here, we present the evolutionary and ecological implications of parasitic infections in freshwater and brackish environments.

Science versus the Humanities: Hyman on Wollhein on Depiction

OpenAIRE

Kemp, Gary

2016-01-01

I criticize John Hyman’s criticism of Richard Wollheim’s account of depiction or pictorial representation. The underlying issue appears to be fundamental: do we go with Hyman’s account of the essence of depiction as straightforwardly geometrical, or do we agree with Wollheim that depiction must be understood as proceeding through the human mind?

A case study for effects of operational taxonomic units from intracellular endoparasites and ciliates on the eukaryotic phylogeny: phylogenetic position of the haptophyta in analyses of multiple slowly evolving genes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hisayoshi Nozaki

Full Text Available Recent multigene phylogenetic analyses have contributed much to our understanding of eukaryotic phylogeny. However, the phylogenetic positions of various lineages within the eukaryotes have remained unresolved or in conflict between different phylogenetic studies. These phylogenetic ambiguities might have resulted from mixtures or integration from various factors including limited taxon sampling, missing data in the alignment, saturations of rapidly evolving genes, mixed analyses of short- and long-branched operational taxonomic units (OTUs, intracellular endoparasite and ciliate OTUs with unusual substitution etc. In order to evaluate the effects from intracellular endoparasite and ciliate OTUs co-analyzed on the eukaryotic phylogeny and simplify the results, we here used two different sets of data matrices of multiple slowly evolving genes with small amounts of missing data and examined the phylogenetic position of the secondary photosynthetic chromalveolates Haptophyta, one of the most abundant groups of oceanic phytoplankton and significant primary producers. In both sets, a robust sister relationship between Haptophyta and SAR (stramenopiles, alveolates, rhizarians, or SA [stramenopiles and alveolates] was resolved when intracellular endoparasite/ciliate OTUs were excluded, but not in their presence. Based on comparisons of character optimizations on a fixed tree (with a clade composed of haptophytes and SAR or SA, disruption of the monophyly between haptophytes and SAR (or SA in the presence of intracellular endoparasite/ciliate OTUs can be considered to be a result of multiple evolutionary reversals of character positions that supported the synapomorphy of the haptophyte and SAR (or SA clade in the absence of intracellular endoparasite/ciliate OTUs.

The space of ultrametric phylogenetic trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Gavryushkin, Alex; Drummond, Alexei J

2016-08-21

The reliability of a phylogenetic inference method from genomic sequence data is ensured by its statistical consistency. Bayesian inference methods produce a sample of phylogenetic trees from the posterior distribution given sequence data. Hence the question of statistical consistency of such methods is equivalent to the consistency of the summary of the sample. More generally, statistical consistency is ensured by the tree space used to analyse the sample. In this paper, we consider two standard parameterisations of phylogenetic time-trees used in evolutionary models: inter-coalescent interval lengths and absolute times of divergence events. For each of these parameterisations we introduce a natural metric space on ultrametric phylogenetic trees. We compare the introduced spaces with existing models of tree space and formulate several formal requirements that a metric space on phylogenetic trees must possess in order to be a satisfactory space for statistical analysis, and justify them. We show that only a few known constructions of the space of phylogenetic trees satisfy these requirements. However, our results suggest that these basic requirements are not enough to distinguish between the two metric spaces we introduce and that the choice between metric spaces requires additional properties to be considered. Particularly, that the summary tree minimising the square distance to the trees from the sample might be different for different parameterisations. This suggests that further fundamental insight is needed into the problem of statistical consistency of phylogenetic inference methods. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Different relationships between temporal phylogenetic turnover and phylogenetic similarity and in two forests were detected by a new null model.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jian-Xiong; Zhang, Jian; Shen, Yong; Lian, Ju-yu; Cao, Hong-lin; Ye, Wan-hui; Wu, Lin-fang; Bin, Yue

2014-01-01

Ecologists have been monitoring community dynamics with the purpose of understanding the rates and causes of community change. However, there is a lack of monitoring of community dynamics from the perspective of phylogeny. We attempted to understand temporal phylogenetic turnover in a 50 ha tropical forest (Barro Colorado Island, BCI) and a 20 ha subtropical forest (Dinghushan in southern China, DHS). To obtain temporal phylogenetic turnover under random conditions, two null models were used. The first shuffled names of species that are widely used in community phylogenetic analyses. The second simulated demographic processes with careful consideration on the variation in dispersal ability among species and the variations in mortality both among species and among size classes. With the two models, we tested the relationships between temporal phylogenetic turnover and phylogenetic similarity at different spatial scales in the two forests. Results were more consistent with previous findings using the second null model suggesting that the second null model is more appropriate for our purposes. With the second null model, a significantly positive relationship was detected between phylogenetic turnover and phylogenetic similarity in BCI at a 10 m×10 m scale, potentially indicating phylogenetic density dependence. This relationship in DHS was significantly negative at three of five spatial scales. This could indicate abiotic filtering processes for community assembly. Using variation partitioning, we found phylogenetic similarity contributed to variation in temporal phylogenetic turnover in the DHS plot but not in BCI plot. The mechanisms for community assembly in BCI and DHS vary from phylogenetic perspective. Only the second null model detected this difference indicating the importance of choosing a proper null model.

Developing and evaluating Quilts for the depiction of large layered graphs.

Science.gov (United States)

Bae, Juhee; Watson, Ben

2011-12-01

Traditional layered graph depictions such as flow charts are in wide use. Yet as graphs grow more complex, these depictions can become difficult to understand. Quilts are matrix-based depictions for layered graphs designed to address this problem. In this research, we first improve Quilts by developing three design alternatives, and then compare the best of these alternatives to better-known node-link and matrix depictions. A primary weakness in Quilts is their depiction of skip links, links that do not simply connect to a succeeding layer. Therefore in our first study, we compare Quilts using color-only, text-only, and mixed (color and text) skip link depictions, finding that path finding with the color-only depiction is significantly slower and less accurate, and that in certain cases, the mixed depiction offers an advantage over the text-only depiction. In our second study, we compare Quilts using the mixed depiction to node-link diagrams and centered matrices. Overall results show that users can find paths through graphs significantly faster with Quilts (46.6 secs) than with node-link (58.3 secs) or matrix (71.2 secs) diagrams. This speed advantage is still greater in large graphs (e.g. in 200 node graphs, 55.4 secs vs. 71.1 secs for node-link and 84.2 secs for matrix depictions). © 2011 IEEE

Unrealistic phylogenetic trees may improve phylogenetic footprinting.

Science.gov (United States)

Nettling, Martin; Treutler, Hendrik; Cerquides, Jesus; Grosse, Ivo

2017-06-01

The computational investigation of DNA binding motifs from binding sites is one of the classic tasks in bioinformatics and a prerequisite for understanding gene regulation as a whole. Due to the development of sequencing technologies and the increasing number of available genomes, approaches based on phylogenetic footprinting become increasingly attractive. Phylogenetic footprinting requires phylogenetic trees with attached substitution probabilities for quantifying the evolution of binding sites, but these trees and substitution probabilities are typically not known and cannot be estimated easily. Here, we investigate the influence of phylogenetic trees with different substitution probabilities on the classification performance of phylogenetic footprinting using synthetic and real data. For synthetic data we find that the classification performance is highest when the substitution probability used for phylogenetic footprinting is similar to that used for data generation. For real data, however, we typically find that the classification performance of phylogenetic footprinting surprisingly increases with increasing substitution probabilities and is often highest for unrealistically high substitution probabilities close to one. This finding suggests that choosing realistic model assumptions might not always yield optimal predictions in general and that choosing unrealistically high substitution probabilities close to one might actually improve the classification performance of phylogenetic footprinting. The proposed PF is implemented in JAVA and can be downloaded from https://github.com/mgledi/PhyFoo. : martin.nettling@informatik.uni-halle.de. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Bias in phylogenetic reconstruction of vertebrate rhodopsin sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, B S; Campbell, D L

2000-08-01

Two spurious nodes were found in phylogenetic analyses of vertebrate rhodopsin sequences in comparison with well-established vertebrate relationships. These spurious reconstructions were well supported in bootstrap analyses and occurred independently of the method of phylogenetic analysis used (parsimony, distance, or likelihood). Use of this data set of vertebrate rhodopsin sequences allowed us to exploit established vertebrate relationships, as well as the considerable amount known about the molecular evolution of this gene, in order to identify important factors contributing to the spurious reconstructions. Simulation studies using parametric bootstrapping indicate that it is unlikely that the spurious nodes in the parsimony analyses are due to long branches or other topological effects. Rather, they appear to be due to base compositional bias at third positions, codon bias, and convergent evolution at nucleotide positions encoding the hydrophobic residues isoleucine, leucine, and valine. LogDet distance methods, as well as maximum-likelihood methods which allow for nonstationary changes in base composition, reduce but do not entirely eliminate support for the spurious resolutions. Inclusion of five additional rhodopsin sequences in the phylogenetic analyses largely corrected one of the spurious reconstructions while leaving the other unaffected. The additional sequences not only were more proximal to the corrected node, but were also found to have intermediate levels of base composition and codon bias as compared with neighboring sequences on the tree. This study shows that the spurious reconstructions can be corrected either by excluding third positions, as well as those encoding the amino acids Ile, Val, and Leu (which may not be ideal, as these sites can contain useful phylogenetic signal for other parts of the tree), or by the addition of sequences that reduce problems associated with convergent evolution.

Phylogenetic trees

OpenAIRE

Baños, Hector; Bushek, Nathaniel; Davidson, Ruth; Gross, Elizabeth; Harris, Pamela E.; Krone, Robert; Long, Colby; Stewart, Allen; Walker, Robert

2016-01-01

We introduce the package PhylogeneticTrees for Macaulay2 which allows users to compute phylogenetic invariants for group-based tree models. We provide some background information on phylogenetic algebraic geometry and show how the package PhylogeneticTrees can be used to calculate a generating set for a phylogenetic ideal as well as a lower bound for its dimension. Finally, we show how methods within the package can be used to compute a generating set for the join of any two ideals.

Phylogenetic analyses suggest a hybrid origin of the figs (Moraceae: Ficus) that are endemic to the Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands, Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Kusumi, Junko; Azuma, Hiroshi; Tzeng, Hsy-Yu; Chou, Lien-Siang; Peng, Yan-Qiong; Nakamura, Keiko; Su, Zhi-Hui

2012-04-01

The Ogasawara Islands are oceanic islands and harbor a unique endemic flora. There are three fig species (Ficus boninsimae, F. nishimurae and F. iidaiana) endemic to the Ogasawara Islands, and these species have been considered to be closely related to Ficus erecta, and to have diverged within the islands. However, this hypothesis remains uncertain. To investigate this issue, we assessed the phylogenetic relationships of the Ogasawara figs and their close relatives occurring in Japan, Taiwan and South China based on six plastid genome regions, nuclear ITS region and two nuclear genes. The plastid genome-based tree indicated a close relationship between the Ogasawara figs and F. erecta, whereas some of the nuclear gene-based trees suggested this relationship was not so close. In addition, the phylogenetic analyses of the pollinating wasps associated with these fig species based on the nuclear 28S rRNA and mitochondrial cytB genes suggested that the fig-pollinating wasps of F. erecta are not sister to those of the Ogasawara figs These results suggest the occurrence of an early hybridization event(s) in the lineage leading to the Ogasawara figs. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

New substitution models for rooting phylogenetic trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Tom A; Heaps, Sarah E; Cherlin, Svetlana; Nye, Tom M W; Boys, Richard J; Embley, T Martin

2015-09-26

The root of a phylogenetic tree is fundamental to its biological interpretation, but standard substitution models do not provide any information on its position. Here, we describe two recently developed models that relax the usual assumptions of stationarity and reversibility, thereby facilitating root inference without the need for an outgroup. We compare the performance of these models on a classic test case for phylogenetic methods, before considering two highly topical questions in evolutionary biology: the deep structure of the tree of life and the root of the archaeal radiation. We show that all three alignments contain meaningful rooting information that can be harnessed by these new models, thus complementing and extending previous work based on outgroup rooting. In particular, our analyses exclude the root of the tree of life from the eukaryotes or Archaea, placing it on the bacterial stem or within the Bacteria. They also exclude the root of the archaeal radiation from several major clades, consistent with analyses using other rooting methods. Overall, our results demonstrate the utility of non-reversible and non-stationary models for rooting phylogenetic trees, and identify areas where further progress can be made. © 2015 The Authors.

44 CFR 15.12 - Photographs and other depictions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Photographs and other... NATIONAL EMERGENCY TRAINING CENTER § 15.12 Photographs and other depictions. (a) Photographs and other depictions at Mt. Weather. We prohibit taking photographs and making notes, sketches, or diagrams of...

Phylogenetic Analysis of Phytophthora Species Based on Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA Sequences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kroon, L.P.N.M.; Bakker, F.T.; Bosch, van den G.B.M.; Bonants, P.J.M.; Flier, W.G.

2004-01-01

A molecular phylogenetic analysis of the genus Phytophthora was performed, 113 isolates from 48 Phytophthora species were included in this analysis. Phylogenetic analyses were performed on regions of mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1; NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1) and nuclear gene

Women’s stories implying aspects of anti-Judaism with Christological depiction in Matthew

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

In-Cheol Shin

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This study focuses on the women’s stories that imply aspects of anti-Judaism within Matthew’s depiction of Christology, which is called Matthew’s theology. In fact, Matthew’s community opposed the Jewish system and Jewish leaders and parted from its parent body. Even though Matthew’s community was still similar to the Jewish system, it had significant differences as well. The study discusses these aspects of anti-Judaism that appear in the woman’s stories that include the genealogy of Jesus, the haemorrhaging woman, the Canaanite woman, and the women at the cross and Jesus’ tomb. This study shows proof and examples of anti-Judaism within the stories and thoroughly analyses them. Therefore, it can be confirmed that the women’s stories imply aspects of anti-Judaism with Christological depictions by Matthew’s theological tendency.

Association of established smoking among adolescents with timing of exposure to smoking depicted in movies.

Science.gov (United States)

Primack, Brian A; Longacre, Meghan R; Beach, Michael L; Adachi-Mejia, Anna M; Titus, Linda J; Dalton, Madeline A

2012-04-04

It is not known whether exposure to smoking depicted in movies carries greater influence during early or late adolescence. We aimed to quantify the independent relative contribution to established smoking of exposure to smoking depicted in movies during both early and late adolescence. We prospectively assessed 2049 nonsmoking students recruited from 14 randomly selected public schools in New Hampshire and Vermont. At baseline enrollment, students aged 10-14 years completed a written survey to determine personal, family, and sociodemographic characteristics and exposure to depictions of smoking in the movies (early exposure). Seven years later, we conducted follow-up telephone interviews to ascertain follow-up exposure to movie smoking (late exposure) and smoking behavior. We used multiple regression models to assess associations between early and late exposure and development of established smoking. One-sixth (17.3%) of the sample progressed to established smoking. In analyses that controlled for covariates and included early and late exposure in the same model, we found that students in the highest quartile for early exposure had 73% greater risk of established smoking than those in the lowest quartile for early exposure (27.8% vs 8.6%; relative risk for Q4 vs Q1 = 1.73, 95% confidence interval = 1.14 to 2.62). However, late exposure to depictions of smoking in movies was not statistically significantly associated with established smoking (22.1% vs 14.0%; relative risk for Q4 vs Q1 = 1.13, 95% confidence interval = 0.89 to 1.44). Whereas 31.6% of established smoking was attributable to early exposure, only an additional 5.3% was attributable to late exposure. Early exposure to smoking depicted in movies is associated with established smoking among adolescents. Educational and policy-related interventions should focus on minimizing early exposure to smoking depicted in movies.

Remarkable phylogenetic resolution of the most complex clade of Cyprinidae (Teleostei: Cypriniformes): a proof of concept of homology assessment and partitioning sequence data integrated with mixed model Bayesian analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Wenjing; Mayden, Richard L; He, Shunping

2013-03-01

Despite many efforts to resolve evolutionary relationships among major clades of Cyprinidae, some nodes have been especially problematic and remain unresolved. In this study, we employ four nuclear gene fragments (3.3kb) to infer interrelationships of the Cyprinidae. A reconstruction of the phylogenetic relationships within the family using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian analyses is presented. Among the taxa within the monophyletic Cyprinidae, Rasborinae is the basal-most lineage; Cyprinine is sister to Leuciscine. The monophyly for the subfamilies Gobioninae, Leuciscinae and Acheilognathinae were resolved with high nodal support. Although our results do not completely resolve relationships within Cyprinidae, this study presents novel and significant findings having major implications for a highly diverse and enigmatic clade of East-Asian cyprinids. Within this monophyletic group five closely-related subgroups are identified. Tinca tinca, one of the most phylogenetically enigmatic genera in the family, is strongly supported as having evolutionary affinities with this East-Asian clade; an established yet remarkable association because of the natural variation in phenotypes and generalized ecological niches occupied by these taxa. Our results clearly argue that the choice of partitioning strategies has significant impacts on the phylogenetic reconstructions, especially when multiple genes are being considered. The most highly partitioned model (partitioned by codon positions within genes) extracts the strongest phylogenetic signals and performs better than any other partitioning schemes supported by the strongest 2Δln Bayes factor. Future studies should include higher levels of taxon sampling and partitioned, model-based analyses. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Phylogenetic comparative methods complement discriminant function analysis in ecomorphology.

Science.gov (United States)

Barr, W Andrew; Scott, Robert S

2014-04-01

In ecomorphology, Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) has been used as evidence for the presence of functional links between morphometric variables and ecological categories. Here we conduct simulations of characters containing phylogenetic signal to explore the performance of DFA under a variety of conditions. Characters were simulated using a phylogeny of extant antelope species from known habitats. Characters were modeled with no biomechanical relationship to the habitat category; the only sources of variation were body mass, phylogenetic signal, or random "noise." DFA on the discriminability of habitat categories was performed using subsets of the simulated characters, and Phylogenetic Generalized Least Squares (PGLS) was performed for each character. Analyses were repeated with randomized habitat assignments. When simulated characters lacked phylogenetic signal and/or habitat assignments were random, ecomorphology. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Phylogenetically-informed priorities for amphibian conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Isaac, Nick J B; Redding, David W; Meredith, Helen M; Safi, Kamran

2012-01-01

The amphibian decline and extinction crisis demands urgent action to prevent further large numbers of species extinctions. Lists of priority species for conservation, based on a combination of species' threat status and unique contribution to phylogenetic diversity, are one tool for the direction and catalyzation of conservation action. We describe the construction of a near-complete species-level phylogeny of 5713 amphibian species, which we use to create a list of evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species (EDGE list) for the entire class Amphibia. We present sensitivity analyses to test the robustness of our priority list to uncertainty in species' phylogenetic position and threat status. We find that both sources of uncertainty have only minor impacts on our 'top 100' list of priority species, indicating the robustness of the approach. By contrast, our analyses suggest that a large number of Data Deficient species are likely to be high priorities for conservation action from the perspective of their contribution to the evolutionary history.

Phylogenetically-informed priorities for amphibian conservation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nick J B Isaac

Full Text Available The amphibian decline and extinction crisis demands urgent action to prevent further large numbers of species extinctions. Lists of priority species for conservation, based on a combination of species' threat status and unique contribution to phylogenetic diversity, are one tool for the direction and catalyzation of conservation action. We describe the construction of a near-complete species-level phylogeny of 5713 amphibian species, which we use to create a list of evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species (EDGE list for the entire class Amphibia. We present sensitivity analyses to test the robustness of our priority list to uncertainty in species' phylogenetic position and threat status. We find that both sources of uncertainty have only minor impacts on our 'top 100' list of priority species, indicating the robustness of the approach. By contrast, our analyses suggest that a large number of Data Deficient species are likely to be high priorities for conservation action from the perspective of their contribution to the evolutionary history.

Coalescent-based genome analyses resolve the early branches of the euarchontoglires.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vikas Kumar

Full Text Available Despite numerous large-scale phylogenomic studies, certain parts of the mammalian tree are extraordinarily difficult to resolve. We used the coding regions from 19 completely sequenced genomes to study the relationships within the super-clade Euarchontoglires (Primates, Rodentia, Lagomorpha, Dermoptera and Scandentia because the placement of Scandentia within this clade is controversial. The difficulty in resolving this issue is due to the short time spans between the early divergences of Euarchontoglires, which may cause incongruent gene trees. The conflict in the data can be depicted by network analyses and the contentious relationships are best reconstructed by coalescent-based analyses. This method is expected to be superior to analyses of concatenated data in reconstructing a species tree from numerous gene trees. The total concatenated dataset used to study the relationships in this group comprises 5,875 protein-coding genes (9,799,170 nucleotides from all orders except Dermoptera (flying lemurs. Reconstruction of the species tree from 1,006 gene trees using coalescent models placed Scandentia as sister group to the primates, which is in agreement with maximum likelihood analyses of concatenated nucleotide sequence data. Additionally, both analytical approaches favoured the Tarsier to be sister taxon to Anthropoidea, thus belonging to the Haplorrhine clade. When divergence times are short such as in radiations over periods of a few million years, even genome scale analyses struggle to resolve phylogenetic relationships. On these short branches processes such as incomplete lineage sorting and possibly hybridization occur and make it preferable to base phylogenomic analyses on coalescent methods.

Phylogenetic representativeness: a new method for evaluating taxon sampling in evolutionary studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Passamonti Marco

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Taxon sampling is a major concern in phylogenetic studies. Incomplete, biased, or improper taxon sampling can lead to misleading results in reconstructing evolutionary relationships. Several theoretical methods are available to optimize taxon choice in phylogenetic analyses. However, most involve some knowledge about the genetic relationships of the group of interest (i.e., the ingroup, or even a well-established phylogeny itself; these data are not always available in general phylogenetic applications. Results We propose a new method to assess taxon sampling developing Clarke and Warwick statistics. This method aims to measure the "phylogenetic representativeness" of a given sample or set of samples and it is based entirely on the pre-existing available taxonomy of the ingroup, which is commonly known to investigators. Moreover, our method also accounts for instability and discordance in taxonomies. A Python-based script suite, called PhyRe, has been developed to implement all analyses we describe in this paper. Conclusions We show that this method is sensitive and allows direct discrimination between representative and unrepresentative samples. It is also informative about the addition of taxa to improve taxonomic coverage of the ingroup. Provided that the investigators' expertise is mandatory in this field, phylogenetic representativeness makes up an objective touchstone in planning phylogenetic studies.

Incompletely resolved phylogenetic trees inflate estimates of phylogenetic conservatism.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, T Jonathan; Kraft, Nathan J B; Salamin, Nicolas; Wolkovich, Elizabeth M

2012-02-01

The tendency for more closely related species to share similar traits and ecological strategies can be explained by their longer shared evolutionary histories and represents phylogenetic conservatism. How strongly species traits co-vary with phylogeny can significantly impact how we analyze cross-species data and can influence our interpretation of assembly rules in the rapidly expanding field of community phylogenetics. Phylogenetic conservatism is typically quantified by analyzing the distribution of species values on the phylogenetic tree that connects them. Many phylogenetic approaches, however, assume a completely sampled phylogeny: while we have good estimates of deeper phylogenetic relationships for many species-rich groups, such as birds and flowering plants, we often lack information on more recent interspecific relationships (i.e., within a genus). A common solution has been to represent these relationships as polytomies on trees using taxonomy as a guide. Here we show that such trees can dramatically inflate estimates of phylogenetic conservatism quantified using S. P. Blomberg et al.'s K statistic. Using simulations, we show that even randomly generated traits can appear to be phylogenetically conserved on poorly resolved trees. We provide a simple rarefaction-based solution that can reliably retrieve unbiased estimates of K, and we illustrate our method using data on first flowering times from Thoreau's woods (Concord, Massachusetts, USA).

Expression and phylogenetic analyses reveal paralogous lineages of putatively classical and non-classical MHC-I genes in three sparrow species (Passer).

Science.gov (United States)

Drews, Anna; Strandh, Maria; Råberg, Lars; Westerdahl, Helena

2017-06-26

The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) plays a central role in immunity and has been given considerable attention by evolutionary ecologists due to its associations with fitness-related traits. Songbirds have unusually high numbers of MHC class I (MHC-I) genes, but it is not known whether all are expressed and equally important for immune function. Classical MHC-I genes are highly expressed, polymorphic and present peptides to T-cells whereas non-classical MHC-I genes have lower expression, are more monomorphic and do not present peptides to T-cells. To get a better understanding of the highly duplicated MHC genes in songbirds, we studied gene expression in a phylogenetic framework in three species of sparrows (house sparrow, tree sparrow and Spanish sparrow), using high-throughput sequencing. We hypothesize that sparrows could have classical and non-classical genes, as previously indicated though never tested using gene expression. The phylogenetic analyses reveal two distinct types of MHC-I alleles among the three sparrow species, one with high and one with low level of polymorphism, thus resembling classical and non-classical genes, respectively. All individuals had both types of alleles, but there was copy number variation both within and among the sparrow species. However, the number of highly polymorphic alleles that were expressed did not vary between species, suggesting that the structural genomic variation is counterbalanced by conserved gene expression. Overall, 50% of the MHC-I alleles were expressed in sparrows. Expression of the highly polymorphic alleles was very variable, whereas the alleles with low polymorphism had uniformly low expression. Interestingly, within an individual only one or two alleles from the polymorphic genes were highly expressed, indicating that only a single copy of these is highly expressed. Taken together, the phylogenetic reconstruction and the analyses of expression suggest that sparrows have both classical and non

On the information content of discrete phylogenetic characters.

Science.gov (United States)

Bordewich, Magnus; Deutschmann, Ina Maria; Fischer, Mareike; Kasbohm, Elisa; Semple, Charles; Steel, Mike

2017-12-16

Phylogenetic inference aims to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of different species based on genetic (or other) data. Discrete characters are a particular type of data, which contain information on how the species should be grouped together. However, it has long been known that some characters contain more information than others. For instance, a character that assigns the same state to each species groups all of them together and so provides no insight into the relationships of the species considered. At the other extreme, a character that assigns a different state to each species also conveys no phylogenetic signal. In this manuscript, we study a natural combinatorial measure of the information content of an individual character and analyse properties of characters that provide the maximum phylogenetic information, particularly, the number of states such a character uses and how the different states have to be distributed among the species or taxa of the phylogenetic tree.

THE DEPICTION OF HOMOSEXUALITY IN AMERICAN MOVIES

OpenAIRE

Rudy Rudy

2016-01-01

This study focuses on the depiction of homosexuality in American films. It is intended to identify the images of gays depicted in American films as well as the characteristics of American gay movies. It incorporates library research by applying an analytical descriptive approach in analyzing the data. The symbol and reflective theory is used to analyze 18 American movies and 14 gay films from other countries in the early 2000s. It shows that gay films can attract audiences by describing gays ...

The Depiction Of Homosexuality In American Movies

OpenAIRE

Rudy, Rudy

2016-01-01

This study focuses on the depiction of homosexuality in American films. It is intended to identify the images of gays depicted in American films as well as the characteristics of American gay movies. It incorporates library research by applying an analytical descriptive approach in analyzing the data. The symbol and reflective theory is used to analyze 18 American movies and 14 gay films from other countries in the early 2000s. It shows that gay films can attract audiences by describing gays ...

Molecular and morphological analyses reveal phylogenetic relationships of stingrays focusing on the family Dasyatidae (Myliobatiformes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kean Chong Lim

Full Text Available Elucidating the phylogenetic relationships of the current but problematic Dasyatidae (Order Myliobatiformes was the first priority of the current study. Here, we studied three molecular gene markers of 43 species (COI gene, 33 species (ND2 gene and 34 species (RAG1 gene of stingrays to draft out the phylogenetic tree of the order. Nine character states were identified and used to confirm the molecularly constructed phylogenetic trees. Eight or more clades (at different hierarchical level were identified for COI, ND2 and RAG1 genes in the Myliobatiformes including four clades containing members of the present Dasyatidae, thus rendering the latter non-monophyletic. The uncorrected p-distance between these four 'Dasytidae' clades when compared to the distance between formally known families confirmed that these four clades should be elevated to four separate families. We suggest a revision of the present classification, retaining the Dasyatidae (Dasyatis and Taeniurops species but adding three new families namely, Neotrygonidae (Neotrygon and Taeniura species, Himanturidae (Himantura species and Pastinachidae (Pastinachus species. Our result indicated the need to further review the classification of Dasyatis microps. By resolving the non-monophyletic problem, the suite of nine character states enables the natural classification of the Myliobatiformes into at least thirteen families based on morphology.

The depiction of electroconvulsive therapy in Hindi cinema.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrade, Chittaranjan; Shah, Nilesh; Venkatesh, Basappa K

2010-03-01

There is little literature on the depiction of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in movies. In India, Hindi cinema is an important source of public information and misinformation about ECT. We identified depictions of ECT in Hindi cinema through inquiries with e-communities, video libraries, and other sources. We also searched the PubMed database using search terms related to ECT and movies. Between 1967 and 2008, 13 Hindi movies contained referrals to or depictions of ECT. By and large, the depictions were inaccurate, distorted, and dramatized. Electroconvulsive therapy was administered to punish, to obliterate identity, to induce insanity, and for other rarely clinically valid indications. Electroconvulsive therapy was almost always administered by force. Premedication was rare. Genuine ECT devices were uncommonly used. Electroconvulsive therapy stimulation almost invariably appeared to cause pain. Multiple shocks were frequently delivered in the same session. The convulsions were usually bizarre. The treatment caused mental disturbance, amnesia, weakness, and even a zombielike state, thought not mortality; clinical improvement was rare. There was no pattern of increasing accuracy of depiction of ECT with recency of movie release. We examine the extent to which the identified inaccuracies are practically important and offer reasons for the inaccuracies. Although the inaccuracies are a cause for concern, we suggest that because Hindi cinema is generally hyperbolic, the public may be willing to distinguish real life from reel life when facing clinical decisions about ECT. Nevertheless, considering the potential for harm in the dissemination of misinformation, filmmakers should exhibit a greater sense of ethics when creating impressions that might adversely influence health.

Reach Out and Eat: Food and Beverages Depicted in Books for Preschoolers.

Science.gov (United States)

England, Jessica L; Linchey, Jennifer; Madsen, Kristine A; Patel, Anisha I

2015-11-01

To examine food and beverage depictions in books for preschoolers. Books for preschoolers from Reach Out and Read (ROR; n = 42), public library (n = 27), and Publisher's Weekly booklists (n = 31) were examined for nutritive and empty-calorie food and beverage depictions. It was found that 66% of books depicted at least 1 food or beverage. More books depicted nutritive items than empty-calorie items (87.5% vs 54.7%, P foods. When selecting books for ROR, it may be important to consider food and beverage depictions and messages. © The Author(s) 2015.

Use of phylogenetic and phenotypic analyses to identify nonhemolytic streptococci isolated from bacteremic patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hoshino, T; Fujivwara, T; Kilian, Mogens

2005-01-01

and identification using two commercial kits, Rapid ID 32 STREP and STREPTOGRAM and the associated databases. A phylogenetic tree based on concatenated sequences of the four housekeeping genes allowed unequivocal differentiation of recognized species and was used as the reference. Analysis of single gene sequences...

The depiction of protective eyewear use in popular television programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Glazier, Robert; Slade, Martin; Mayer, Hylton

2011-04-01

Media portrayal of health related activities may influence health related behaviors in adult and pediatric populations. This study characterizes the depiction of protective eyewear use in the scripted television programs most viewed by the age group that sustains the largest proportion of eye injuries. Viewership ratings data were acquired to assemble a list of the 24 most-watched scripted network broadcast programs for the 13-year-old to 45-year-old age group. The six highest average viewership programs that met the exclusion criteria were selected for analysis. Review of 30 episodes revealed a total of 258 exposure scenes in which an individual was engaged in an activity requiring eye protection (mean, 8.3 exposure scenes per episode; median, 5 exposure scenes per episode). Overall, 66 (26%) of exposure scenes depicted the use of any eye protection, while only 32 (12%) of exposure scenes depicted the use of adequate eye protection. No incidences of eye injuries or infectious exposures were depicted within the exposure scenes in the study set. The depiction of adequate protective eyewear use during eye-risk activities is rare in network scripted broadcast programs. Healthcare professionals and health advocacy groups should continue to work to improve public education about eye injury risks and prevention; these efforts could include working with the television industry to improve the accuracy of the depiction of eye injuries and the proper protective eyewear used for prevention of injuries in scripted programming. Future studies are needed to examine the relationship between media depiction of eye protection use and viewer compliance rates.

Phylogenetic trait-based analyses of ecological networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Rafferty, Nicole E; Ives, Anthony R

2013-10-01

Ecological networks of two interacting guilds of species, such as flowering plants and pollinators, are common in nature, and studying their structure can yield insights into their resilience to environmental disturbances. Here we develop analytical methods for exploring the strengths of interactions within bipartite networks consisting of two guilds of phylogenetically related species. We then apply these methods to investigate the resilience of a plant-pollinator community to anticipated climate change. The methods allow the statistical assessment of, for example, whether closely related pollinators are more likely to visit plants with similar relative frequencies, and whether closely related pollinators tend to visit closely related plants. The methods can also incorporate trait information, allowing us to identify which plant traits are likely responsible for attracting different pollinators. These questions are important for our study of 14 prairie plants and their 22 insect pollinators. Over the last 70 years, six of the plants have advanced their flowering, while eight have not. When we experimentally forced earlier flowering times, five of the six advanced-flowering species experienced higher pollinator visitation rates, whereas only one of the eight other species had more visits; this network thus appears resilient to climate change, because those species with advanced flowering have ample pollinators earlier in the season. Using the methods developed here, we show that advanced-flowering plants did not have a distinct pollinator community from the other eight species. Furthermore, pollinator phylogeny did not explain pollinator community composition; closely related pollinators were not more likely to visit the same plant species. However, differences among pollinator communities visiting different plants were explained by plant height, floral color, and symmetry. As a result, closely related plants attracted similar numbers of pollinators. By parsing out

Evolution of feeding specialization in Tanganyikan scale-eating cichlids: a molecular phylogenetic approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nishida Mutsumi

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika exhibit remarkable diversity in their feeding habits. Among them, seven species in the genus Perissodus are known for their unique feeding habit of scale eating with specialized feeding morphology and behaviour. Although the origin of the scale-eating habit has long been questioned, its evolutionary process is still unknown. In the present study, we conducted interspecific phylogenetic analyses for all nine known species in the tribe Perissodini (seven Perissodus and two Haplotaxodon species using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP analyses of the nuclear DNA. On the basis of the resultant phylogenetic frameworks, the evolution of their feeding habits was traced using data from analyses of stomach contents, habitat depths, and observations of oral jaw tooth morphology. Results AFLP analyses resolved the phylogenetic relationships of the Perissodini, strongly supporting monophyly for each species. The character reconstruction of feeding ecology based on the AFLP tree suggested that scale eating evolved from general carnivorous feeding to highly specialized scale eating. Furthermore, scale eating is suggested to have evolved in deepwater habitats in the lake. Oral jaw tooth shape was also estimated to have diverged in step with specialization for scale eating. Conclusion The present evolutionary analyses of feeding ecology and morphology based on the obtained phylogenetic tree demonstrate for the first time the evolutionary process leading from generalised to highly specialized scale eating, with diversification in feeding morphology and behaviour among species.

Estimating phylogenetic trees from genome-scale data.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Liang; Xi, Zhenxiang; Wu, Shaoyuan; Davis, Charles C; Edwards, Scott V

2015-12-01

The heterogeneity of signals in the genomes of diverse organisms poses challenges for traditional phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetic methods known as "species tree" methods have been proposed to directly address one important source of gene tree heterogeneity, namely the incomplete lineage sorting that occurs when evolving lineages radiate rapidly, resulting in a diversity of gene trees from a single underlying species tree. Here we review theory and empirical examples that help clarify conflicts between species tree and concatenation methods, and misconceptions in the literature about the performance of species tree methods. Considering concatenation as a special case of the multispecies coalescent model helps explain differences in the behavior of the two methods on phylogenomic data sets. Recent work suggests that species tree methods are more robust than concatenation approaches to some of the classic challenges of phylogenetic analysis, including rapidly evolving sites in DNA sequences and long-branch attraction. We show that approaches, such as binning, designed to augment the signal in species tree analyses can distort the distribution of gene trees and are inconsistent. Computationally efficient species tree methods incorporating biological realism are a key to phylogenetic analysis of whole-genome data. © 2015 New York Academy of Sciences.

Depicted serving size: cereal packaging pictures exaggerate serving sizes and promote overserving.

Science.gov (United States)

Tal, Aner; Niemann, Stina; Wansink, Brian

2017-02-06

Extensive work has focused on the effects of nutrition label information on consumer behavior on the one hand, and on the effects of packaging graphics on the other hand. However, little work has examined how serving suggestion depictions - graphics relating to serving size - influence the quantity consumers serve themselves. The current work examines the prevalence of exaggerated serving size depictions on product packaging (study 1) and its effects on food serving in the context of cereal (study 2). Study 1 was an observational field survey of cereal packaging. Study 2 was a mixed experimental cross-sectional design conducted at a U.S. university, with 51 student participants. Study 1 coded 158 US breakfast cereals and compared the serving sizes depicted on the front of the box with the suggested serving size stated on the nutrition facts panel. Study 2 measured the amount of cereal poured from exaggerated or accurate serving size depictions. Study 1 compared average servings via t-tests. Study 2 used a mixed model with cereal type as the repeated measure and a compound symmetry covariance matrix. Study 1 demonstrated that portion size depictions on the front of 158 cereal boxes were 65.84% larger (221 vs. 134 calories) than the recommended portions on nutrition facts panels of those cereals. Study 2 showed that boxes that depicted exaggerated serving sizes led people to pour 20% more cereal compared to pouring from modified boxes that depicted a single-size portion of cereal matching suggested serving size. This was 45% over the suggested serving size. Biases in depicted serving size depicted on cereal packaging are prevalent in the marketplace. Such biases may lead to overserving, which may consequently lead to overeating. Companies should depict the recommended serving sizes, or otherwise indicate that the depicted portion represents an exaggerated serving size.

Depicted serving size: cereal packaging pictures exaggerate serving sizes and promote overserving

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aner Tal

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Extensive work has focused on the effects of nutrition label information on consumer behavior on the one hand, and on the effects of packaging graphics on the other hand. However, little work has examined how serving suggestion depictions - graphics relating to serving size - influence the quantity consumers serve themselves. The current work examines the prevalence of exaggerated serving size depictions on product packaging (study 1 and its effects on food serving in the context of cereal (study 2. Methods Study 1 was an observational field survey of cereal packaging. Study 2 was a mixed experimental cross-sectional design conducted at a U.S. university, with 51 student participants. Study 1 coded 158 US breakfast cereals and compared the serving sizes depicted on the front of the box with the suggested serving size stated on the nutrition facts panel. Study 2 measured the amount of cereal poured from exaggerated or accurate serving size depictions. Study 1 compared average servings via t-tests. Study 2 used a mixed model with cereal type as the repeated measure and a compound symmetry covariance matrix. Results Study 1 demonstrated that portion size depictions on the front of 158 cereal boxes were 64.7% larger (221 vs. 134 calories than the recommended portions on nutrition facts panels of those cereals. Study 2 showed that boxes that depicted exaggerated serving sizes led people to pour 17.8% more cereal compared to pouring from modified boxes that depicted a single-size portion of cereal matching suggested serving size. This was 42% over the suggested serving size. Conclusions Biases in depicted serving size depicted on cereal packaging are prevalent in the marketplace. Such biases may lead to overserving, which may consequently lead to overeating. Companies should depict the recommended serving sizes, or otherwise indicate that the depicted portion represents an exaggerated serving size.

Hedysarum L. (Fabaceae: Hedysareae) Is Not Monophyletic - Evidence from Phylogenetic Analyses Based on Five Nuclear and Five Plastid Sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Pei-Liang; Wen, Jun; Duan, Lei; Arslan, Emine; Ertuğrul, Kuddisi; Chang, Zhao-Yang

2017-01-01

The legume family (Fabaceae) exhibits a high level of species diversity and evolutionary success worldwide. Previous phylogenetic studies of the genus Hedysarum L. (Fabaceae: Hedysareae) showed that the nuclear and the plastid topologies might be incongruent, and the systematic position of the Hedysarum sect. Stracheya clade was uncertain. In this study, phylogenetic relationships of Hedysarum were investigated based on the nuclear ITS, ETS, PGDH, SQD1, TRPT and the plastid psbA-trnH, trnC-petN, trnL-trnF, trnS-trnG, petN-psbM sequences. Both nuclear and plastid data support two major lineages in Hedysarum: the Hedysarum s.s. clade and the Sartoria clade. In the nuclear tree, Hedysarum is biphyletic with the Hedysarum s.s. clade sister to the Corethrodendron + Eversmannia + Greuteria + Onobrychis clade (the CEGO clade), whereas the Sartoria clade is sister to the genus Taverniera DC. In the plastid tree, Hedysarum is monophyletic and sister to Taverniera. The incongruent position of the Hedysarum s.s. clade between the nuclear and plastid trees may be best explained by a chloroplast capture hypothesis via introgression. The Hedysarum sect. Stracheya clade is resolved as sister to the H. sect. Hedysarum clade in both nuclear and plastid trees, and our analyses support merging Stracheya into Hedysarum. Based on our new evidence from multiple sequences, Hedysarum is not monophyletic, and its generic delimitation needs to be reconsidered.

Phylogenetic analyses of the polyprotein coding sequences of serotype O foot-and-mouth disease viruses in East Africa: evidence for interserotypic recombination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Balinda Sheila N

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD is endemic in East Africa with the majority of the reported outbreaks attributed to serotype O virus. In this study, phylogenetic analyses of the polyprotein coding region of serotype O FMD viruses from Kenya and Uganda has been undertaken to infer evolutionary relationships and processes responsible for the generation and maintenance of diversity within this serotype. FMD virus RNA was obtained from six samples following virus isolation in cell culture and in one case by direct extraction from an oropharyngeal sample. Following RT-PCR, the single long open reading frame, encoding the polyprotein, was sequenced. Results Phylogenetic comparisons of the VP1 coding region showed that the recent East African viruses belong to one lineage within the EA-2 topotype while an older Kenyan strain, K/52/1992 is a representative of the topotype EA-1. Evolutionary relationships between the coding regions for the leader protease (L, the capsid region and almost the entire coding region are monophyletic except for the K/52/1992 which is distinct. Furthermore, phylogenetic relationships for the P2 and P3 regions suggest that the K/52/1992 is a probable recombinant between serotypes A and O. A bootscan analysis of K/52/1992 with East African FMD serotype A viruses (A21/KEN/1964 and A23/KEN/1965 and serotype O viral isolate (K/117/1999 revealed that the P2 region is probably derived from a serotype A strain while the P3 region appears to be a mosaic derived from both serotypes A and O. Conclusions Sequences of the VP1 coding region from recent serotype O FMDVs from Kenya and Uganda are all representatives of a specific East African lineage (topotype EA-2, a probable indication that hardly any FMD introductions of this serotype have occurred from outside the region in the recent past. Furthermore, evidence for interserotypic recombination, within the non-structural protein coding regions, between FMDVs of serotypes A

Comprehensive untargeted metabolomics of Lychnnophorinae subtribe (Asteraceae: Vernonieae) in a phylogenetic context.

Science.gov (United States)

Martucci, Maria Elvira Poleti; Loeuille, Benoit; Pirani, José Rubens; Gobbo-Neto, Leonardo

2018-01-01

Members of the subtribe Lychnophorinae occur mostly within the Cerrado domain of the Brazilian Central Plateau. The relationships between its 11 genera, as well as between Lychnophorinae and other subtribes belonging to the tribe Vernonieae, have recently been investigated upon a phylogeny based on molecular and morphological data. We report the use of a comprehensive untargeted metabolomics approach, combining HPLC-MS and GC-MS data, followed by multivariate analyses aiming to assess the congruence between metabolomics data and the phylogenetic hypothesis, as well as its potential as a chemotaxonomic tool. We analyzed 78 species by UHPLC-MS and GC-MS in both positive and negative ionization modes. The metabolic profiles obtained for these species were treated in MetAlign and in MSClust and the matrices generated were used in SIMCA for hierarchical cluster analyses, principal component analyses and orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis. The results showed that metabolomic analyses are mostly congruent with the phylogenetic hypothesis especially at lower taxonomic levels (Lychnophora or Eremanthus). Our results confirm that data generated using metabolomics provide evidence for chemotaxonomical studies, especially for phylogenetic inference of the Lychnophorinae subtribe and insight into the evolution of the secondary metabolites of this group.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Dodonaea viscosa: comparative and phylogenetic analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Saina, Josphat K; Gichira, Andrew W; Li, Zhi-Zhong; Hu, Guang-Wan; Wang, Qing-Feng; Liao, Kuo

2018-02-01

The plant chloroplast (cp) genome is a highly conserved structure which is beneficial for evolution and systematic research. Currently, numerous complete cp genome sequences have been reported due to high throughput sequencing technology. However, there is no complete chloroplast genome of genus Dodonaea that has been reported before. To better understand the molecular basis of Dodonaea viscosa chloroplast, we used Illumina sequencing technology to sequence its complete genome. The whole length of the cp genome is 159,375 base pairs (bp), with a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 27,099 bp separated by a large single copy (LSC) 87,204 bp, and small single copy (SSC) 17,972 bp. The annotation analysis revealed a total of 115 unique genes of which 81 were protein coding, 30 tRNA, and four ribosomal RNA genes. Comparative genome analysis with other closely related Sapindaceae members showed conserved gene order in the inverted and single copy regions. Phylogenetic analysis clustered D. viscosa with other species of Sapindaceae with strong bootstrap support. Finally, a total of 249 SSRs were detected. Moreover, a comparison of the synonymous (Ks) and nonsynonymous (Ka) substitution rates in D. viscosa showed very low values. The availability of cp genome reported here provides a valuable genetic resource for comprehensive further studies in genetic variation, taxonomy and phylogenetic evolution of Sapindaceae family. In addition, SSR markers detected will be used in further phylogeographic and population structure studies of the species in this genus.

Landscape Patterns in Rainforest Phylogenetic Signal: Isolated Islands of Refugia or Structured Continental Distributions?

Science.gov (United States)

Kooyman, Robert M.; Rossetto, Maurizio; Sauquet, Hervé; Laffan, Shawn W.

2013-01-01

Objectives Identify patterns of change in species distributions, diversity, concentrations of evolutionary history, and assembly of Australian rainforests. Methods We used the distribution records of all known rainforest woody species in Australia across their full continental extent. These were analysed using measures of species richness, phylogenetic diversity (PD), phylogenetic endemism (PE) and phylogenetic structure (net relatedness index; NRI). Phylogenetic structure was assessed using both continental and regional species pools. To test the influence of growth-form, freestanding and climbing plants were analysed independently, and in combination. Results Species richness decreased along two generally orthogonal continental axes, corresponding with wet to seasonally dry and tropical to temperate habitats. The PE analyses identified four main areas of substantially restricted phylogenetic diversity, including parts of Cape York, Wet Tropics, Border Ranges, and Tasmania. The continental pool NRI results showed evenness (species less related than expected by chance) in groups of grid cells in coastally aligned areas of species rich tropical and sub-tropical rainforest, and in low diversity moist forest areas in the south-east of the Great Dividing Range and in Tasmania. Monsoon and drier vine forests, and moist forests inland from upland refugia showed phylogenetic clustering, reflecting lower diversity and more relatedness. Signals for evenness in Tasmania and clustering in northern monsoon forests weakened in analyses using regional species pools. For climbing plants, values for NRI by grid cell showed strong spatial structuring, with high diversity and PE concentrated in moist tropical and subtropical regions. Conclusions/Significance Concentrations of rainforest evolutionary history (phylo-diversity) were patchily distributed within a continuum of species distributions. Contrasting with previous concepts of rainforest community distribution, our findings of

Landscape patterns in rainforest phylogenetic signal: isolated islands of refugia or structured continental distributions?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert M Kooyman

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: Identify patterns of change in species distributions, diversity, concentrations of evolutionary history, and assembly of Australian rainforests. METHODS: We used the distribution records of all known rainforest woody species in Australia across their full continental extent. These were analysed using measures of species richness, phylogenetic diversity (PD, phylogenetic endemism (PE and phylogenetic structure (net relatedness index; NRI. Phylogenetic structure was assessed using both continental and regional species pools. To test the influence of growth-form, freestanding and climbing plants were analysed independently, and in combination. RESULTS: Species richness decreased along two generally orthogonal continental axes, corresponding with wet to seasonally dry and tropical to temperate habitats. The PE analyses identified four main areas of substantially restricted phylogenetic diversity, including parts of Cape York, Wet Tropics, Border Ranges, and Tasmania. The continental pool NRI results showed evenness (species less related than expected by chance in groups of grid cells in coastally aligned areas of species rich tropical and sub-tropical rainforest, and in low diversity moist forest areas in the south-east of the Great Dividing Range and in Tasmania. Monsoon and drier vine forests, and moist forests inland from upland refugia showed phylogenetic clustering, reflecting lower diversity and more relatedness. Signals for evenness in Tasmania and clustering in northern monsoon forests weakened in analyses using regional species pools. For climbing plants, values for NRI by grid cell showed strong spatial structuring, with high diversity and PE concentrated in moist tropical and subtropical regions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Concentrations of rainforest evolutionary history (phylo-diversity were patchily distributed within a continuum of species distributions. Contrasting with previous concepts of rainforest community

Host specialization and phylogenetic diversity of Corynespora cassiicola.

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, L J; Schlub, R L; Pernezny, K; Datnoff, L E

2009-09-01

The fungus Corynespora cassiicola is primarily found in the tropics and subtropics, and is widely diverse in substrate utilization and host association. Isolate characterization within C. cassiicola was undertaken to investigate how genetic diversity correlates with host specificity, growth rate, and geographic distribution. C. cassiicola isolates were collected from 68 different plant species in American Samoa, Brazil, Malaysia, and Micronesia, and Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee within the United States. Phylogenetic analyses using four loci were performed with 143 Corynespora spp. isolates, including outgroup taxa obtained from culture collections: C. citricola, C. melongenae, C. olivacea, C. proliferata, C. sesamum, and C. smithii. Phylogenetic trees were congruent from the ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region, two random hypervariable loci (caa5 and ga4), and the actin-encoding locus act1, indicating a lack of recombination within the species and asexual propagation. Fifty isolates were tested for pathogenicity on eight known C. cassiicola crop hosts: basil, bean, cowpea, cucumber, papaya, soybean, sweet potato, and tomato. Pathogenicity profiles ranged from one to four hosts, with cucumber appearing in 14 of the 16 profiles. Bootstrap analyses and Bayesian posterior probability values identified six statistically significant phylogenetic lineages. The six phylogenetic lineages correlated with host of origin, pathogenicity, and growth rate but not with geographic location. Common fungal genotypes were widely distributed geographically, indicating long-distance and global dispersal of clonal lineages. This research reveals an abundance of previously unrecognized genetic diversity within the species and provides evidence for host specialization on papaya.

Chromosomal evolution and phylogenetic analyses in Tayassu ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Chromosome preparation and karyotype description. The material analysed consists of chromosome preparations of the tayassuid species T. pecari (three individuals) and. P. tajacu (four individuals) and were made from short-term lymphocyte cultures of whole blood samples using standard protocols (Chaves et al. 2002).

Comprehensive phylogenetic reconstruction of amoebozoa based on concatenated analyses of SSU-rDNA and actin genes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel J G Lahr

Full Text Available Evolutionary relationships within Amoebozoa have been the subject of controversy for two reasons: 1 paucity of morphological characters in traditional surveys and 2 haphazard taxonomic sampling in modern molecular reconstructions. These along with other factors have prevented the erection of a definitive system that resolves confidently both higher and lower-level relationships. Additionally, the recent recognition that many protosteloid amoebae are in fact scattered throughout the Amoebozoa suggests that phylogenetic reconstructions have been excluding an extensive and integral group of organisms. Here we provide a comprehensive phylogenetic reconstruction based on 139 taxa using molecular information from both SSU-rDNA and actin genes. We provide molecular data for 13 of those taxa, 12 of which had not been previously characterized. We explored the dataset extensively by generating 18 alternative reconstructions that assess the effect of missing data, long-branched taxa, unstable taxa, fast evolving sites and inclusion of environmental sequences. We compared reconstructions with each other as well as against previously published phylogenies. Our analyses show that many of the morphologically established lower-level relationships (defined here as relationships roughly equivalent to Order level or below are congruent with molecular data. However, the data are insufficient to corroborate or reject the large majority of proposed higher-level relationships (above the Order-level, with the exception of Tubulinea, Archamoebae and Myxogastrea, which are consistently recovered. Moreover, contrary to previous expectations, the inclusion of available environmental sequences does not significantly improve the Amoebozoa reconstruction. This is probably because key amoebozoan taxa are not easily amplified by environmental sequencing methodology due to high rates of molecular evolution and regular occurrence of large indels and introns. Finally, in an effort

Comprehensive phylogenetic reconstruction of amoebozoa based on concatenated analyses of SSU-rDNA and actin genes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lahr, Daniel J G; Grant, Jessica; Nguyen, Truc; Lin, Jian Hua; Katz, Laura A

2011-01-01

Evolutionary relationships within Amoebozoa have been the subject of controversy for two reasons: 1) paucity of morphological characters in traditional surveys and 2) haphazard taxonomic sampling in modern molecular reconstructions. These along with other factors have prevented the erection of a definitive system that resolves confidently both higher and lower-level relationships. Additionally, the recent recognition that many protosteloid amoebae are in fact scattered throughout the Amoebozoa suggests that phylogenetic reconstructions have been excluding an extensive and integral group of organisms. Here we provide a comprehensive phylogenetic reconstruction based on 139 taxa using molecular information from both SSU-rDNA and actin genes. We provide molecular data for 13 of those taxa, 12 of which had not been previously characterized. We explored the dataset extensively by generating 18 alternative reconstructions that assess the effect of missing data, long-branched taxa, unstable taxa, fast evolving sites and inclusion of environmental sequences. We compared reconstructions with each other as well as against previously published phylogenies. Our analyses show that many of the morphologically established lower-level relationships (defined here as relationships roughly equivalent to Order level or below) are congruent with molecular data. However, the data are insufficient to corroborate or reject the large majority of proposed higher-level relationships (above the Order-level), with the exception of Tubulinea, Archamoebae and Myxogastrea, which are consistently recovered. Moreover, contrary to previous expectations, the inclusion of available environmental sequences does not significantly improve the Amoebozoa reconstruction. This is probably because key amoebozoan taxa are not easily amplified by environmental sequencing methodology due to high rates of molecular evolution and regular occurrence of large indels and introns. Finally, in an effort to facilitate

Soundtrack contents and depicted sexual violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfaus, J G; Myronuk, L D; Jacobs, W J

1986-06-01

Male undergraduates were exposed to a videotaped depiction of heterosexual rape accompanied by one of three soundtracks: the original soundtrack (featuring dialogue and background rock music), relaxing music, or no sound. Subjective reports of sexual arousal, general enjoyment, perceived erotic content, and perceived pornographic content of the sequence were then provided by each subject. Results indicated that males exposed to the videotape accompanied by the original soundtrack found the sequence significantly more pornographic than males exposed to the sequence accompanied by either relaxing background music or no sound. Ratings of sexual arousal, general enjoyment, and the perceived erotic content, however, did not differ significantly across soundtrack conditions. These results are compatible with the assertion that the content of a video soundtrack may influence the impact of depicted sexual violence.

The Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequences of Five Epimedium Species: Lights into Phylogenetic and Taxonomic Analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yanjun; Du, Liuwen; Liu, Ao; Chen, Jianjun; Wu, Li; Hu, Weiming; Zhang, Wei; Kim, Kyunghee; Lee, Sang-Choon; Yang, Tae-Jin; Wang, Ying

2016-01-01

Epimedium L. is a phylogenetically and economically important genus in the family Berberidaceae. We here sequenced the complete chloroplast (cp) genomes of four Epimedium species using Illumina sequencing technology via a combination of de novo and reference-guided assembly, which was also the first comprehensive cp genome analysis on Epimedium combining the cp genome sequence of E. koreanum previously reported. The five Epimedium cp genomes exhibited typical quadripartite and circular structure that was rather conserved in genomic structure and the synteny of gene order. However, these cp genomes presented obvious variations at the boundaries of the four regions because of the expansion and contraction of the inverted repeat (IR) region and the single-copy (SC) boundary regions. The trnQ-UUG duplication occurred in the five Epimedium cp genomes, which was not found in the other basal eudicotyledons. The rapidly evolving cp genome regions were detected among the five cp genomes, as well as the difference of simple sequence repeats (SSR) and repeat sequence were identified. Phylogenetic relationships among the five Epimedium species based on their cp genomes showed accordance with the updated system of the genus on the whole, but reminded that the evolutionary relationships and the divisions of the genus need further investigation applying more evidences. The availability of these cp genomes provided valuable genetic information for accurately identifying species, taxonomy and phylogenetic resolution and evolution of Epimedium, and assist in exploration and utilization of Epimedium plants. PMID:27014326

The complete chloroplast genome sequences of five Epimedium species: lights into phylogenetic and taxonomic analyses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanjun eZhang

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Epimedium L. is a phylogenetically and economically important genus in the family Berberidaceae. We here sequenced the complete chloroplast (cp genomes of four Epimedium species using Illumina sequencing technology via a combination of de novo and reference-guided assembly, which was also the first comprehensive cp genome analysis on Epimedium combining the cp genome sequence of E. koreanum previously reported. The five Epimedium cp genomes exhibited typical quadripartite and circular structure that was rather conserved in genomic structure and the synteny of gene order. However, these cp genomes presented obvious variations at the boundaries of the four regions because of the expansion and contraction of the inverted repeat (IR region and the single-copy (SC boundary regions. The trnQ-UUG duplication occurred in the five Epimedium cp genomes, which was not found in the other basal eudicotyledons. The rapidly evolving cp genome regions were detected among the five cp genomes, as well as the difference of simple sequence repeats (SSR and repeat sequence were identified. Phylogenetic relationships among the five Epimedium species based on their cp genomes showed accordance with the updated system of the genus on the whole, but reminded that the evolutionary relationships and the divisions of the genus need further investigation applying more evidences. The availability of these cp genomes provided valuable genetic information for accurately identifying species, taxonomy and phylogenetic resolution and evolution of Epimedium, and assist in exploration and utilization of Epimedium plants.

Cinematography and character depiction

OpenAIRE

William Francis Nicholson

2011-01-01

This essay investigates the ways in which cinematography can be used in depicting characters effectively in the motion picture medium. Since an aspiring filmmaker may be overwhelmed by the expansive field of cinematography, this essay aims to demystify and systematise this aspect of filmmaking. It combines information from written sources (mostly text books on filmmaking and cinematography) with observations made from viewing recent and older feature films. The knowledge is organised under th...

Turnover of plant lineages shapes herbivore phylogenetic beta diversity along ecological gradients.

Science.gov (United States)

Pellissier, Loïc; Ndiribe, Charlotte; Dubuis, Anne; Pradervand, Jean-Nicolas; Salamin, Nicolas; Guisan, Antoine; Rasmann, Sergio

2013-05-01

Understanding drivers of biodiversity patterns is of prime importance in this era of severe environmental crisis. More diverse plant communities have been postulated to represent a larger functional trait-space, more likely to sustain a diverse assembly of herbivore species. Here, we expand this hypothesis to integrate environmental, functional and phylogenetic variation of plant communities as factors explaining the diversity of lepidopteran assemblages along elevation gradients in the Swiss Western Alps. According to expectations, we found that the association between butterflies and their host plants is highly phylogenetically structured. Multiple regression analyses showed the combined effect of climate, functional traits and phylogenetic diversity in structuring butterfly communities. Furthermore, we provide the first evidence that plant phylogenetic beta diversity is the major driver explaining butterfly phylogenetic beta diversity. Along ecological gradients, the bottom up control of herbivore diversity is thus driven by phylogenetically structured turnover of plant traits as well as environmental variables. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Evaluation of atpB nucleotide sequences for phylogenetic studies of ferns and other pteridophytes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, P

1997-10-01

Inferring basal relationships among vascular plants poses a major challenge to plant systematists. The divergence events that describe these relationships occurred long ago and considerable homoplasy has since accrued for both molecular and morphological characters. A potential solution is to examine phylogenetic analyses from multiple data sets. Here I present a new source of phylogenetic data for ferns and other pteridophytes. I sequenced the chloroplast gene atpB from 23 pteridophyte taxa and used maximum parsimony to infer relationships. A 588-bp region of the gene appeared to contain a statistically significant amount of phylogenetic signal and the resulting trees were largely congruent with similar analyses of nucleotide sequences from rbcL. However, a combined analysis of atpB plus rbcL produced a better resolved tree than did either data set alone. In the shortest trees, leptosporangiate ferns formed a monophyletic group. Also, I detected a well-supported clade of Psilotaceae (Psilotum and Tmesipteris) plus Ophioglossaceae (Ophioglossum and Botrychium). The demonstrated utility of atpB suggests that sequences from this gene should play a role in phylogenetic analyses that incorporate data from chloroplast genes, nuclear genes, morphology, and fossil data.

Mitogenomic analyses from ancient DNA

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Paijmans, Johanna L. A.; Gilbert, Tom; Hofreiter, Michael

2013-01-01

The analysis of ancient DNA is playing an increasingly important role in conservation genetic, phylogenetic and population genetic analyses, as it allows incorporating extinct species into DNA sequence trees and adds time depth to population genetics studies. For many years, these types of DNA...... analyses (whether using modern or ancient DNA) were largely restricted to the analysis of short fragments of the mitochondrial genome. However, due to many technological advances during the past decade, a growing number of studies have explored the power of complete mitochondrial genome sequences...... yielded major progress with regard to both the phylogenetic positions of extinct species, as well as resolving population genetics questions in both extinct and extant species....

Marine turtle mitogenome phylogenetics and evolution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duchene, Sebastián; Frey, Amy; Alfaro-Núñez, Luis Alonso

2012-01-01

The sea turtles are a group of cretaceous origin containing seven recognized living species: leatherback, hawksbill, Kemp's ridley, olive ridley, loggerhead, green, and flatback. The leatherback is the single member of the Dermochelidae family, whereas all other sea turtles belong in Cheloniidae...... distributions, shedding light on complex migration patterns and possible geographic or climatic events as driving forces of sea-turtle distribution. We have sequenced complete mitogenomes for all sea-turtle species, including samples from their geographic range extremes, and performed phylogenetic analyses...... to assess sea-turtle evolution with a large molecular dataset. We found variation in the length of the ATP8 gene and a highly variable site in ND4 near a proton translocation channel in the resulting protein. Complete mitogenomes show strong support and resolution for phylogenetic relationships among all...

A guide to phylogenetic metrics for conservation, community ecology and macroecology

Science.gov (United States)

Cadotte, Marc W.; Carvalho, Silvia B.; Davies, T. Jonathan; Ferrier, Simon; Fritz, Susanne A.; Grenyer, Rich; Helmus, Matthew R.; Jin, Lanna S.; Mooers, Arne O.; Pavoine, Sandrine; Purschke, Oliver; Redding, David W.; Rosauer, Dan F.; Winter, Marten; Mazel, Florent

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT The use of phylogenies in ecology is increasingly common and has broadened our understanding of biological diversity. Ecological sub‐disciplines, particularly conservation, community ecology and macroecology, all recognize the value of evolutionary relationships but the resulting development of phylogenetic approaches has led to a proliferation of phylogenetic diversity metrics. The use of many metrics across the sub‐disciplines hampers potential meta‐analyses, syntheses, and generalizations of existing results. Further, there is no guide for selecting the appropriate metric for a given question, and different metrics are frequently used to address similar questions. To improve the choice, application, and interpretation of phylo‐diversity metrics, we organize existing metrics by expanding on a unifying framework for phylogenetic information. Generally, questions about phylogenetic relationships within or between assemblages tend to ask three types of question: how much; how different; or how regular? We show that these questions reflect three dimensions of a phylogenetic tree: richness, divergence, and regularity. We classify 70 existing phylo‐diversity metrics based on their mathematical form within these three dimensions and identify ‘anchor’ representatives: for α‐diversity metrics these are PD (Faith's phylogenetic diversity), MPD (mean pairwise distance), and VPD (variation of pairwise distances). By analysing mathematical formulae and using simulations, we use this framework to identify metrics that mix dimensions, and we provide a guide to choosing and using the most appropriate metrics. We show that metric choice requires connecting the research question with the correct dimension of the framework and that there are logical approaches to selecting and interpreting metrics. The guide outlined herein will help researchers navigate the current jungle of indices. PMID:26785932

Phylogenetic inference in Rafflesiales: the influence of rate heterogeneity and horizontal gene transfer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vidal-Russell Romina

2004-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The phylogenetic relationships among the holoparasites of Rafflesiales have remained enigmatic for over a century. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies using the mitochondrial matR gene placed Rafflesia, Rhizanthes and Sapria (Rafflesiaceae s. str. in the angiosperm order Malpighiales and Mitrastema (Mitrastemonaceae in Ericales. These phylogenetic studies did not, however, sample two additional groups traditionally classified within Rafflesiales (Apodantheaceae and Cytinaceae. Here we provide molecular phylogenetic evidence using DNA sequence data from mitochondrial and nuclear genes for representatives of all genera in Rafflesiales. Results Our analyses indicate that the phylogenetic affinities of the large-flowered clade and Mitrastema, ascertained using mitochondrial matR, are congruent with results from nuclear SSU rDNA when these data are analyzed using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. The relationship of Cytinaceae to Malvales was recovered in all analyses. Relationships between Apodanthaceae and photosynthetic angiosperms varied depending upon the data partition: Malvales (3-gene, Cucurbitales (matR or Fabales (atp1. The latter incongruencies suggest that horizontal gene transfer (HGT may be affecting the mitochondrial gene topologies. The lack of association between Mitrastema and Ericales using atp1 is suggestive of HGT, but greater sampling within eudicots is needed to test this hypothesis further. Conclusions Rafflesiales are not monophyletic but composed of three or four independent lineages (families: Rafflesiaceae, Mitrastemonaceae, Apodanthaceae and Cytinaceae. Long-branch attraction appears to be misleading parsimony analyses of nuclear small-subunit rDNA data, but model-based methods (maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses recover a topology that is congruent with the mitochondrial matR gene tree, thus providing compelling evidence for organismal relationships. Horizontal gene transfer appears to

Comprehensive untargeted metabolomics of Lychnnophorinae subtribe (Asteraceae: Vernonieae in a phylogenetic context.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Elvira Poleti Martucci

Full Text Available Members of the subtribe Lychnophorinae occur mostly within the Cerrado domain of the Brazilian Central Plateau. The relationships between its 11 genera, as well as between Lychnophorinae and other subtribes belonging to the tribe Vernonieae, have recently been investigated upon a phylogeny based on molecular and morphological data. We report the use of a comprehensive untargeted metabolomics approach, combining HPLC-MS and GC-MS data, followed by multivariate analyses aiming to assess the congruence between metabolomics data and the phylogenetic hypothesis, as well as its potential as a chemotaxonomic tool. We analyzed 78 species by UHPLC-MS and GC-MS in both positive and negative ionization modes. The metabolic profiles obtained for these species were treated in MetAlign and in MSClust and the matrices generated were used in SIMCA for hierarchical cluster analyses, principal component analyses and orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis. The results showed that metabolomic analyses are mostly congruent with the phylogenetic hypothesis especially at lower taxonomic levels (Lychnophora or Eremanthus. Our results confirm that data generated using metabolomics provide evidence for chemotaxonomical studies, especially for phylogenetic inference of the Lychnophorinae subtribe and insight into the evolution of the secondary metabolites of this group.

Hedysarum L. (Fabaceae: Hedysareae) Is Not Monophyletic – Evidence from Phylogenetic Analyses Based on Five Nuclear and Five Plastid Sequences

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Pei-Liang; Wen, Jun; Duan, Lei; Arslan, Emine; Ertuğrul, Kuddisi; Chang, Zhao-Yang

2017-01-01

The legume family (Fabaceae) exhibits a high level of species diversity and evolutionary success worldwide. Previous phylogenetic studies of the genus Hedysarum L. (Fabaceae: Hedysareae) showed that the nuclear and the plastid topologies might be incongruent, and the systematic position of the Hedysarum sect. Stracheya clade was uncertain. In this study, phylogenetic relationships of Hedysarum were investigated based on the nuclear ITS, ETS, PGDH, SQD1, TRPT and the plastid psbA-trnH, trnC-petN, trnL-trnF, trnS-trnG, petN-psbM sequences. Both nuclear and plastid data support two major lineages in Hedysarum: the Hedysarum s.s. clade and the Sartoria clade. In the nuclear tree, Hedysarum is biphyletic with the Hedysarum s.s. clade sister to the Corethrodendron + Eversmannia + Greuteria + Onobrychis clade (the CEGO clade), whereas the Sartoria clade is sister to the genus Taverniera DC. In the plastid tree, Hedysarum is monophyletic and sister to Taverniera. The incongruent position of the Hedysarum s.s. clade between the nuclear and plastid trees may be best explained by a chloroplast capture hypothesis via introgression. The Hedysarum sect. Stracheya clade is resolved as sister to the H. sect. Hedysarum clade in both nuclear and plastid trees, and our analyses support merging Stracheya into Hedysarum. Based on our new evidence from multiple sequences, Hedysarum is not monophyletic, and its generic delimitation needs to be reconsidered. PMID:28122062

Phylogenetically diverse macrophyte community promotes species diversity of mobile epi-benthic invertebrates

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamoto, Kenta; Hayakawa, Jun; Kawamura, Tomohiko; Kodama, Masafumi; Yamada, Hideaki; Kitagawa, Takashi; Watanabe, Yoshiro

2018-07-01

Various aspects of plant diversity such as species diversity and phylogenetic diversity enhance the species diversity of associated animals in terrestrial systems. In marine systems, however, the effects of macrophyte diversity on the species diversity of associated animals have received little attention. Here, we sampled in a subtropical seagrass-seaweed mixed bed to elucidate the effect of the macrophyte phylogenetic diversity based on the taxonomic relatedness as well as the macrophyte species diversity on species diversity of mobile epi-benthic invertebrates. Using regression analyses for each macrophyte parameter as well as multiple regression analyses, we found that the macrophyte phylogenetic diversity (taxonomic diversity index: Delta) positively influenced the invertebrate species richness and diversity index (H‧). Although the macrophyte species richness and H‧ also positively influenced the invertebrate species richness, the best fit model for invertebrate species richness did not include them, suggesting that the macrophyte species diversity indirectly influenced invertebrate species diversity. Possible explanations of the effects of macrophyte Delta on the invertebrate species diversity were the niche complementarity effect and the selection effect. This is the first study which demonstrates that macrophyte phylogenetic diversity has a strong effect on the species diversity of mobile epi-benthic invertebrates.

Pathogenesis and phylogenetic analyses of canine distemper virus strain ZJ7 isolate from domestic dogs in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tan Bin

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract A new isolate of canine distemper virus (CDV, named ZJ7, was isolated from lung tissues of a dog suspected with CDV infection using MDCK cells. The ZJ7 isolate induced cytopathogenic effects of syncytia in MDCK cell after six passages. In order to evaluate pathogenesis of ZJ7 strain, three CDV sero-negative dogs were intranasally inoculated with its virus suspension. All infected dogs developed clinical signs of severe bloody diarrhea, conjunctivitis, ocular discharge, nasal discharge and coughing, fever and weight loss at 21 dpi, whereas the mock group infected with DMEM were normal. The results demonstrated that CDV-ZJ7 strain isolated by MDCK cell was virulent, and the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of strain ZJ7 had no change after isolation by MDCK cell when compared with the original virus from the fresh tissues. Molecular and phylogenetic analyses for the nucleocapsid (N, phosphoprotein (P and receptor binding haemagglutinin (H gene of the ZJ7 isolate clearly showed it is joins to the Asia 1 group cluster of CDV strains, the predominant genotype in China.

Pathogenesis and phylogenetic analyses of canine distemper virus strain ZJ7 isolate from domestic dogs in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Bin; Wen, Yong-Jun; Wang, Feng-Xue; Zhang, Shu-Qin; Wang, Xiu-Dong; Hu, Jia-Xin; Shi, Xin-Chuan; Yang, Bo-Chao; Chen, Li-Zhi; Cheng, Shi-Peng; Wu, Hua

2011-11-16

A new isolate of canine distemper virus (CDV), named ZJ7, was isolated from lung tissues of a dog suspected with CDV infection using MDCK cells. The ZJ7 isolate induced cytopathogenic effects of syncytia in MDCK cell after six passages. In order to evaluate pathogenesis of ZJ7 strain, three CDV sero-negative dogs were intranasally inoculated with its virus suspension. All infected dogs developed clinical signs of severe bloody diarrhea, conjunctivitis, ocular discharge, nasal discharge and coughing, fever and weight loss at 21 dpi, whereas the mock group infected with DMEM were normal. The results demonstrated that CDV-ZJ7 strain isolated by MDCK cell was virulent, and the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of strain ZJ7 had no change after isolation by MDCK cell when compared with the original virus from the fresh tissues. Molecular and phylogenetic analyses for the nucleocapsid (N), phosphoprotein (P) and receptor binding haemagglutinin (H) gene of the ZJ7 isolate clearly showed it is joins to the Asia 1 group cluster of CDV strains, the predominant genotype in China.

Ecomorphology and phylogenetic risk: Implications for habitat reconstruction using fossil bovids.

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Robert S; Barr, W Andrew

2014-08-01

Reconstructions of paleohabitats are necessary aids in understanding hominin evolution. The morphology of species from relevant sites, understood in terms of functional relationships to habitat (termed ecomorphology), offers a direct link to habitat. Bovids are a speciose radiation that includes many habitat specialists and are abundant in the fossil record. Thus, bovids are extremely common in ecomorphological analyses. However, bovid phylogeny and habitat preference are related, which raises the possibility that analyses linking habitat with morphology are not 'taxon free' but 'taxon-dependent.' Here we analyze eight relative dimensions and one shape index of the metatarsal for a sample of 72 bovid species and one antilocaprid. The selected variables have been previously shown to have strong associations with habitat and to have functional explanations for these associations. Phylogenetic generalized least squares analyses of these variables, including habitat and size, resulted in estimates for the parameter lambda (used to model phylogenetic signal) varying from zero to one. Thus, while phylogeny, morphology, and habitat all march together among the bovids, the odds that phylogeny confounds ecomorphological analyses may vary depending on particular morphological characteristics. While large values of lambda do not necessarily indicate that habitat differences are unimportant drivers of morphology, we consider the low value of lambda for relative metatarsal width suggestive that conclusions about habitat built on observations of this particular morphology carry with them less 'phylogenetic risk.' We suggest that the way forward for ecomorphology is grounded in functionally relevant observations and careful consideration of phylogeny designed to bracket probable habitat preferences appropriately. Separate consideration of different morphological variables may help to determine the level of 'phylogenetic risk' attached to conclusions linking habitat and morphology

Applying species-tree analyses to deep phylogenetic histories: challenges and potential suggested from a survey of empirical phylogenetic studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Lanier, Hayley C; Knowles, L Lacey

2015-02-01

Coalescent-based methods for species-tree estimation are becoming a dominant approach for reconstructing species histories from multi-locus data, with most of the studies examining these methodologies focused on recently diverged species. However, deeper phylogenies, such as the datasets that comprise many Tree of Life (ToL) studies, also exhibit gene-tree discordance. This discord may also arise from the stochastic sorting of gene lineages during the speciation process (i.e., reflecting the random coalescence of gene lineages in ancestral populations). It remains unknown whether guidelines regarding methodologies and numbers of loci established by simulation studies at shallow tree depths translate into accurate species relationships for deeper phylogenetic histories. We address this knowledge gap and specifically identify the challenges and limitations of species-tree methods that account for coalescent variance for deeper phylogenies. Using simulated data with characteristics informed by empirical studies, we evaluate both the accuracy of estimated species trees and the characteristics associated with recalcitrant nodes, with a specific focus on whether coalescent variance is generally responsible for the lack of resolution. By determining the proportion of coalescent genealogies that support a particular node, we demonstrate that (1) species-tree methods account for coalescent variance at deep nodes and (2) mutational variance - not gene-tree discord arising from the coalescent - posed the primary challenge for accurate reconstruction across the tree. For example, many nodes were accurately resolved despite predicted discord from the random coalescence of gene lineages and nodes with poor support were distributed across a range of depths (i.e., they were not restricted to a particular recent divergences). Given their broad taxonomic scope and large sampling of taxa, deep level phylogenies pose several potential methodological complications including

A comparative study and a phylogenetic exploration of the compositional architectures of mammalian nuclear genomes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eran Elhaik

2014-11-01

Full Text Available For the past four decades the compositional organization of the mammalian genome posed a formidable challenge to molecular evolutionists attempting to explain it from an evolutionary perspective. Unfortunately, most of the explanations adhered to the "isochore theory," which has long been rebutted. Recently, an alternative compositional domain model was proposed depicting the human and cow genomes as composed mostly of short compositionally homogeneous and nonhomogeneous domains and a few long ones. We test the validity of this model through a rigorous sequence-based analysis of eleven completely sequenced mammalian and avian genomes. Seven attributes of compositional domains are used in the analyses: (1 the number of compositional domains, (2 compositional domain-length distribution, (3 density of compositional domains, (4 genome coverage by the different domain types, (5 degree of fit to a power-law distribution, (6 compositional domain GC content, and (7 the joint distribution of GC content and length of the different domain types. We discuss the evolution of these attributes in light of two competing phylogenetic hypotheses that differ from each other in the validity of clade Euarchontoglires. If valid, the murid genome compositional organization would be a derived state and exhibit a high similarity to that of other mammals. If invalid, the murid genome compositional organization would be closer to an ancestral state. We demonstrate that the compositional organization of the murid genome differs from those of primates and laurasiatherians, a phenomenon previously termed the "murid shift," and in many ways resembles the genome of opossum. We find no support to the "isochore theory." Instead, our findings depict the mammalian genome as a tapestry of mostly short homogeneous and nonhomogeneous domains and few long ones thus providing strong evidence in favor of the compositional domain model and seem to invalidate clade Euarchontoglires.

Bacterial phylogenetic reconstruction from whole genomes is robust to recombination but demographic inference is not.

Science.gov (United States)

Hedge, Jessica; Wilson, Daniel J

2014-11-25

Phylogenetic inference in bacterial genomics is fundamental to understanding problems such as population history, antimicrobial resistance, and transmission dynamics. The field has been plagued by an apparent state of contradiction since the distorting effects of recombination on phylogeny were discovered more than a decade ago. Researchers persist with detailed phylogenetic analyses while simultaneously acknowledging that recombination seriously misleads inference of population dynamics and selection. Here we resolve this paradox by showing that phylogenetic tree topologies based on whole genomes robustly reconstruct the clonal frame topology but that branch lengths are badly skewed. Surprisingly, removing recombining sites can exacerbate branch length distortion caused by recombination. Phylogenetic tree reconstruction is a popular approach for understanding the relatedness of bacteria in a population from differences in their genome sequences. However, bacteria frequently exchange regions of their genomes by a process called homologous recombination, which violates a fundamental assumption of phylogenetic methods. Since many researchers continue to use phylogenetics for recombining bacteria, it is important to understand how recombination affects the conclusions drawn from these analyses. We find that whole-genome sequences afford great accuracy in reconstructing evolutionary relationships despite concerns surrounding the presence of recombination, but the branch lengths of the phylogenetic tree are indeed badly distorted. Surprisingly, methods to reduce the impact of recombination on branch lengths can exacerbate the problem. Copyright © 2014 Hedge and Wilson.

Debriefing effectiveness following exposure to pornographic rape depictions.

Science.gov (United States)

Malamuth, Neil; Check, James

1984-02-01

Data are presented concerning the ethics of exposing undergraduate students to pornographic rape portrayals followed by a debriefing designed to dispel a number of rape myths. One hundred fifty males and females were randomly assigned to read pornographic stories. Some of these depicted a rape, whereas others depicted mutually consenting intercourse. Afterwards, those exposed to the rape version were given a debriefing which included statements concerning the true horror of rape and the existence of rape myths. About 10 days later, a "Public Survey" ostensibly conducted by a local committee of citizens was given to subjects in their classes. A postexperimental questionnaire confirmed that participants were not aware that this survey was related to the earlier phase of the research. As part of the survey, subjects were presented with actual newspaper articles about which their opinions were solicited. One of these articles, the dependent measure of the study, concerned rape. Subjects indicated their reactions to this article and their opinions about the general causes of rape. The results indicated that those exposed to the rape depictions followed by a "rape debriefing" were less accepting of certain rape myths than subjects exposed to mutually consenting intercourse depictions. Implications of the data for future research in this area are discussed both in terms of work focusing on the potential antisocial impact of violent pornography and of research specifically designed to identify the conditions most likely to change acceptance of rape myths.

Paleogenetic analyses reveal unsuspected phylogenetic affinities between mice and the extinct Malpaisomys insularis, an endemic rodent of the Canaries.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marie Pagès

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The lava mouse, Malpaisomys insularis, was endemic to the Eastern Canary islands and became extinct at the beginning of the 14(th century when the Europeans reached the archipelago. Studies to determine Malpaisomys' phylogenetic affinities, based on morphological characters, remained inconclusive because morphological changes experienced by this insular rodent make phylogenetic investigations a real challenge. Over 20 years since its first description, Malpaisomys' phylogenetic position remains enigmatic. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this study, we resolved this issue using molecular characters. Mitochondrial and nuclear markers were successfully amplified from subfossils of three lava mouse samples. Molecular phylogenetic reconstructions revealed, without any ambiguity, unsuspected relationships between Malpaisomys and extant mice (genus Mus, Murinae. Moreover, through molecular dating we estimated the origin of the Malpaisomys/mouse clade at 6.9 Ma, corresponding to the maximal age at which the archipelago was colonised by the Malpaisomys ancestor via natural rafting. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This study reconsiders the derived morphological characters of Malpaisomys in light of this unexpected molecular finding. To reconcile molecular and morphological data, we propose to consider Malpaisomys insularis as an insular lineage of mouse.

Characterizing the phylogenetic tree community structure of a protected tropical rain forest area in Cameroon.

Science.gov (United States)

Manel, Stéphanie; Couvreur, Thomas L P; Munoz, François; Couteron, Pierre; Hardy, Olivier J; Sonké, Bonaventure

2014-01-01

Tropical rain forests, the richest terrestrial ecosystems in biodiversity on Earth are highly threatened by global changes. This paper aims to infer the mechanisms governing species tree assemblages by characterizing the phylogenetic structure of a tropical rain forest in a protected area of the Congo Basin, the Dja Faunal Reserve (Cameroon). We re-analyzed a dataset of 11538 individuals belonging to 372 taxa found along nine transects spanning five habitat types. We generated a dated phylogenetic tree including all sampled taxa to partition the phylogenetic diversity of the nine transects into alpha and beta components at the level of the transects and of the habitat types. The variation in phylogenetic composition among transects did not deviate from a random pattern at the scale of the Dja Faunal Reserve, probably due to a common history and weak environmental variation across the park. This lack of phylogenetic structure combined with an isolation-by-distance pattern of taxonomic diversity suggests that neutral dispersal limitation is a major driver of community assembly in the Dja. To assess any lack of sensitivity to the variation in habitat types, we restricted the analyses of transects to the terra firme primary forest and found results consistent with those of the whole dataset at the level of the transects. Additionally to previous analyses, we detected a weak but significant phylogenetic turnover among habitat types, suggesting that species sort in varying environments, even though it is not predominating on the overall phylogenetic structure. Finer analyses of clades indicated a signal of clustering for species from the Annonaceae family, while species from the Apocynaceae family indicated overdispersion. These results can contribute to the conservation of the park by improving our understanding of the processes dictating community assembly in these hyperdiverse but threatened regions of the world.

Characterizing the Phylogenetic Tree Community Structure of a Protected Tropical Rain Forest Area in Cameroon

Science.gov (United States)

Munoz, François; Couteron, Pierre; Hardy, Olivier J.; Sonké, Bonaventure

2014-01-01

Tropical rain forests, the richest terrestrial ecosystems in biodiversity on Earth are highly threatened by global changes. This paper aims to infer the mechanisms governing species tree assemblages by characterizing the phylogenetic structure of a tropical rain forest in a protected area of the Congo Basin, the Dja Faunal Reserve (Cameroon). We re-analyzed a dataset of 11538 individuals belonging to 372 taxa found along nine transects spanning five habitat types. We generated a dated phylogenetic tree including all sampled taxa to partition the phylogenetic diversity of the nine transects into alpha and beta components at the level of the transects and of the habitat types. The variation in phylogenetic composition among transects did not deviate from a random pattern at the scale of the Dja Faunal Reserve, probably due to a common history and weak environmental variation across the park. This lack of phylogenetic structure combined with an isolation-by-distance pattern of taxonomic diversity suggests that neutral dispersal limitation is a major driver of community assembly in the Dja. To assess any lack of sensitivity to the variation in habitat types, we restricted the analyses of transects to the terra firme primary forest and found results consistent with those of the whole dataset at the level of the transects. Additionally to previous analyses, we detected a weak but significant phylogenetic turnover among habitat types, suggesting that species sort in varying environments, even though it is not predominating on the overall phylogenetic structure. Finer analyses of clades indicated a signal of clustering for species from the Annonaceae family, while species from the Apocynaceae family indicated overdispersion. These results can contribute to the conservation of the park by improving our understanding of the processes dictating community assembly in these hyperdiverse but threatened regions of the world. PMID:24936786

Phylo.io: Interactive Viewing and Comparison of Large Phylogenetic Trees on the Web.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Oscar; Dylus, David; Dessimoz, Christophe

2016-08-01

Phylogenetic trees are pervasively used to depict evolutionary relationships. Increasingly, researchers need to visualize large trees and compare multiple large trees inferred for the same set of taxa (reflecting uncertainty in the tree inference or genuine discordance among the loci analyzed). Existing tree visualization tools are however not well suited to these tasks. In particular, side-by-side comparison of trees can prove challenging beyond a few dozen taxa. Here, we introduce Phylo.io, a web application to visualize and compare phylogenetic trees side-by-side. Its distinctive features are: highlighting of similarities and differences between two trees, automatic identification of the best matching rooting and leaf order, scalability to large trees, high usability, multiplatform support via standard HTML5 implementation, and possibility to store and share visualizations. The tool can be freely accessed at http://phylo.io and can easily be embedded in other web servers. The code for the associated JavaScript library is available at https://github.com/DessimozLab/phylo-io under an MIT open source license. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

BIMLR: a method for constructing rooted phylogenetic networks from rooted phylogenetic trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Juan; Guo, Maozu; Xing, Linlin; Che, Kai; Liu, Xiaoyan; Wang, Chunyu

2013-09-15

Rooted phylogenetic trees constructed from different datasets (e.g. from different genes) are often conflicting with one another, i.e. they cannot be integrated into a single phylogenetic tree. Phylogenetic networks have become an important tool in molecular evolution, and rooted phylogenetic networks are able to represent conflicting rooted phylogenetic trees. Hence, the development of appropriate methods to compute rooted phylogenetic networks from rooted phylogenetic trees has attracted considerable research interest of late. The CASS algorithm proposed by van Iersel et al. is able to construct much simpler networks than other available methods, but it is extremely slow, and the networks it constructs are dependent on the order of the input data. Here, we introduce an improved CASS algorithm, BIMLR. We show that BIMLR is faster than CASS and less dependent on the input data order. Moreover, BIMLR is able to construct much simpler networks than almost all other methods. BIMLR is available at http://nclab.hit.edu.cn/wangjuan/BIMLR/. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Os sustentaculi: depiction on MR images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bencardino, J.; Rosenberg, Z.S.; Beltran, J.; Sheskier, S.

1997-01-01

We describe a 14-year old patient with pain in the medial ankle. The MR study depicted a rare accessory ossicle called the os sustentaculi. This accessory bone should not be confused with a fracture of the sustentaculum tali of the calcaneus. (orig.). With 1 fig

Spatial phylogenetics of the vascular flora of Chile.

Science.gov (United States)

Scherson, Rosa A; Thornhill, Andrew H; Urbina-Casanova, Rafael; Freyman, William A; Pliscoff, Patricio A; Mishler, Brent D

2017-07-01

Current geographic patterns of biodiversity are a consequence of the evolutionary history of the lineages that comprise them. This study was aimed at exploring how evolutionary features of the vascular flora of Chile are distributed across the landscape. Using a phylogeny at the genus level for 87% of the Chilean vascular flora, and a geographic database of sample localities, we calculated phylogenetic diversity (PD), phylogenetic endemism (PE), relative PD (RPD), and relative PE (RPE). Categorical Analyses of Neo- and Paleo-Endemism (CANAPE) were also performed, using a spatial randomization to assess statistical significance. A cluster analysis using range-weighted phylogenetic turnover was used to compare among grid cells, and with known Chilean bioclimates. PD patterns were concordant with known centers of high taxon richness and the Chilean biodiversity hotspot. In addition, several other interesting areas of concentration of evolutionary history were revealed as potential conservation targets. The south of the country shows areas of significantly high RPD and a concentration of paleo-endemism, and the north shows areas of significantly low PD and RPD, and a concentration of neo-endemism. Range-weighted phylogenetic turnover shows high congruence with the main macrobioclimates of Chile. Even though the study was done at the genus level, the outcome provides an accurate outline of phylogenetic patterns that can be filled in as more fine-scaled information becomes available. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An unconventional depiction of viewpoint in rock art.

Science.gov (United States)

Pettigrew, Jack; Scott-Virtue, Lee

2015-01-01

Rock art in Africa sometimes takes advantage of three-dimensional features of the rock wall, such as fissures or protuberances, that can be incorporated into the artistic composition (Lewis-Williams, 2002). More commonly, rock artists choose uniform walls on which two-dimensional depictions may represent three-dimensional figures or objects. In this report we present such a two-dimensional depiction in rock art that we think reveals an intention by the artist to represent an unusual three-dimensional viewpoint, namely, with the two human figures facing into the rock wall, instead of the accustomed Western viewpoint facing out!

Phylogenetic framework for coevolutionary studies: a compass for exploring jungles of tangled trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-Aquino, Andrés

2016-08-01

Phylogenetics is used to detect past evolutionary events, from how species originated to how their ecological interactions with other species arose, which can mirror cophylogenetic patterns. Cophylogenetic reconstructions uncover past ecological relationships between taxa through inferred coevolutionary events on trees, for example, codivergence, duplication, host-switching, and loss. These events can be detected by cophylogenetic analyses based on nodes and the length and branching pattern of the phylogenetic trees of symbiotic associations, for example, host-parasite. In the past 2 decades, algorithms have been developed for cophylogetenic analyses and implemented in different software, for example, statistical congruence index and event-based methods. Based on the combination of these approaches, it is possible to integrate temporal information into cophylogenetical inference, such as estimates of lineage divergence times between 2 taxa, for example, hosts and parasites. Additionally, the advances in phylogenetic biogeography applying methods based on parametric process models and combined Bayesian approaches, can be useful for interpreting coevolutionary histories in a scenario of biogeographical area connectivity through time. This article briefly reviews the basics of parasitology and provides an overview of software packages in cophylogenetic methods. Thus, the objective here is to present a phylogenetic framework for coevolutionary studies, with special emphasis on groups of parasitic organisms. Researchers wishing to undertake phylogeny-based coevolutionary studies can use this review as a "compass" when "walking" through jungles of tangled phylogenetic trees.

Mitogenomic phylogenetic analyses of the Delphinidae with an emphasis on the Globicephalinae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

de Stephanis Renaud

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous DNA-based phylogenetic studies of the Delphinidae family suggest it has undergone rapid diversification, as characterised by unresolved and poorly supported taxonomic relationships (polytomies for some of the species within this group. Using an increased amount of sequence data we test between alternative hypotheses of soft polytomies caused by rapid speciation, slow evolutionary rate and/or insufficient sequence data, and hard polytomies caused by simultaneous speciation within this family. Combining the mitogenome sequences of five new and 12 previously published species within the Delphinidae, we used Bayesian and maximum-likelihood methods to estimate the phylogeny from partitioned and unpartitioned mitogenome sequences. Further ad hoc tests were then conducted to estimate the support for alternative topologies. Results We found high support for all the relationships within our reconstructed phylogenies, and topologies were consistent between the Bayesian and maximum-likelihood trees inferred from partitioned and unpartitioned data. Resolved relationships included the placement of the killer whale (Orcinus orca as sister taxon to the rest of the Globicephalinae subfamily, placement of the Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus within the Globicephalinae subfamily, removal of the white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris from the Delphininae subfamily and the placement of the rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis as sister taxon to the rest of the Delphininae subfamily rather than within the Globicephalinae subfamily. The additional testing of alternative topologies allowed us to reject all other putative relationships, with the exception that we were unable to reject the hypothesis that the relationship between L. albirostris and the Globicephalinae and Delphininae subfamilies was polytomic. Conclusion Despite their rapid diversification, the increased sequence data yielded by mitogenomes enables the

Molecular phylogenetics and historical biogeography of Rhinolophus bats.

Science.gov (United States)

Stoffberg, Samantha; Jacobs, David S; Mackie, Iain J; Matthee, Conrad A

2010-01-01

The phylogenetic relationships within the horseshoe bats (genus Rhinolophus) are poorly resolved, particularly at deeper levels within the tree. We present a better-resolved phylogenetic hypothesis for 30 rhinolophid species based on parsimony and Bayesian analyses of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and three nuclear introns (TG, THY and PRKC1). Strong support was found for the existence of two geographic clades within the monophyletic Rhinolophidae: an African group and an Oriental assemblage. The relaxed Bayesian clock method indicated that the two rhinolophid clades diverged approximately 35 million years ago and results from Dispersal Vicariance (DIVA) analysis suggest that the horseshoe bats arose in Asia and subsequently dispersed into Europe and Africa.

PhyloSift: phylogenetic analysis of genomes and metagenomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Darling, Aaron E; Jospin, Guillaume; Lowe, Eric; Matsen, Frederick A; Bik, Holly M; Eisen, Jonathan A

2014-01-01

Like all organisms on the planet, environmental microbes are subject to the forces of molecular evolution. Metagenomic sequencing provides a means to access the DNA sequence of uncultured microbes. By combining DNA sequencing of microbial communities with evolutionary modeling and phylogenetic analysis we might obtain new insights into microbiology and also provide a basis for practical tools such as forensic pathogen detection. In this work we present an approach to leverage phylogenetic analysis of metagenomic sequence data to conduct several types of analysis. First, we present a method to conduct phylogeny-driven Bayesian hypothesis tests for the presence of an organism in a sample. Second, we present a means to compare community structure across a collection of many samples and develop direct associations between the abundance of certain organisms and sample metadata. Third, we apply new tools to analyze the phylogenetic diversity of microbial communities and again demonstrate how this can be associated to sample metadata. These analyses are implemented in an open source software pipeline called PhyloSift. As a pipeline, PhyloSift incorporates several other programs including LAST, HMMER, and pplacer to automate phylogenetic analysis of protein coding and RNA sequences in metagenomic datasets generated by modern sequencing platforms (e.g., Illumina, 454).

PhyloSift: phylogenetic analysis of genomes and metagenomes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aaron E. Darling

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Like all organisms on the planet, environmental microbes are subject to the forces of molecular evolution. Metagenomic sequencing provides a means to access the DNA sequence of uncultured microbes. By combining DNA sequencing of microbial communities with evolutionary modeling and phylogenetic analysis we might obtain new insights into microbiology and also provide a basis for practical tools such as forensic pathogen detection.In this work we present an approach to leverage phylogenetic analysis of metagenomic sequence data to conduct several types of analysis. First, we present a method to conduct phylogeny-driven Bayesian hypothesis tests for the presence of an organism in a sample. Second, we present a means to compare community structure across a collection of many samples and develop direct associations between the abundance of certain organisms and sample metadata. Third, we apply new tools to analyze the phylogenetic diversity of microbial communities and again demonstrate how this can be associated to sample metadata.These analyses are implemented in an open source software pipeline called PhyloSift. As a pipeline, PhyloSift incorporates several other programs including LAST, HMMER, and pplacer to automate phylogenetic analysis of protein coding and RNA sequences in metagenomic datasets generated by modern sequencing platforms (e.g., Illumina, 454.

Fast phylogenetic DNA barcoding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Terkelsen, Kasper Munch; Boomsma, Wouter Krogh; Willerslev, Eske

2008-01-01

We present a heuristic approach to the DNA assignment problem based on phylogenetic inferences using constrained neighbour joining and non-parametric bootstrapping. We show that this method performs as well as the more computationally intensive full Bayesian approach in an analysis of 500 insect...... DNA sequences obtained from GenBank. We also analyse a previously published dataset of environmental DNA sequences from soil from New Zealand and Siberia, and use these data to illustrate the fact that statistical approaches to the DNA assignment problem allow for more appropriate criteria...... for determining the taxonomic level at which a particular DNA sequence can be assigned....

Emerging highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza viruses in France during winter 2015/16: phylogenetic analyses and markers for zoonotic potential.

Science.gov (United States)

Briand, François-Xavier; Schmitz, Audrey; Ogor, Katell; Le Prioux, Aurélie; Guillou-Cloarec, Cécile; Guillemoto, Carole; Allée, Chantal; Le Bras, Marie-Odile; Hirchaud, Edouard; Quenault, Hélène; Touzain, Fabrice; Cherbonnel-Pansart, Martine; Lemaitre, Evelyne; Courtillon, Céline; Gares, Hélène; Daniel, Patrick; Fediaevsky, Alexandre; Massin, Pascale; Blanchard, Yannick; Eterradossi, Nicolas; van der Werf, Sylvie; Jestin, Véronique; Niqueux, Eric

2017-03-02

Several new highly pathogenic (HP) H5 avian influenza virus (AIV) have been detected in poultry farms from south-western France since November 2015, among which an HP H5N1. The zoonotic potential and origin of these AIVs immediately became matters of concern. One virus of each subtype H5N1 (150169a), H5N2 (150233) and H5N9 (150236) was characterised. All proved highly pathogenic for poultry as demonstrated molecularly by the presence of a polybasic cleavage site in their HA protein - with a sequence (HQRRKR/GLF) previously unknown among avian H5 HPAI viruses - or experimentally by the in vivo demonstration of an intravenous pathogenicity index of 2.9 for the H5N1 HP isolate. Phylogenetic analyses based on the full genomes obtained by NGS confirmed that the eight viral segments of the three isolates were all part of avian Eurasian phylogenetic lineage but differed from the Gs/Gd/1/96-like lineage. The study of the genetic characteristics at specific amino acid positions relevant for modulating the adaptation to and the virulence for mammals showed that presently, these viruses possess most molecular features characteristic of AIV and lack some major characteristics required for efficient respiratory transmission to or between humans. The three isolates are therefore predicted to have no significant pandemic potential. This article is copyright of The Authors, 2017.

Phylogenetic relationships between Sarcocystis species from reindeer and other Sarcocystidae deduced from ssu rRNA gene sequences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dahlgren, S.S.; Oliveira, Rodrigo Gouveia; Gjerde, B.

2008-01-01

any effect on previously inferred phylogenetic relationships within the Sarcocystidae. The complete small subunit (ssu) rRNA gene sequences of all six Sarcocystis species from reindeer were used in the phylogenetic analyses along with ssu rRNA gene sequences of 85 other members of the Coccidea. Trees...... the six species in phylogenetic analyses of the Sarcocystidae, and also to investigate the phylogenetic relationships between the species from reindeer and those from other hosts. The study also aimed at revealing whether the inclusion of six Sarcocystis species from the same intermediate host would have....... tarandivulpes, formed a sister group to other Sarcocystis species with a canine definitive host. The position of S. hardangeri on the tree suggested that it uses another type of definitive host than the other Sarcocystis species in this clade. Considering the geographical distribution and infection intensity...

Climate Prediction Center (CPC) US daily temperature analyses

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The U.S. daily temperature analyses are maps depicting various temperature quantities utilizing daily maximum and minimum temperature data across the US. Maps are...

Graphic Depictions: Portrayals of Mental Illness in Video Games.

Science.gov (United States)

Shapiro, Samuel; Rotter, Merrill

2016-11-01

Although studies have examined portrayals of mental illness in the mass media, little attention has been paid to such portrayals in video games. In this descriptive study, the fifty highest-selling video games in each year from 2011 to 2013 were surveyed through application of search terms to the Wikia search engine, with subsequent review of relevant footage on YouTube. Depiction categories were then assigned based on the extent of portrayal and qualitative characteristics compared against mental illness stereotypes in cinema. Twenty-three of the 96 surveyed games depicted at least one character with mental illness. Forty-two characters were identified as portraying mental illness, with most characters classified under a "homicidal maniac" stereotype, although many characters did not clearly reflect cinema stereotypes and were subcategorized based on the shared traits. Video games contain frequent and varied portrayals of mental illness, with depictions most commonly linking mental illness to dangerous and violent behaviors. © 2016 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Phylogenetic constrains on mycorrhizal specificity in eight Dendrobium (Orchidaceae) species.

Science.gov (United States)

Xing, Xiaoke; Ma, Xueting; Men, Jinxin; Chen, Yanhong; Guo, Shunxing

2017-05-01

Plant phylogeny constrains orchid mycorrhizal (OrM) fungal community composition in some orchids. Here, we investigated the structures of the OrM fungal communities of eight Dendrobium species in one niche to determine whether similarities in the OrM fungal communities correlated with the phylogeny of the host plants and whether the Dendrobium-OrM fungal interactions are phylogenetically conserved. A phylogeny based on DNA data was constructed for the eight coexisting Dendrobium species, and the OrM fungal communities were characterized by their roots. There were 31 different fungal lineages associated with the eight Dendrobium species. In total, 82.98% of the identified associations belonging to Tulasnellaceae, and a smaller proportion involved members of the unknown Basidiomycota (9.67%). Community analyses revealed that phylogenetically related Dendrobium tended to interact with a similar set of Tulasnellaceae fungi. The interactions between Dendrobium and Tulasnellaceae fungi were significantly influenced by the phylogenetic relationships among the Dendrobium species. Our results provide evidence that the mycorrhizal specificity in the eight coexisting Dendrobium species was phylogenetically conserved.

Tree imbalance causes a bias in phylogenetic estimation of evolutionary timescales using heterochronous sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Duchêne, David; Duchêne, Sebastian; Ho, Simon Y W

2015-07-01

Phylogenetic estimation of evolutionary timescales has become routine in biology, forming the basis of a wide range of evolutionary and ecological studies. However, there are various sources of bias that can affect these estimates. We investigated whether tree imbalance, a property that is commonly observed in phylogenetic trees, can lead to reduced accuracy or precision of phylogenetic timescale estimates. We analysed simulated data sets with calibrations at internal nodes and at the tips, taking into consideration different calibration schemes and levels of tree imbalance. We also investigated the effect of tree imbalance on two empirical data sets: mitogenomes from primates and serial samples of the African swine fever virus. In analyses calibrated using dated, heterochronous tips, we found that tree imbalance had a detrimental impact on precision and produced a bias in which the overall timescale was underestimated. A pronounced effect was observed in analyses with shallow calibrations. The greatest decreases in accuracy usually occurred in the age estimates for medium and deep nodes of the tree. In contrast, analyses calibrated at internal nodes did not display a reduction in estimation accuracy or precision due to tree imbalance. Our results suggest that molecular-clock analyses can be improved by increasing taxon sampling, with the specific aims of including deeper calibrations, breaking up long branches and reducing tree imbalance. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Characterization of bud emergence 46 (BEM46) protein: Sequence, structural, phylogenetic and subcellular localization analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, Abhishek; Kollath-Leiß, Krisztina; Kempken, Frank

2013-01-01

Highlights: •All eukaryotes have at least a single copy of a bem46 ortholog. •The catalytic triad of BEM46 is illustrated using sequence and structural analysis. •We identified indels in the conserved domain of BEM46 protein. •Localization studies of BEM46 protein were carried out using GFP-fusion tagging. -- Abstract: The bud emergence 46 (BEM46) protein from Neurospora crassa belongs to the α/β-hydrolase superfamily. Recently, we have reported that the BEM46 protein is localized in the perinuclear ER and also forms spots close by the plasma membrane. The protein appears to be required for cell type-specific polarity formation in N. crassa. Furthermore, initial studies suggested that the BEM46 amino acid sequence is conserved in eukaryotes and is considered to be one of the widespread conserved “known unknown” eukaryotic genes. This warrants for a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of this superfamily to unravel origin and molecular evolution of these genes in different eukaryotes. Herein, we observe that all eukaryotes have at least a single copy of a bem46 ortholog. Upon scanning of these proteins in various genomes, we find that there are expansions leading into several paralogs in vertebrates. Usingcomparative genomic analyses, we identified insertion/deletions (indels) in the conserved domain of BEM46 protein, which allow to differentiate fungal classes such as ascomycetes from basidiomycetes. We also find that exonic indels are able to differentiate BEM46 homologs of different eukaryotic lineage. Furthermore, we unravel that BEM46 protein from N. crassa possess a novel endoplasmic-retention signal (PEKK) using GFP-fusion tagging experiments. We propose that three residues namely a serine 188S, a histidine 292H and an aspartic acid 262D are most critical residues, forming a catalytic triad in BEM46 protein from N. crassa. We carried out a comprehensive study on bem46 genes from a molecular evolution perspective with combination of functional

Characterization of bud emergence 46 (BEM46) protein: Sequence, structural, phylogenetic and subcellular localization analyses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumar, Abhishek; Kollath-Leiß, Krisztina; Kempken, Frank, E-mail: fkempken@bot.uni-kiel.de

2013-08-30

Highlights: •All eukaryotes have at least a single copy of a bem46 ortholog. •The catalytic triad of BEM46 is illustrated using sequence and structural analysis. •We identified indels in the conserved domain of BEM46 protein. •Localization studies of BEM46 protein were carried out using GFP-fusion tagging. -- Abstract: The bud emergence 46 (BEM46) protein from Neurospora crassa belongs to the α/β-hydrolase superfamily. Recently, we have reported that the BEM46 protein is localized in the perinuclear ER and also forms spots close by the plasma membrane. The protein appears to be required for cell type-specific polarity formation in N. crassa. Furthermore, initial studies suggested that the BEM46 amino acid sequence is conserved in eukaryotes and is considered to be one of the widespread conserved “known unknown” eukaryotic genes. This warrants for a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of this superfamily to unravel origin and molecular evolution of these genes in different eukaryotes. Herein, we observe that all eukaryotes have at least a single copy of a bem46 ortholog. Upon scanning of these proteins in various genomes, we find that there are expansions leading into several paralogs in vertebrates. Usingcomparative genomic analyses, we identified insertion/deletions (indels) in the conserved domain of BEM46 protein, which allow to differentiate fungal classes such as ascomycetes from basidiomycetes. We also find that exonic indels are able to differentiate BEM46 homologs of different eukaryotic lineage. Furthermore, we unravel that BEM46 protein from N. crassa possess a novel endoplasmic-retention signal (PEKK) using GFP-fusion tagging experiments. We propose that three residues namely a serine 188S, a histidine 292H and an aspartic acid 262D are most critical residues, forming a catalytic triad in BEM46 protein from N. crassa. We carried out a comprehensive study on bem46 genes from a molecular evolution perspective with combination of functional

Depictions of Alcohol Use in a UK Government Partnered Online Social Marketing Campaign: "Hollyoaks" "The Morning after the Night before"

Science.gov (United States)

Atkinson, Amanda Marie; Sumnall, Harry; Measham, Fiona

2011-01-01

Aims: This study analysed the depiction of alcohol in an online government partnered social marketing campaign: Hollyoaks "The Morning After the Night Before". This was a new initiative, providing Internet-delivered episodes of a popular terrestrial drama targeted at young people. Methods: All the 12 episodes were coded for "visual…

Integrating evolution into geographical ecology: a phylogenetic perspective on palm distributions and community composition across scales

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eiserhardt, Wolf L.; Svenning, J.-C.; Kissling, W. Daniel

in 430 transects in the Western Amazon, b) a set of range maps for all American palms (550 spp.), and c) global country-level presence/ absence data of all (>2400) palm species. These data were analysed with novel phylogenetic community structure and turnover methods. Globally, the phylogenetic structure...

Proposal of the genus Sphingomonas sensu stricto and three new genera, Sphingobium, Novosphingobium and Sphingopyxis, on the basis of phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Takeuchi, M; Hamana, K; Hiraishi, A

2001-07-01

Phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences by distance matrix and parsimony methods indicated that the currently known species of the genus Sphingomonas can be divided into four clusters. Some chemotaxonomic and phenotypic differences were noted among these clusters. Three new genera, Sphingobium, Novosphingobium and Sphingopyxis, are proposed in addition to the genus Sphingomonas sensu stricto. The genus Sphingobium is proposed to accommodate Sphingomonas chlorophenolica, Sphingomonas herbicidovorans and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae. The genus Novosphingobium is proposed for Sphingomonas aromaticivorans, Sphingomonas capsulata, Sphingomonas rosa, Sphingomonas stygia, Sphingomonas subarctica and Sphingomonas subterranea. Sphingomonas macrogoltabidus and Sphingomonas terrae are reclassified in the genus Sphingopyxis. The type species of Sphingobium, Novosphingobium and Sphingopyxis are Sphingobium yanoikuyae, Novosphingobium capsulatum and Sphingopyxis macrogoltabida, respectively.

Agent-based and phylogenetic analyses reveal how HIV-1 moves between risk groups: injecting drug users sustain the heterosexual epidemic in Latvia

Science.gov (United States)

Graw, Frederik; Leitner, Thomas; Ribeiro, Ruy M.

2012-01-01

Injecting drug users (IDU) are a driving force for the spread of HIV-1 in Latvia and other Baltic States, accounting for a majority of cases. However, in recent years, heterosexual cases have increased disproportionately. It is unclear how the changes in incidence patterns in Latvia can be explained, and how important IDU are for the heterosexual sub-epidemic. We introduce a novel epidemic model and use phylogenetic analyses in parallel to examine the spread of HIV-1 in Latvia between 1987 and 2010. Using a hybrid framework with a mean-field description for the susceptible population and an agent-based model for the infecteds, we track infected individuals and follow transmission histories dynamically formed during the simulation. The agent-based simulations and the phylogenetic analysis show that more than half of the heterosexual transmissions in Latvia were caused by IDU, which sustain the heterosexual epidemic. Indeed, we find that heterosexual clusters are characterized by short transmission chains with up to 63% of the chains dying out after the first introduction. In the simulations, the distribution of transmission chain sizes follows a power law distribution, which is confirmed by the phylogenetic data. Our models indicate that frequent introductions reduced the extinction probability of an autonomously spreading heterosexual HIV-1 epidemic, which now has the potential to dominate the spread of the overall epidemic in the future. Furthermore, our model shows that social heterogeneity of the susceptible population can explain the shift in HIV-1 incidence in Latvia over the course of the epidemic. Thus, the decrease in IDU incidence may be due to local heterogeneities in transmission, rather than the implementation of control measures. Increases in susceptibles, through social or geographic movement of IDU, could lead to a boost in HIV-1 infections in this risk group. Targeting individuals that bridge social groups would help prevent further spread of the

Focal Length Affects Depicted Shape and Perception of Facial Images.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vít Třebický

Full Text Available Static photographs are currently the most often employed stimuli in research on social perception. The method of photograph acquisition might affect the depicted subject's facial appearance and thus also the impression of such stimuli. An important factor influencing the resulting photograph is focal length, as different focal lengths produce various levels of image distortion. Here we tested whether different focal lengths (50, 85, 105 mm affect depicted shape and perception of female and male faces. We collected three portrait photographs of 45 (22 females, 23 males participants under standardized conditions and camera setting varying only in the focal length. Subsequently, the three photographs from each individual were shown on screen in a randomized order using a 3-alternative forced-choice paradigm. The images were judged for attractiveness, dominance, and femininity/masculinity by 369 raters (193 females, 176 males. Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR was measured from each photograph and overall facial shape was analysed employing geometric morphometric methods (GMM. Our results showed that photographs taken with 50 mm focal length were rated as significantly less feminine/masculine, attractive, and dominant compared to the images taken with longer focal lengths. Further, shorter focal lengths produced faces with smaller fWHR. Subsequent GMM revealed focal length significantly affected overall facial shape of the photographed subjects. Thus methodology of photograph acquisition, focal length in this case, can significantly affect results of studies using photographic stimuli perhaps due to different levels of perspective distortion that influence shapes and proportions of morphological traits.

Children's developing ability to depict emotions in their drawings.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonoti, F; Misailidi, P

2006-10-01

55 children aged 5 to 9 years were asked to draw pictures depicting happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, and fear as well as pictures that did not express any emotion. These pictures were then scored by nonexpert adults for their overall emotional expressiveness, that is, how well they depicted the intended emotion. The results showed that drawings were generally regarded by adults as emotionally expressive. Happiness was the emotion most easily recognized in children's drawings, closely followed by sadness. The results also showed a linear increase in ratings of emotional expressiveness with age.

TreeScaper: Visualizing and Extracting Phylogenetic Signal from Sets of Trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Wen; Zhou, Guifang; Marchand, Melissa; Ash, Jeremy R; Morris, David; Van Dooren, Paul; Brown, Jeremy M; Gallivan, Kyle A; Wilgenbusch, Jim C

2016-12-01

Modern phylogenomic analyses often result in large collections of phylogenetic trees representing uncertainty in individual gene trees, variation across genes, or both. Extracting phylogenetic signal from these tree sets can be challenging, as they are difficult to visualize, explore, and quantify. To overcome some of these challenges, we have developed TreeScaper, an application for tree set visualization as well as the identification of distinct phylogenetic signals. GUI and command-line versions of TreeScaper and a manual with tutorials can be downloaded from https://github.com/whuang08/TreeScaper/releases TreeScaper is distributed under the GNU General Public License. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

BLAST-EXPLORER helps you building datasets for phylogenetic analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claverie Jean-Michel

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The right sampling of homologous sequences for phylogenetic or molecular evolution analyses is a crucial step, the quality of which can have a significant impact on the final interpretation of the study. There is no single way for constructing datasets suitable for phylogenetic analysis, because this task intimately depends on the scientific question we want to address, Moreover, database mining softwares such as BLAST which are routinely used for searching homologous sequences are not specifically optimized for this task. Results To fill this gap, we designed BLAST-Explorer, an original and friendly web-based application that combines a BLAST search with a suite of tools that allows interactive, phylogenetic-oriented exploration of the BLAST results and flexible selection of homologous sequences among the BLAST hits. Once the selection of the BLAST hits is done using BLAST-Explorer, the corresponding sequence can be imported locally for external analysis or passed to the phylogenetic tree reconstruction pipelines available on the Phylogeny.fr platform. Conclusions BLAST-Explorer provides a simple, intuitive and interactive graphical representation of the BLAST results and allows selection and retrieving of the BLAST hit sequences based a wide range of criterions. Although BLAST-Explorer primarily aims at helping the construction of sequence datasets for further phylogenetic study, it can also be used as a standard BLAST server with enriched output. BLAST-Explorer is available at http://www.phylogeny.fr

galaxieEST: addressing EST identity through automated phylogenetic analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, R Henrik; Rajashekar, Balaji; Larsson, Karl-Henrik; Ursing, Björn M

2004-07-05

Research involving expressed sequence tags (ESTs) is intricately coupled to the existence of large, well-annotated sequence repositories. Comparatively complete and satisfactory annotated public sequence libraries are, however, available only for a limited range of organisms, rendering the absence of sequences and gene structure information a tangible problem for those working with taxa lacking an EST or genome sequencing project. Paralogous genes belonging to the same gene family but distinguished by derived characteristics are particularly prone to misidentification and erroneous annotation; high but incomplete levels of sequence similarity are typically difficult to interpret and have formed the basis of many unsubstantiated assumptions of orthology. In these cases, a phylogenetic study of the query sequence together with the most similar sequences in the database may be of great value to the identification process. In order to facilitate this laborious procedure, a project to employ automated phylogenetic analysis in the identification of ESTs was initiated. galaxieEST is an open source Perl-CGI script package designed to complement traditional similarity-based identification of EST sequences through employment of automated phylogenetic analysis. It uses a series of BLAST runs as a sieve to retrieve nucleotide and protein sequences for inclusion in neighbour joining and parsimony analyses; the output includes the BLAST output, the results of the phylogenetic analyses, and the corresponding multiple alignments. galaxieEST is available as an on-line web service for identification of fungal ESTs and for download / local installation for use with any organism group at http://galaxie.cgb.ki.se/galaxieEST.html. By addressing sequence relatedness in addition to similarity, galaxieEST provides an integrative view on EST origin and identity, which may prove particularly useful in cases where similarity searches return one or more pertinent, but not full, matches and

Niche conservatism and dispersal limitation cause large-scale phylogenetic structure in the New World palm flora

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eiserhardt, Wolf L.; Svenning, J.-C.; Baker, William J.

similarity decays after speciation depends on the rates of niche evolution and dispersal. If dispersal is slow compared to the tempo of lineage diversification, distributions change little during clade diversification. Phylogenetic niche conservatism precludes distributional shifts in environmental space......, and to the degree that distributions are limited by the niche, also in geographic space. Using phylogenetic turnover methods, we simultaneously analysed the distributions of all New World palms (n=547) and inferred to which degree phylogenetic niche conservatism and dispersal limitation, respectively, caused...

MITOCHONDRIAL DNA ANALYSES AND THE ORIGIN AND RELATIVE AGE OF PARTHENOGENETIC CNEMIDOPHORUS: PHYLOGENETIC CONSTRAINTS ON HYBRID ORIGINS.

Science.gov (United States)

Moritz, C; Wright, J W; Brown, W M

1992-02-01

Within the genus Cnemidophorus, parthenogenesis has arisen by hybridization several times. This provides the opportunity to investigate general features of hybridization events that result in the formation of parthenogenetic lineages. The relationships of mtDNA from all bisexual species of Cnemidophorus known to be parents of parthenogens were investigated to evaluate phylogenetic constraints on the hybrid-origin of parthenogenesis. No phylogenetic clustering of the parental species, either maternal or paternal, was apparent. However, the combination of bisexual species that have resulted in parthenogenetic lineages are generally distantly related or genetically divergent. This contrasts with the expectation if parthenogenesis in hybrids is due to the action of a single rare allele, but is consistent with the hypothesis that some minimal level of divergence is necessary to stimulate parthenogenetic reproduction in hybrids. © 1992 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Framing a 'social problem': Emotion in anti-abortion activists' depiction of the abortion debate.

Science.gov (United States)

Ntontis, Evangelos; Hopkins, Nick

2018-02-27

Social psychological research on activism typically focuses on individuals' social identifications. We complement such research through exploring how activists frame an issue as a social problem. Specifically, we explore anti-abortion activists' representation of abortion and the abortion debate's protagonists so as to recruit support for the anti-abortion cause. Using interview data obtained with UK-based anti-abortion activists (N = 15), we consider how activists characterized women having abortions, pro-abortion campaigners, and anti-abortion campaigners. In particular, we consider the varied ways in which emotion featured in the representation of these social actors. Emotion featured in different ways. Sometimes, it was depicted as constituting embodied testament to the nature of reality. Sometimes, it was depicted as blocking the rational appraisal of reality. Our analysis considers how such varied meanings of emotion shaped the characterization of abortion and the abortion debate's protagonists such that anti-abortion activists were construed as speaking for women and their interests. We discuss how our analysis of the framing of issues as social problems complements and extends social psychological analyses of activism. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

Phylogenetic Conflict in Bears Identified by Automated Discovery of Transposable Element Insertions in Low-Coverage Genomes

Science.gov (United States)

Gallus, Susanne; Janke, Axel

2017-01-01

Abstract Phylogenetic reconstruction from transposable elements (TEs) offers an additional perspective to study evolutionary processes. However, detecting phylogenetically informative TE insertions requires tedious experimental work, limiting the power of phylogenetic inference. Here, we analyzed the genomes of seven bear species using high-throughput sequencing data to detect thousands of TE insertions. The newly developed pipeline for TE detection called TeddyPi (TE detection and discovery for Phylogenetic Inference) identified 150,513 high-quality TE insertions in the genomes of ursine and tremarctine bears. By integrating different TE insertion callers and using a stringent filtering approach, the TeddyPi pipeline produced highly reliable TE insertion calls, which were confirmed by extensive in vitro validation experiments. Analysis of single nucleotide substitutions in the flanking regions of the TEs shows that these substitutions correlate with the phylogenetic signal from the TE insertions. Our phylogenomic analyses show that TEs are a major driver of genomic variation in bears and enabled phylogenetic reconstruction of a well-resolved species tree, despite strong signals for incomplete lineage sorting and introgression. The analyses show that the Asiatic black, sun, and sloth bear form a monophyletic clade, in which phylogenetic incongruence originates from incomplete lineage sorting. TeddyPi is open source and can be adapted to various TE and structural variation callers. The pipeline makes it possible to confidently extract thousands of TE insertions even from low-coverage genomes (∼10×) of nonmodel organisms. This opens new possibilities for biologists to study phylogenies and evolutionary processes as well as rates and patterns of (retro-)transposition and structural variation. PMID:28985298

Inferring 'weak spots' in phylogenetic trees: application to mosasauroid nomenclature.

Science.gov (United States)

Madzia, Daniel; Cau, Andrea

2017-01-01

Mosasauroid squamates represented the apex predators within the Late Cretaceous marine and occasionally also freshwater ecosystems. Proper understanding of the origin of their ecological adaptations or paleobiogeographic dispersals requires adequate knowledge of their phylogeny. The studies assessing the position of mosasauroids on the squamate evolutionary tree and their origins have long given conflicting results. The phylogenetic relationships within Mosasauroidea, however, have experienced only little changes throughout the last decades. Considering the substantial improvements in the development of phylogenetic methodology that have undergone in recent years, resulting, among others, in numerous alterations in the phylogenetic hypotheses of other fossil amniotes, we test the robustness in our understanding of mosasauroid beginnings and their evolutionary history. We re-examined a data set that results from modifications assembled in the course of the last 20 years and performed multiple parsimony analyses and Bayesian tip-dating analysis. Following the inferred topologies and the 'weak spots' in the phylogeny of mosasauroids, we revise the nomenclature of the 'traditionally' recognized mosasauroid clades, to acknowledge the overall weakness among branches and the alternative topologies suggested previously, and discuss several factors that might have an impact on the differing phylogenetic hypotheses and their statistical support.

Phylogenetic impoverishment of Amazonian tree communities in an experimentally fragmented forest landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Bráulio A; Tabarelli, Marcelo; Melo, Felipe P L; Camargo, José L C; Andrade, Ana; Laurance, Susan G; Laurance, William F

2014-01-01

Amazonian rainforests sustain some of the richest tree communities on Earth, but their ecological and evolutionary responses to human threats remain poorly known. We used one of the largest experimental datasets currently available on tree dynamics in fragmented tropical forests and a recent phylogeny of angiosperms to test whether tree communities have lost phylogenetic diversity since their isolation about two decades previously. Our findings revealed an overall trend toward phylogenetic impoverishment across the experimentally fragmented landscape, irrespective of whether tree communities were in 1-ha, 10-ha, or 100-ha forest fragments, near forest edges, or in continuous forest. The magnitude of the phylogenetic diversity loss was low (phylogenetic diversity, we observed a significant decrease of 50% in phylogenetic dispersion since forest isolation, irrespective of plot location. Analyses based on tree genera that have significantly increased (28 genera) or declined (31 genera) in abundance and basal area in the landscape revealed that increasing genera are more phylogenetically related than decreasing ones. Also, the loss of phylogenetic diversity was greater in tree communities where increasing genera proliferated and decreasing genera reduced their importance values, suggesting that this taxonomic replacement is partially underlying the phylogenetic impoverishment at the landscape scale. This finding has clear implications for the current debate about the role human-modified landscapes play in sustaining biodiversity persistence and key ecosystem services, such as carbon storage. Although the generalization of our findings to other fragmented tropical forests is uncertain, it could negatively affect ecosystem productivity and stability and have broader impacts on coevolved organisms.

Nonbinary Tree-Based Phylogenetic Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Jetten, Laura; van Iersel, Leo

2018-01-01

Rooted phylogenetic networks are used to describe evolutionary histories that contain non-treelike evolutionary events such as hybridization and horizontal gene transfer. In some cases, such histories can be described by a phylogenetic base-tree with additional linking arcs, which can, for example, represent gene transfer events. Such phylogenetic networks are called tree-based. Here, we consider two possible generalizations of this concept to nonbinary networks, which we call tree-based and strictly-tree-based nonbinary phylogenetic networks. We give simple graph-theoretic characterizations of tree-based and strictly-tree-based nonbinary phylogenetic networks. Moreover, we show for each of these two classes that it can be decided in polynomial time whether a given network is contained in the class. Our approach also provides a new view on tree-based binary phylogenetic networks. Finally, we discuss two examples of nonbinary phylogenetic networks in biology and show how our results can be applied to them.

The anatomy, affinity, and phylogenetic significance of Markuelia.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Xi-Ping; Donoghue, Philip C J; Cunningham, John A; Liu, Jian-Bo; Cheng, Hong

2005-01-01

The fossil record provides a paucity of data on the development of extinct organisms, particularly for their embryology. The recovery of fossilized embryos heralds new insight into the evolution of development but advances are limited by an almost complete absence of phylogenetic constraint. Markuelia is an exception to this, known from cleavage and pre-hatchling stages as a vermiform and profusely annulated direct-developing bilaterian with terminal circumoral and posterior radial arrays of spines. Phylogenetic analyses have hitherto suggested assignment to stem-Scalidophora (phyla Kinorhyncha, Loricifera, Priapulida). We test this assumption with additional data and through the inclusion of additional taxa. The available evidence supports stem-Scalidophora affinity, leading to the conclusion that scalidophorans, cyclonerualians, and ecdysozoans are primitive direct developers, and the likelihood that scalidophorans are primitively metameric.

Assembly and phylogenetic structure of Neotropical palm communities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eiserhardt, Wolf L.; Svenning, J.-C.; Balslev, Henrik

Diversity, composition and dynamics of Neotropical palm communities are receiving an increasing amount of attention due to their economic importance, but also because their high species richness and functional diversity render them valuable model systems for overall forest biodiversity. However......, to better understand these palm communities, it is crucial to gain insight into the mechanisms responsible for their assembly. These can be dispersal limitation, environmental filtering, or biotic interactions. If the degree of niche conservatism is known for a group of organisms, patterns of community...... an unspecific assumption of “general niche conservatism”, phylogenetic signal will be analysed for Neotropical palms. Moreover, as an example for evolutionary mechanisms disrupting phylogenetic signal, speciation modes will be examined in selected genera. With the combined results we aim to show the relative...

THE DEPICTION OF HOMOSEXUALITY IN AMERICAN MOVIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rudy Rudy

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This study focuses on the depiction of homosexuality in American films. It is intended to identify the images of gays depicted in American films as well as the characteristics of American gay movies. It incorporates library research by applying an analytical descriptive approach in analyzing the data. The symbol and reflective theory is used to analyze 18 American movies and 14 gay films from other countries in the early 2000s. It shows that gay films can attract audiences by describing gays as the objects for laughs; gays revealing their sexual identities; sexual scenes of gays; masculine gay men; and violence in gay life. They appear in genres like drama, comedy, romance, detective, western, and horror/mystery with two images of gay people shown in American gay movies; they are the portrait of gays as a minority and the pessimism. However, it also shows that some American gay films picture good gay life, happy gay couples, gay marriage, etc.

Phylogenetic signal dissection identifies the root of starfishes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Feuda

Full Text Available Relationships within the class Asteroidea have remained controversial for almost 100 years and, despite many attempts to resolve this problem using molecular data, no consensus has yet emerged. Using two nuclear genes and a taxon sampling covering the major asteroid clades we show that non-phylogenetic signal created by three factors--Long Branch Attraction, compositional heterogeneity and the use of poorly fitting models of evolution--have confounded accurate estimation of phylogenetic relationships. To overcome the effect of this non-phylogenetic signal we analyse the data using non-homogeneous models, site stripping and the creation of subpartitions aimed to reduce or amplify the systematic error, and calculate Bayes Factor support for a selection of previously suggested topological arrangements of asteroid orders. We show that most of the previous alternative hypotheses are not supported in the most reliable data partitions, including the previously suggested placement of either Forcipulatida or Paxillosida as sister group to the other major branches. The best-supported solution places Velatida as the sister group to other asteroids, and the implications of this finding for the morphological evolution of asteroids are presented.

Continental scale patterns and predictors of fern richness and phylogenetic diversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathalie eNagalingum

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Because ferns have a wide range of habitat preferences and are widely distributed, they are an ideal group for understanding how diversity is distributed. Here we examine fern diversity on a broad-scale using standard and corrected richness measures as well as phylogenetic indices; in addition we determine the environmental predictors of each diversity metric. Using the combined records of Australian herbaria, a dataset of over 60,000 records was obtained for 89 genera to infer richness. A phylogenetic tree of all the genera was constructed and combined with the herbarium records to obtain phylogenetic diversity patterns. A hotspot of both taxic and phylogenetic diversity occurs in the Wet Tropics of northeastern Australia. Although considerable diversity is distributed along the eastern coast, some important regions of diversity are identified only after sample-standardization of richness and through the phylogenetic metric. Of all of the metrics, annual precipitation was identified as the most explanatory variable, in part, in agreement with global and regional fern studies. Precipitation was combined with a different variable for each different metric. For corrected richness, precipitation is combined with temperature seasonality, while correlation of phylogenetic diversity to precipitation plus radiation indicates support for the species-energy hypothesis. Significantly high and significantly low phylogenetic diversity were found in geographically separate areas. These areas are correlated with different climatic conditions such as seasonality in precipitation. The use of phylogenetic metrics identifies additional areas of significant diversity, some of which have not been revealed using traditional taxonomic analyses, suggesting that different ecological and evolutionary processes have operated over the continent. Our study demonstrates that it is possible and vital to incorporate evolutionary metrics when inferring biodiversity hotspots

Universal artifacts affect the branching of phylogenetic trees, not universal scaling laws.

Science.gov (United States)

Altaba, Cristian R

2009-01-01

The superficial resemblance of phylogenetic trees to other branching structures allows searching for macroevolutionary patterns. However, such trees are just statistical inferences of particular historical events. Recent meta-analyses report finding regularities in the branching pattern of phylogenetic trees. But is this supported by evidence, or are such regularities just methodological artifacts? If so, is there any signal in a phylogeny? In order to evaluate the impact of polytomies and imbalance on tree shape, the distribution of all binary and polytomic trees of up to 7 taxa was assessed in tree-shape space. The relationship between the proportion of outgroups and the amount of imbalance introduced with them was assessed applying four different tree-building methods to 100 combinations from a set of 10 ingroup and 9 outgroup species, and performing covariance analyses. The relevance of this analysis was explored taking 61 published phylogenies, based on nucleic acid sequences and involving various taxa, taxonomic levels, and tree-building methods. All methods of phylogenetic inference are quite sensitive to the artifacts introduced by outgroups. However, published phylogenies appear to be subject to a rather effective, albeit rather intuitive control against such artifacts. The data and methods used to build phylogenetic trees are varied, so any meta-analysis is subject to pitfalls due to their uneven intrinsic merits, which translate into artifacts in tree shape. The binary branching pattern is an imposition of methods, and seldom reflects true relationships in intraspecific analyses, yielding artifactual polytomies in short trees. Above the species level, the departure of real trees from simplistic random models is caused at least by two natural factors--uneven speciation and extinction rates; and artifacts such as choice of taxa included in the analysis, and imbalance introduced by outgroups and basal paraphyletic taxa. This artifactual imbalance accounts

Taxonomic colouring of phylogenetic trees of protein sequences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrade-Navarro Miguel A

2006-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Phylogenetic analyses of protein families are used to define the evolutionary relationships between homologous proteins. The interpretation of protein-sequence phylogenetic trees requires the examination of the taxonomic properties of the species associated to those sequences. However, there is no online tool to facilitate this interpretation, for example, by automatically attaching taxonomic information to the nodes of a tree, or by interactively colouring the branches of a tree according to any combination of taxonomic divisions. This is especially problematic if the tree contains on the order of hundreds of sequences, which, given the accelerated increase in the size of the protein sequence databases, is a situation that is becoming common. Results We have developed PhyloView, a web based tool for colouring phylogenetic trees upon arbitrary taxonomic properties of the species represented in a protein sequence phylogenetic tree. Provided that the tree contains SwissProt, SpTrembl, or GenBank protein identifiers, the tool retrieves the taxonomic information from the corresponding database. A colour picker displays a summary of the findings and allows the user to associate colours to the leaves of the tree according to any number of taxonomic partitions. Then, the colours are propagated to the branches of the tree. Conclusion PhyloView can be used at http://www.ogic.ca/projects/phyloview/. A tutorial, the software with documentation, and GPL licensed source code, can be accessed at the same web address.

Molecular phylogenetic reconstruction of the endemic Asian salamander family Hynobiidae (Amphibia, Caudata).

Science.gov (United States)

Weisrock, David W; Macey, J Robert; Matsui, Masafumi; Mulcahy, Daniel G; Papenfuss, Theodore J

2013-01-01

The salamander family Hynobiidae contains over 50 species and has been the subject of a number of molecular phylogenetic investigations aimed at reconstructing branches across the entire family. In general, studies using the greatest amount of sequence data have used reduced taxon sampling, while the study with the greatest taxon sampling has used a limited sequence data set. Here, we provide insights into the phylogenetic history of the Hynobiidae using both dense taxon sampling and a large mitochondrial DNA sequence data set. We report exclusive new mitochondrial DNA data of 2566 aligned bases (with 151 excluded sites, of included sites 1157 are variable with 957 parsimony informative). This is sampled from two genic regions encoding a 12S-16S region (the 3' end of 12S rRNA, tRNA(VAI), and the 5' end of 16S rRNA), and a ND2-COI region (ND2, tRNA(Trp), tRNA(Ala), tRNA(Asn), the origin for light strand replication--O(L), tRNA(Cys), tRNAT(Tyr), and the 5' end of COI). Analyses using parsimony, Bayesian, and maximum likelihood optimality criteria produce similar phylogenetic trees, with discordant branches generally receiving low levels of branch support. Monophyly of the Hynobiidae is strongly supported across all analyses, as is the sister relationship and deep divergence between the genus Onychodactylus with all remaining hynobiids. Within this latter grouping our phylogenetic results identify six clades that are relatively divergent from one another, but for which there is minimal support for their phylogenetic placement. This includes the genus Batrachuperus, the genus Hynobius, the genus Pachyhynobius, the genus Salamandrella, a clade containing the genera Ranodon and Paradactylodon, and a clade containing the genera Liua and Pseudohynobius. This latter clade receives low bootstrap support in the parsimony analysis, but is consistent across all three analytical methods. Our results also clarify a number of well-supported relationships within the larger

Characterization of the first complete genome sequence of an Impatiens necrotic spot orthotospovirus isolate from the United States and worldwide phylogenetic analyses of INSV isolates.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Kaixi; Margaria, Paolo; Rosa, Cristina

2018-05-10

Impatiens necrotic spot orthotospovirus (INSV) can impact economically important ornamental plants and vegetables worldwide. Characterization studies on INSV are limited. For most INSV isolates, there are no complete genome sequences available. This lack of genomic information has a negative impact on the understanding of the INSV genetic diversity and evolution. Here we report the first complete nucleotide sequence of a US INSV isolate. INSV-UP01 was isolated from an impatiens in Pennsylvania, US. RT-PCR was used to clone its full-length genome and Vector NTI to assemble overlapping sequences. Phylogenetic trees were constructed by using MEGA7 software to show the phylogenetic relationships with other available INSV sequences worldwide. This US isolate has genome and biological features classical of INSV species and clusters in the Western Hemisphere clade, but its origin appears to be recent. Furthermore, INSV-UP01 might have been involved in a recombination event with an Italian isolate belonging to the Asian clade. Our analyses support that INSV isolates infect a broad plant-host range they group by geographic origin and not by host, and are subjected to frequent recombination events. These results justify the need to generate and analyze complete genome sequences of orthotospoviruses in general and INSV in particular.

Phylogenetic Conflict in Bears Identified by Automated Discovery of Transposable Element Insertions in Low-Coverage Genomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lammers, Fritjof; Gallus, Susanne; Janke, Axel; Nilsson, Maria A

2017-10-01

Phylogenetic reconstruction from transposable elements (TEs) offers an additional perspective to study evolutionary processes. However, detecting phylogenetically informative TE insertions requires tedious experimental work, limiting the power of phylogenetic inference. Here, we analyzed the genomes of seven bear species using high-throughput sequencing data to detect thousands of TE insertions. The newly developed pipeline for TE detection called TeddyPi (TE detection and discovery for Phylogenetic Inference) identified 150,513 high-quality TE insertions in the genomes of ursine and tremarctine bears. By integrating different TE insertion callers and using a stringent filtering approach, the TeddyPi pipeline produced highly reliable TE insertion calls, which were confirmed by extensive in vitro validation experiments. Analysis of single nucleotide substitutions in the flanking regions of the TEs shows that these substitutions correlate with the phylogenetic signal from the TE insertions. Our phylogenomic analyses show that TEs are a major driver of genomic variation in bears and enabled phylogenetic reconstruction of a well-resolved species tree, despite strong signals for incomplete lineage sorting and introgression. The analyses show that the Asiatic black, sun, and sloth bear form a monophyletic clade, in which phylogenetic incongruence originates from incomplete lineage sorting. TeddyPi is open source and can be adapted to various TE and structural variation callers. The pipeline makes it possible to confidently extract thousands of TE insertions even from low-coverage genomes (∼10×) of nonmodel organisms. This opens new possibilities for biologists to study phylogenies and evolutionary processes as well as rates and patterns of (retro-)transposition and structural variation. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Transforming phylogenetic networks: Moving beyond tree space

OpenAIRE

Huber, Katharina T.; Moulton, Vincent; Wu, Taoyang

2016-01-01

Phylogenetic networks are a generalization of phylogenetic trees that are used to represent reticulate evolution. Unrooted phylogenetic networks form a special class of such networks, which naturally generalize unrooted phylogenetic trees. In this paper we define two operations on unrooted phylogenetic networks, one of which is a generalization of the well-known nearest-neighbor interchange (NNI) operation on phylogenetic trees. We show that any unrooted phylogenetic network can be transforme...

Phylogenetic affinity of tree shrews to Glires is attributed to fast evolution rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Jiannan; Chen, Guangfeng; Gu, Liang; Shen, Yuefeng; Zheng, Meizhu; Zheng, Weisheng; Hu, Xinjie; Zhang, Xiaobai; Qiu, Yu; Liu, Xiaoqing; Jiang, Cizhong

2014-02-01

Previous phylogenetic analyses have led to incongruent evolutionary relationships between tree shrews and other suborders of Euarchontoglires. What caused the incongruence remains elusive. In this study, we identified 6845 orthologous genes between seventeen placental mammals. Tree shrews and Primates were monophyletic in the phylogenetic trees derived from the first or/and second codon positions whereas tree shrews and Glires formed a monophyly in the trees derived from the third or all codon positions. The same topology was obtained in the phylogeny inference using the slowly and fast evolving genes, respectively. This incongruence was likely attributed to the fast substitution rate in tree shrews and Glires. Notably, sequence GC content only was not informative to resolve the controversial phylogenetic relationships between tree shrews, Glires, and Primates. Finally, estimation in the confidence of the tree selection strongly supported the phylogenetic affiliation of tree shrews to Primates as a monophyly. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary history determines how plant productivity responds to phylogenetic diversity and species richness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark A. Genung

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function has received a great deal of attention in ecological research and recent results, from re-analyses, suggest that ecosystem function improves with increases in phylogenetic diversity. However, many of these results have been generalized across a range of different species and clades, and plants with different evolutionary histories could display different relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem function. To experimentally test this hypothesis, we manipulated species richness and phylogenetic diversity using 26 species from two subgenera of the genus Eucalyptus (subgenus Eucalyptus and subgenus Symphyomyrtus. We found that plant biomass (a measurement of ecosystem function sometimes, but not always, responded to increases in species richness and phylogenetic diversity. Specifically, Symphyomyrtus plants showed a positive response while no comparable effect was observed for Eucalyptus plants, showing that responses to biodiversity can vary across different phylogenetic groups. Our results show that the impacts of evolutionary history may complicate the relationship between the diversity of plant communities and plant biomass.

Cucurbits depicted in Byzantine mosaics from Israel, 350-600 ce.

Science.gov (United States)

Avital, Anat; Paris, Harry S

2014-08-01

Thousands of floor mosaics were produced in lands across the Roman and Byzantine empires. Some mosaics contain depictions of agricultural produce, potentially providing useful information concerning the contemporary presence and popularity of crop plants in a particular geographical region. Hundreds of floor mosaics produced in Israel during the Byzantine period have survived. The objective of the present work was to search these mosaics for Cucurbitaceae in order to obtain a more complete picture of cucurbit crop history in the eastern Mediterranean region. Twenty-three mosaics dating from 350-600 ce were found that had images positively identifiable as cucurbits. The morphological diversity of the cucurbit fruits in the mosaics of Israel is greater than that appearing in mosaics from any other Roman or Byzantine provincial area. The depicted fruits vary in shape from oblate to extremely long, and some are furrowed, others are striped and others lack definite markings. The cucurbit taxa depicted in the mosaics are Cucumis melo (melon), Citrullus lanatus (watermelon), Luffa aegyptiaca (sponge gourd) and Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd). Cucumis melo is the most frequently found taxon in the mosaics and is represented by round dessert melons and long snake melons. Fruits of at least two cultivars of snake melons and of watermelons are represented. To our knowledge, images of sponge gourds have not been found in Roman and Byzantine mosaics elsewhere. Indeed, the mosaics of Israel contain what are probably the oldest depictions of Luffa aegyptiaca in Mediterranean lands. Sponge gourds are depicted often, in 11 of the mosaics at eight localities, and the images include both mature fruits, which are useful for cleaning and washing, and immature fruits, which are edible. Only one mosaic has images positively identifiable as of bottle gourds, and these were round-pyriform and probably used as vessels. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of

Phylogenetic and population genetic analyses of diploid Leucaena (Leguminosae; Mimosoideae) reveal cryptic species diversity and patterns of divergent allopatric speciation.

Science.gov (United States)

Govindarajulu, Rajanikanth; Hughes, Colin E; Bailey, C Donovan

2011-12-01

Leucaena comprises 17 diploid species, five tetraploid species, and a complex series of hybrids whose evolutionary histories have been influenced by human seed translocation, cultivation, and subsequent spontaneous hybridization. Here we investigated patterns of evolutionary divergence among diploid Leucaena through comprehensively sampled multilocus phylogenetic and population genetic approaches to address species delimitation, interspecific relationships, hybridization, and the predominant mode of speciation among diploids. Parsimony- and maximum-likelihood-based phylogenetic approaches were applied to 59 accessions sequenced for six SCAR-based nuclear loci, nrDNA ITS, and four cpDNA regions. Population genetic comparisons included 1215 AFLP loci representing 42 populations and 424 individuals. Phylogenetic results provided a well-resolved hypothesis of divergent species relationships, recovering previously recognized clades of diploids as well as newly resolved relationships. Phylogenetic and population genetic assessments identified two cryptic species that are consistent with geography and morphology. Findings from this study highlight the importance and utility of multilocus data in the recovery of complex evolutionary histories. The results are consistent with allopatric divergence representing the predominant mode of speciation among diploid Leucaena. These findings contrast with the potential hybrid origin of several tetraploid species and highlight the importance of human translocation of seed to the origin of these tetraploids. The recognition of one previously unrecognized species (L. cruziana) and the elevation of another taxon (L. collinsii subsp. zacapana) to specific status (L. zacapana) is consistent with a growing number of newly diagnosed species from neotropical seasonally dry forests, suggesting these communities harbor greater species diversity than previously recognized.

Taxonomic revision and phylogenetic analyses of rubber powdery mildew fungi.

Science.gov (United States)

Liyanage, K K; Khan, Sehroon; Brooks, Siraprapa; Mortimer, Peter E; Karunarathna, Samantha C; Xu, Jianchu; Hyde, Kevin D

2017-04-01

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that infects a wide range of plants, including rubber trees, which results in a reduction of latex yields of up to 45%. The causal agent of powdery mildew of rubber was first described as Oidium heveae, but later morpho-molecular research suggested that in the past, O. heveae has been confused with Erysiphe quercicola. However, it is still under debate whether the causal agent should be classified as a species of the genus Erysiphe emend. or Golovinomyces and Podosphaera, respectively. Therefore, the aim of this study was to undertake the morpho-molecular characterization of powdery mildew species associated with rubber trees, thus resolving these taxonomic issues. Morphological observation under light and scanning electron microscopes (SEM) clearly identified two morphotypes of the rubber powdery mildew. With the support of morphological and phylogenetic data, one of the two morphotypes was identified as the asexual morph of E. quercicola, while the second morphotype is still insufficiently known and according to the morphological results obtained we assume that it might belong to the genus Golovinomyces. More collections and additional molecular data are required for final conclusions regarding the exact taxonomic position of the second morphotype of rubber powdery mildew and its relation to the name O. heveae. The haplotype analysis identified eight haplotype groups of E. quercicola indicating the high genetic diversity of the species. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Use of phylogenetic and phenotypic analyses to identify nonhemolytic streptococci isolated from bacteremic patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoshino, Tomonori; Fujiwara, Taku; Kilian, Mogens

2005-12-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate molecular and phenotypic methods for the identification of nonhemolytic streptococci. A collection of 148 strains consisting of 115 clinical isolates from cases of infective endocarditis, septicemia, and meningitis and 33 reference strains, including type strains of all relevant Streptococcus species, were examined. Identification was performed by phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences of four housekeeping genes, ddl, gdh, rpoB, and sodA; by PCR analysis of the glucosyltransferase (gtf) gene; and by conventional phenotypic characterization and identification using two commercial kits, Rapid ID 32 STREP and STREPTOGRAM and the associated databases. A phylogenetic tree based on concatenated sequences of the four housekeeping genes allowed unequivocal differentiation of recognized species and was used as the reference. Analysis of single gene sequences revealed deviation clustering in eight strains (5.4%) due to homologous recombination with other species. This was particularly evident in S. sanguinis and in members of the anginosus group of streptococci. The rate of correct identification of the strains by both commercial identification kits was below 50% but varied significantly between species. The most significant problems were observed with S. mitis and S. oralis and 11 Streptococcus species described since 1991. Our data indicate that identification based on multilocus sequence analysis is optimal. As a more practical alternative we recommend identification based on sodA sequences with reference to a comprehensive set of sequences that is available for downloading from our server. An analysis of the species distribution of 107 nonhemolytic streptococci from bacteremic patients showed a predominance of S. oralis and S. anginosus with various underlying infections.

On Nakhleh's metric for reduced phylogenetic networks

OpenAIRE

Cardona, Gabriel; Llabrés, Mercè; Rosselló, Francesc; Valiente Feruglio, Gabriel Alejandro

2009-01-01

We prove that Nakhleh’s metric for reduced phylogenetic networks is also a metric on the classes of tree-child phylogenetic networks, semibinary tree-sibling time consistent phylogenetic networks, and multilabeled phylogenetic trees. We also prove that it separates distinguishable phylogenetic networks. In this way, it becomes the strongest dissimilarity measure for phylogenetic networks available so far. Furthermore, we propose a generalization of that metric that separates arbitrary phyl...

Robust identification of noncoding RNA from transcriptomes requires phylogenetically-informed sampling.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stinus Lindgreen

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Noncoding RNAs are integral to a wide range of biological processes, including translation, gene regulation, host-pathogen interactions and environmental sensing. While genomics is now a mature field, our capacity to identify noncoding RNA elements in bacterial and archaeal genomes is hampered by the difficulty of de novo identification. The emergence of new technologies for characterizing transcriptome outputs, notably RNA-seq, are improving noncoding RNA identification and expression quantification. However, a major challenge is to robustly distinguish functional outputs from transcriptional noise. To establish whether annotation of existing transcriptome data has effectively captured all functional outputs, we analysed over 400 publicly available RNA-seq datasets spanning 37 different Archaea and Bacteria. Using comparative tools, we identify close to a thousand highly-expressed candidate noncoding RNAs. However, our analyses reveal that capacity to identify noncoding RNA outputs is strongly dependent on phylogenetic sampling. Surprisingly, and in stark contrast to protein-coding genes, the phylogenetic window for effective use of comparative methods is perversely narrow: aggregating public datasets only produced one phylogenetic cluster where these tools could be used to robustly separate unannotated noncoding RNAs from a null hypothesis of transcriptional noise. Our results show that for the full potential of transcriptomics data to be realized, a change in experimental design is paramount: effective transcriptomics requires phylogeny-aware sampling.

Cucurbits depicted in Byzantine mosaics from Israel, 350–600 ce

Science.gov (United States)

Avital, Anat; Paris, Harry S.

2014-01-01

Background and Aims Thousands of floor mosaics were produced in lands across the Roman and Byzantine empires. Some mosaics contain depictions of agricultural produce, potentially providing useful information concerning the contemporary presence and popularity of crop plants in a particular geographical region. Hundreds of floor mosaics produced in Israel during the Byzantine period have survived. The objective of the present work was to search these mosaics for Cucurbitaceae in order to obtain a more complete picture of cucurbit crop history in the eastern Mediterranean region. Results and Conclusions Twenty-three mosaics dating from 350–600 ce were found that had images positively identifiable as cucurbits. The morphological diversity of the cucurbit fruits in the mosaics of Israel is greater than that appearing in mosaics from any other Roman or Byzantine provincial area. The depicted fruits vary in shape from oblate to extremely long, and some are furrowed, others are striped and others lack definite markings. The cucurbit taxa depicted in the mosaics are Cucumis melo (melon), Citrullus lanatus (watermelon), Luffa aegyptiaca (sponge gourd) and Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd). Cucumis melo is the most frequently found taxon in the mosaics and is represented by round dessert melons and long snake melons. Fruits of at least two cultivars of snake melons and of watermelons are represented. To our knowledge, images of sponge gourds have not been found in Roman and Byzantine mosaics elsewhere. Indeed, the mosaics of Israel contain what are probably the oldest depictions of Luffa aegyptiaca in Mediterranean lands. Sponge gourds are depicted often, in 11 of the mosaics at eight localities, and the images include both mature fruits, which are useful for cleaning and washing, and immature fruits, which are edible. Only one mosaic has images positively identifiable as of bottle gourds, and these were round–pyriform and probably used as vessels. PMID:24948671

Transforming phylogenetic networks: Moving beyond tree space.

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Katharina T; Moulton, Vincent; Wu, Taoyang

2016-09-07

Phylogenetic networks are a generalization of phylogenetic trees that are used to represent reticulate evolution. Unrooted phylogenetic networks form a special class of such networks, which naturally generalize unrooted phylogenetic trees. In this paper we define two operations on unrooted phylogenetic networks, one of which is a generalization of the well-known nearest-neighbor interchange (NNI) operation on phylogenetic trees. We show that any unrooted phylogenetic network can be transformed into any other such network using only these operations. This generalizes the well-known fact that any phylogenetic tree can be transformed into any other such tree using only NNI operations. It also allows us to define a generalization of tree space and to define some new metrics on unrooted phylogenetic networks. To prove our main results, we employ some fascinating new connections between phylogenetic networks and cubic graphs that we have recently discovered. Our results should be useful in developing new strategies to search for optimal phylogenetic networks, a topic that has recently generated some interest in the literature, as well as for providing new ways to compare networks. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phylogenetic reassessment of Specklinia and its allied genera in the pleurothallidinae (Orchidaceae)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Karremans, Adam P.; Albertazzi, Federico J.; Bakker, Freek T.; Bogarín, Diego; Eurlings, M.C.M.; Pridgeon, Alec; Pupulin, Franco; Gravendeel, Barbara

2016-01-01

The phylogenetic relationships within Specklinia (Pleurothallidinae; Orchidaceae) and related genera are re-evaluated using Bayesian analyses of nrITS and chloroplast matK sequence data of a wide sampling of species. Specklinia is found paraphyletic in the DNA based trees, with species

Phylemon 2.0: a suite of web-tools for molecular evolution, phylogenetics, phylogenomics and hypotheses testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez, Rubén; Serra, François; Tárraga, Joaquín; Medina, Ignacio; Carbonell, José; Pulido, Luis; de María, Alejandro; Capella-Gutíerrez, Salvador; Huerta-Cepas, Jaime; Gabaldón, Toni; Dopazo, Joaquín; Dopazo, Hernán

2011-07-01

Phylemon 2.0 is a new release of the suite of web tools for molecular evolution, phylogenetics, phylogenomics and hypotheses testing. It has been designed as a response to the increasing demand of molecular sequence analyses for experts and non-expert users. Phylemon 2.0 has several unique features that differentiates it from other similar web resources: (i) it offers an integrated environment that enables evolutionary analyses, format conversion, file storage and edition of results; (ii) it suggests further analyses, thereby guiding the users through the web server; and (iii) it allows users to design and save phylogenetic pipelines to be used over multiple genes (phylogenomics). Altogether, Phylemon 2.0 integrates a suite of 30 tools covering sequence alignment reconstruction and trimming; tree reconstruction, visualization and manipulation; and evolutionary hypotheses testing.

Phylemon 2.0: a suite of web-tools for molecular evolution, phylogenetics, phylogenomics and hypotheses testing

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez, Rubén; Serra, François; Tárraga, Joaquín; Medina, Ignacio; Carbonell, José; Pulido, Luis; de María, Alejandro; Capella-Gutíerrez, Salvador; Huerta-Cepas, Jaime; Gabaldón, Toni; Dopazo, Joaquín; Dopazo, Hernán

2011-01-01

Phylemon 2.0 is a new release of the suite of web tools for molecular evolution, phylogenetics, phylogenomics and hypotheses testing. It has been designed as a response to the increasing demand of molecular sequence analyses for experts and non-expert users. Phylemon 2.0 has several unique features that differentiates it from other similar web resources: (i) it offers an integrated environment that enables evolutionary analyses, format conversion, file storage and edition of results; (ii) it suggests further analyses, thereby guiding the users through the web server; and (iii) it allows users to design and save phylogenetic pipelines to be used over multiple genes (phylogenomics). Altogether, Phylemon 2.0 integrates a suite of 30 tools covering sequence alignment reconstruction and trimming; tree reconstruction, visualization and manipulation; and evolutionary hypotheses testing. PMID:21646336

A format for phylogenetic placements.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frederick A Matsen

Full Text Available We have developed a unified format for phylogenetic placements, that is, mappings of environmental sequence data (e.g., short reads into a phylogenetic tree. We are motivated to do so by the growing number of tools for computing and post-processing phylogenetic placements, and the lack of an established standard for storing them. The format is lightweight, versatile, extensible, and is based on the JSON format, which can be parsed by most modern programming languages. Our format is already implemented in several tools for computing and post-processing parsimony- and likelihood-based phylogenetic placements and has worked well in practice. We believe that establishing a standard format for analyzing read placements at this early stage will lead to a more efficient development of powerful and portable post-analysis tools for the growing applications of phylogenetic placement.

A new measure to study phylogenetic relations in the brown algal ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

We analyse forty-seven chloroplast genes of the large subunit of RuBisCO, from the algal order Ectocarpales, sourced from GenBank. Codon-usage weighted by the nucleotide base-bias defines our score called the codon-impact-parameter. This score is used to obtain phylogenetic relations amongst the 47 Ectocarpales.

Phylogenetic inertia and Darwin's higher law.

Science.gov (United States)

Shanahan, Timothy

2011-03-01

The concept of 'phylogenetic inertia' is routinely deployed in evolutionary biology as an alternative to natural selection for explaining the persistence of characteristics that appear sub-optimal from an adaptationist perspective. However, in many of these contexts the precise meaning of 'phylogenetic inertia' and its relationship to selection are far from clear. After tracing the history of the concept of 'inertia' in evolutionary biology, I argue that treating phylogenetic inertia and natural selection as alternative explanations is mistaken because phylogenetic inertia is, from a Darwinian point of view, simply an expected effect of selection. Although Darwin did not discuss 'phylogenetic inertia,' he did assert the explanatory priority of selection over descent. An analysis of 'phylogenetic inertia' provides a perspective from which to assess Darwin's view. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increasing phylogenetic resolution at low taxonomic levels using massively parallel sequencing of chloroplast genomes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cronn Richard

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Molecular evolutionary studies share the common goal of elucidating historical relationships, and the common challenge of adequately sampling taxa and characters. Particularly at low taxonomic levels, recent divergence, rapid radiations, and conservative genome evolution yield limited sequence variation, and dense taxon sampling is often desirable. Recent advances in massively parallel sequencing make it possible to rapidly obtain large amounts of sequence data, and multiplexing makes extensive sampling of megabase sequences feasible. Is it possible to efficiently apply massively parallel sequencing to increase phylogenetic resolution at low taxonomic levels? Results We reconstruct the infrageneric phylogeny of Pinus from 37 nearly-complete chloroplast genomes (average 109 kilobases each of an approximately 120 kilobase genome generated using multiplexed massively parallel sequencing. 30/33 ingroup nodes resolved with ≥ 95% bootstrap support; this is a substantial improvement relative to prior studies, and shows massively parallel sequencing-based strategies can produce sufficient high quality sequence to reach support levels originally proposed for the phylogenetic bootstrap. Resampling simulations show that at least the entire plastome is necessary to fully resolve Pinus, particularly in rapidly radiating clades. Meta-analysis of 99 published infrageneric phylogenies shows that whole plastome analysis should provide similar gains across a range of plant genera. A disproportionate amount of phylogenetic information resides in two loci (ycf1, ycf2, highlighting their unusual evolutionary properties. Conclusion Plastome sequencing is now an efficient option for increasing phylogenetic resolution at lower taxonomic levels in plant phylogenetic and population genetic analyses. With continuing improvements in sequencing capacity, the strategies herein should revolutionize efforts requiring dense taxon and character sampling

Phylogenetic selection of target species in Amaryllidaceae tribe Haemantheae for acetylcholinesterase inhibition and affinity to the serotonin reuptake transport protein

Science.gov (United States)

We present phylogenetic analyses of 37 taxa of Amaryllidaceae, tribe Haemantheae and Amaryllis belladonna L. as an outgroup, in order to provide a phylogenetic framework for the selection of candidate plants for lead discoveries in relation to Alzheimer´s disease and depression. DNA sequences from t...

Depictions of Insomniacs’ Behaviors and Thoughts in Music Lyrics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Constance H. Fung

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Study Objectives. Studies have found that depictions of unhealthy behaviors (e.g., illicit substance use, violence are common in popular music lyrics; however, we are unaware of any studies that have specifically analyzed the content of music lyrics for unhealthy sleep-related behaviors. We sought to determine whether behaviors known to perpetuate insomnia symptoms are commonly depicted in the lyrics of popular music. Methods. We searched three online lyrics sites for lyrics with the word “insomnia” in the title and performed content analysis of each of the lyrics. Lyrics were analyzed for the presence/absence of the following perpetuating factors: extending sleep opportunity, using counter fatigue measures, self-medicating, and engaging in rituals or anti-stimulus control behaviors. Results. We analyzed 83 music lyrics. 47% described one or more perpetuating factor. 30% described individual(s engaging in rituals or antistimulus control strategies, 24% described self-medicating, 7% described engaging in counter fatigue measures, and 2% described extending sleep opportunity (e.g., napping during daytime. Conclusion. Maladaptive strategies known to perpetuate insomnia symptoms are common in popular music. Our results suggest that listeners of these sleep-related songs are frequently exposed to lyrics that depict maladaptive coping mechanisms. Additional studies are needed to examine the direct effects of exposing individuals to music lyrics with this content.

Large-scale phylogenetic analyses provide insights into unrecognized diversity and historical biogeography of Asian leaf-litter frogs, genus Leptolalax (Anura: Megophryidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jin-Min; Poyarkov, Nikolay A; Suwannapoom, Chatmongkon; Lathrop, Amy; Wu, Yun-He; Zhou, Wei-Wei; Yuan, Zhi-Yong; Jin, Jie-Qiong; Chen, Hong-Man; Liu, He-Qun; Nguyen, Truong Quang; Nguyen, Sang Ngoc; Duong, Tang Van; Eto, Koshiro; Nishikawa, Kanto; Matsui, Masafumi; Orlov, Nikolai L; Stuart, Bryan L; Brown, Rafe M; Rowley, Jodi J L; Murphy, Robert W; Wang, Ying-Yong; Che, Jing

2018-07-01

Southeast Asia and southern China (SEA-SC) harbor a highly diverse and endemic flora and fauna that is under increasing threat. An understanding of the biogeographical history and drivers of this diversity is lacking, especially in some of the most diverse and threatened groups. The Asian leaf-litter frog genus Leptolalax Dubois 1980 is a forest-dependent genus distributed throughout SEA-SC, making it an ideal study group to examine specific biogeographic hypotheses. In addition, the diversity of this genus remains poorly understood, and the phylogenetic relationships among species of Leptolalax and closely related Leptobrachella Smith 1928 remain unclear. Herein, we evaluate species-level diversity based on 48 of the 53 described species from throughout the distribution of Leptolalax. Molecular analyses reveal many undescribed species, mostly in southern China and Indochina. Our well-resolved phylogeny based on multiple nuclear DNA markers shows that Leptolalax is not monophyletic with respect to Leptobrachella and, thus, we assign the former to being a junior synonym of the latter. Similarly, analyses reject monophyly of the two subgenera of Leptolalax. The diversification pattern of the group is complex, involving a high degree of sympatry and prevalence of microendemic species. Northern Sundaland (Borneo) and eastern Indochina (Vietnam) appear to have played pivotal roles as geographical centers of diversification, and paleoclimatic changes and tectonic movements seem to have driven the major divergence of clades. Analyses fail to reject an "upstream" colonization hypothesis, and, thus, the genus appears to have originated in Sundaland and then colonized mainland Asia. Our results reveal that both vicariance and dispersal are responsible for current distribution patterns in the genus. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The transposition distance for phylogenetic trees

OpenAIRE

Rossello, Francesc; Valiente, Gabriel

2006-01-01

The search for similarity and dissimilarity measures on phylogenetic trees has been motivated by the computation of consensus trees, the search by similarity in phylogenetic databases, and the assessment of clustering results in bioinformatics. The transposition distance for fully resolved phylogenetic trees is a recent addition to the extensive collection of available metrics for comparing phylogenetic trees. In this paper, we generalize the transposition distance from fully resolved to arbi...

A Consistent Phylogenetic Backbone for the Fungi

Science.gov (United States)

Ebersberger, Ingo; de Matos Simoes, Ricardo; Kupczok, Anne; Gube, Matthias; Kothe, Erika; Voigt, Kerstin; von Haeseler, Arndt

2012-01-01

The kingdom of fungi provides model organisms for biotechnology, cell biology, genetics, and life sciences in general. Only when their phylogenetic relationships are stably resolved, can individual results from fungal research be integrated into a holistic picture of biology. However, and despite recent progress, many deep relationships within the fungi remain unclear. Here, we present the first phylogenomic study of an entire eukaryotic kingdom that uses a consistency criterion to strengthen phylogenetic conclusions. We reason that branches (splits) recovered with independent data and different tree reconstruction methods are likely to reflect true evolutionary relationships. Two complementary phylogenomic data sets based on 99 fungal genomes and 109 fungal expressed sequence tag (EST) sets analyzed with four different tree reconstruction methods shed light from different angles on the fungal tree of life. Eleven additional data sets address specifically the phylogenetic position of Blastocladiomycota, Ustilaginomycotina, and Dothideomycetes, respectively. The combined evidence from the resulting trees supports the deep-level stability of the fungal groups toward a comprehensive natural system of the fungi. In addition, our analysis reveals methodologically interesting aspects. Enrichment for EST encoded data—a common practice in phylogenomic analyses—introduces a strong bias toward slowly evolving and functionally correlated genes. Consequently, the generalization of phylogenomic data sets as collections of randomly selected genes cannot be taken for granted. A thorough characterization of the data to assess possible influences on the tree reconstruction should therefore become a standard in phylogenomic analyses. PMID:22114356

Accurate phylogenetic tree reconstruction from quartets: a heuristic approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Reaz, Rezwana; Bayzid, Md Shamsuzzoha; Rahman, M Sohel

2014-01-01

Supertree methods construct trees on a set of taxa (species) combining many smaller trees on the overlapping subsets of the entire set of taxa. A 'quartet' is an unrooted tree over 4 taxa, hence the quartet-based supertree methods combine many 4-taxon unrooted trees into a single and coherent tree over the complete set of taxa. Quartet-based phylogeny reconstruction methods have been receiving considerable attentions in the recent years. An accurate and efficient quartet-based method might be competitive with the current best phylogenetic tree reconstruction methods (such as maximum likelihood or Bayesian MCMC analyses), without being as computationally intensive. In this paper, we present a novel and highly accurate quartet-based phylogenetic tree reconstruction method. We performed an extensive experimental study to evaluate the accuracy and scalability of our approach on both simulated and biological datasets.

Phylogenetic Trees From Sequences

Science.gov (United States)

Ryvkin, Paul; Wang, Li-San

In this chapter, we review important concepts and approaches for phylogeny reconstruction from sequence data.We first cover some basic definitions and properties of phylogenetics, and briefly explain how scientists model sequence evolution and measure sequence divergence. We then discuss three major approaches for phylogenetic reconstruction: distance-based phylogenetic reconstruction, maximum parsimony, and maximum likelihood. In the third part of the chapter, we review how multiple phylogenies are compared by consensus methods and how to assess confidence using bootstrapping. At the end of the chapter are two sections that list popular software packages and additional reading.

The phylogenetic likelihood library.

Science.gov (United States)

Flouri, T; Izquierdo-Carrasco, F; Darriba, D; Aberer, A J; Nguyen, L-T; Minh, B Q; Von Haeseler, A; Stamatakis, A

2015-03-01

We introduce the Phylogenetic Likelihood Library (PLL), a highly optimized application programming interface for developing likelihood-based phylogenetic inference and postanalysis software. The PLL implements appropriate data structures and functions that allow users to quickly implement common, error-prone, and labor-intensive tasks, such as likelihood calculations, model parameter as well as branch length optimization, and tree space exploration. The highly optimized and parallelized implementation of the phylogenetic likelihood function and a thorough documentation provide a framework for rapid development of scalable parallel phylogenetic software. By example of two likelihood-based phylogenetic codes we show that the PLL improves the sequential performance of current software by a factor of 2-10 while requiring only 1 month of programming time for integration. We show that, when numerical scaling for preventing floating point underflow is enabled, the double precision likelihood calculations in the PLL are up to 1.9 times faster than those in BEAGLE. On an empirical DNA dataset with 2000 taxa the AVX version of PLL is 4 times faster than BEAGLE (scaling enabled and required). The PLL is available at http://www.libpll.org under the GNU General Public License (GPL). © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Society of Systematic Biologists.

Phylogenetic and Functional Structure of Wintering Waterbird Communities Associated with Ecological Differences.

Science.gov (United States)

Che, Xianli; Zhang, Min; Zhao, Yanyan; Zhang, Qiang; Quan, Qing; Møller, Anders; Zou, Fasheng

2018-01-19

Ecological differences may be related to community component divisions between Oriental (west) and Sino-Japanese (east) realms, and such differences may result in weak geographical breaks in migratory species that are highly mobile. Here, we conducted comparative phylogenetic and functional structure analyses of wintering waterbird communities in southern China across two realms and subsequently examined possible climate drivers of the observed patterns. An analysis based on such highly migratory species is particularly telling because migration is bound to reduce or completely eliminate any divergence between communities. Phylogenetic and functional structure of eastern communities showed over-dispersion while western communities were clustered. Basal phylogenetic and functional turnover of western communities was significant lower than that of eastern communities. The break between eastern and western communities was masked by these two realms. Geographic patterns were related to mean temperature changes and temperature fluctuations, suggesting that temperature may filter waterbird lineages and traits, thus underlying geographical community divisions. These results suggest phylogenetic and functional divisions in southern China, coinciding with biogeography. This study shows that temperature fluctuations constitute an essential mechanism shaping geographical divisions that have largely gone undetected previously, even under climate change.

The combination of phylogenetic analysis with epidemiological and serological data to track HIV-1 transmission in a sexual transmission case.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min Chen

Full Text Available To investigate the linkage of HIV transmission from a man to a woman through unprotected sexual contact without disclosing his HIV-positive status.Combined with epidemiological information and serological tests, phylogenetic analysis was used to test the a priori hypothesis of HIV transmission from the man to the woman. Control subjects, infected with HIV through heterosexual intercourse, from the same location were also sampled. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using the consensus gag, pol and env sequences obtained from blood samples of the man, the woman and the local control subjects. The env quasispecies of the man, the woman, and two controls were also obtained using single genome amplification and sequencing (SGA/S to explore the paraphyletic relationship by phylogenetic analysis.Epidemiological information and serological tests indicated that the man was infected with HIV-1 earlier than the woman. Phylogenetic analyses of the consensus sequences showed a monophyletic cluster for the man and woman in all three genomic regions. Furthermore, gag sequences of the man and woman shared a unique recombination pattern from subtype B and C, which was different from those of CRF07_BC or CRF08_BC observed in the local samples. These indicated that the viral sequences from the two subjects display a high level of similarity. Further, viral quasispecies from the man exhibited a paraphyletic relationship with those from the woman in the Bayesian and maximum-likelihood (ML phylogenetic trees of the env region, which supported the transmission direction from the man to the woman.In the context of epidemiological and serological evidence, the results of phylogenetic analyses support the transmission from the man to the woman.

Calculation of evolutionary correlation between individual genes and full-length genome: a method useful for choosing phylogenetic markers for molecular epidemiology.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuai Wang

Full Text Available Individual genes or regions are still commonly used to estimate the phylogenetic relationships among viral isolates. The genomic regions that can faithfully provide assessments consistent with those predicted with full-length genome sequences would be preferable to serve as good candidates of the phylogenetic markers for molecular epidemiological studies of many viruses. Here we employed a statistical method to evaluate the evolutionary relationships between individual viral genes and full-length genomes without tree construction as a way to determine which gene can match the genome well in phylogenetic analyses. This method was performed by calculation of linear correlations between the genetic distance matrices of aligned individual gene sequences and aligned genome sequences. We applied this method to the phylogenetic analyses of porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2, measles virus (MV, hepatitis E virus (HEV and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV. Phylogenetic trees were constructed for comparisons and the possible factors affecting the method accuracy were also discussed in the calculations. The results revealed that this method could produce results consistent with those of previous studies about the proper consensus sequences that could be successfully used as phylogenetic markers. And our results also suggested that these evolutionary correlations could provide useful information for identifying genes that could be used effectively to infer the genetic relationships.

Locating a tree in a phylogenetic network

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Iersel, van L.J.J.; Semple, C.; Steel, M.A.

2010-01-01

Phylogenetic trees and networks are leaf-labelled graphs that are used to describe evolutionary histories of species. The Tree Containment problem asks whether a given phylogenetic tree is embedded in a given phylogenetic network. Given a phylogenetic network and a cluster of species, the Cluster

Molecular Phylogenetics: Concepts for a Newcomer.

Science.gov (United States)

Ajawatanawong, Pravech

Molecular phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relationships among organisms using molecular sequence data. The aim of this review is to introduce the important terminology and general concepts of tree reconstruction to biologists who lack a strong background in the field of molecular evolution. Some modern phylogenetic programs are easy to use because of their user-friendly interfaces, but understanding the phylogenetic algorithms and substitution models, which are based on advanced statistics, is still important for the analysis and interpretation without a guide. Briefly, there are five general steps in carrying out a phylogenetic analysis: (1) sequence data preparation, (2) sequence alignment, (3) choosing a phylogenetic reconstruction method, (4) identification of the best tree, and (5) evaluating the tree. Concepts in this review enable biologists to grasp the basic ideas behind phylogenetic analysis and also help provide a sound basis for discussions with expert phylogeneticists.

Re-Evaluation of Phylogenetic Relationships among Species of the Mangrove Genus Avicennia from Indo-West Pacific Based on Multilocus Analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xinnian; Duke, Norman C; Yang, Yuchen; Huang, Lishi; Zhu, Yuxiang; Zhang, Zhang; Zhou, Renchao; Zhong, Cairong; Huang, Yelin; Shi, Suhua

2016-01-01

Avicennia L. (Avicenniaceae), one of the most diverse mangrove genera, is distributed widely in tropical and subtropical intertidal zones worldwide. Five species of Avicennia in the Indo-West Pacific region have been previously described. However, their phylogenetic relationships were determined based on morphological and allozyme data. To enhance our understanding of evolutionary patterns in the clade, we carried out a molecular phylogenetic study using wide sampling and multiple loci. Our results support two monophyletic clades across all species worldwide in Avicennia: an Atlantic-East Pacific (AEP) lineage and an Indo-West Pacific (IWP) lineage. This split is in line with biogeographic distribution of the clade. Focusing on the IWP branch, we reconstructed a detailed phylogenetic tree based on sequences from 25 nuclear genes. The results identified three distinct subclades, (1) A. rumphiana and A. alba, (2) A. officinalis and A. integra, and (3) the A. marina complex, with high bootstrap support. The results strongly corresponded to two morphological traits in floral structure: stigma position in relation to the anthers and style length. Using Bayesian dating methods we estimated diversification of the IWP lineage was dated to late Miocene (c. 6.0 million years ago) and may have been driven largely by the fluctuating sea levels since that time.

Re-Evaluation of Phylogenetic Relationships among Species of the Mangrove Genus Avicennia from Indo-West Pacific Based on Multilocus Analyses.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xinnian Li

Full Text Available Avicennia L. (Avicenniaceae, one of the most diverse mangrove genera, is distributed widely in tropical and subtropical intertidal zones worldwide. Five species of Avicennia in the Indo-West Pacific region have been previously described. However, their phylogenetic relationships were determined based on morphological and allozyme data. To enhance our understanding of evolutionary patterns in the clade, we carried out a molecular phylogenetic study using wide sampling and multiple loci. Our results support two monophyletic clades across all species worldwide in Avicennia: an Atlantic-East Pacific (AEP lineage and an Indo-West Pacific (IWP lineage. This split is in line with biogeographic distribution of the clade. Focusing on the IWP branch, we reconstructed a detailed phylogenetic tree based on sequences from 25 nuclear genes. The results identified three distinct subclades, (1 A. rumphiana and A. alba, (2 A. officinalis and A. integra, and (3 the A. marina complex, with high bootstrap support. The results strongly corresponded to two morphological traits in floral structure: stigma position in relation to the anthers and style length. Using Bayesian dating methods we estimated diversification of the IWP lineage was dated to late Miocene (c. 6.0 million years ago and may have been driven largely by the fluctuating sea levels since that time.

Big Breasts and Bad Guys: Depictions of Gender and Race in Video Games

Science.gov (United States)

Dickerman, Charles; Christensen, Jeff; Kerl-McClain, Stella Beatriz

2008-01-01

Video games have become a powerful force in the culture. Depictions of women in video games are scarce and highly stereotypical. Women are usually minor characters, are seen as victims rather than heroines, and are depicted in highly sexualized ways. Whereas early games had only a few representations of people of color, people of color were often…

Locating a tree in a phylogenetic network

OpenAIRE

van Iersel, Leo; Semple, Charles; Steel, Mike

2010-01-01

Phylogenetic trees and networks are leaf-labelled graphs that are used to describe evolutionary histories of species. The Tree Containment problem asks whether a given phylogenetic tree is embedded in a given phylogenetic network. Given a phylogenetic network and a cluster of species, the Cluster Containment problem asks whether the given cluster is a cluster of some phylogenetic tree embedded in the network. Both problems are known to be NP-complete in general. In this article, we consider t...

Nonbinary tree-based phylogenetic networks

OpenAIRE

Jetten, Laura; van Iersel, Leo

2016-01-01

Rooted phylogenetic networks are used to describe evolutionary histories that contain non-treelike evolutionary events such as hybridization and horizontal gene transfer. In some cases, such histories can be described by a phylogenetic base-tree with additional linking arcs, which can for example represent gene transfer events. Such phylogenetic networks are called tree-based. Here, we consider two possible generalizations of this concept to nonbinary networks, which we call tree-based and st...

Encoding phylogenetic trees in terms of weighted quartets.

Science.gov (United States)

Grünewald, Stefan; Huber, Katharina T; Moulton, Vincent; Semple, Charles

2008-04-01

One of the main problems in phylogenetics is to develop systematic methods for constructing evolutionary or phylogenetic trees. For a set of species X, an edge-weighted phylogenetic X-tree or phylogenetic tree is a (graph theoretical) tree with leaf set X and no degree 2 vertices, together with a map assigning a non-negative length to each edge of the tree. Within phylogenetics, several methods have been proposed for constructing such trees that work by trying to piece together quartet trees on X, i.e. phylogenetic trees each having four leaves in X. Hence, it is of interest to characterise when a collection of quartet trees corresponds to a (unique) phylogenetic tree. Recently, Dress and Erdös provided such a characterisation for binary phylogenetic trees, that is, phylogenetic trees all of whose internal vertices have degree 3. Here we provide a new characterisation for arbitrary phylogenetic trees.

Phylogenetic relationships in Peniocereus (Cactaceae) inferred from plastid DNA sequence data.

Science.gov (United States)

Arias, Salvador; Terrazas, Teresa; Arreola-Nava, Hilda J; Vázquez-Sánchez, Monserrat; Cameron, Kenneth M

2005-10-01

The phylogenetic relationships of Peniocereus (Cactaceae) species were studied using parsimony analyses of DNA sequence data. The plastid rpl16 and trnL-F regions were sequenced for 98 taxa including 17 species of Peniocereus, representatives from all genera of tribe Pachycereeae, four genera of tribe Hylocereeae, as well as from three additional outgroup genera of tribes Calymmantheae, Notocacteae, and Trichocereeae. Phylogenetic analyses support neither the monophyly of Peniocereus as currently circumscribed, nor the monophyly of tribe Pachycereeae since species of Peniocereus subgenus Pseudoacanthocereus are embedded within tribe Hylocereeae. Furthermore, these results show that the eight species of Peniocereus subgenus Peniocereus (Peniocereus sensu stricto) form a well-supported clade within subtribe Pachycereinae; P. serpentinus is also a member of this subtribe, but is sister to Bergerocactus. Moreover, Nyctocereus should be resurrected as a monotypic genus. Species of Peniocereus subgenus Pseudoacanthocereus are positioned among species of Acanthocereus within tribe Hylocereeae, indicating that they may be better classified within that genus. A number of morphological and anatomical characters, especially related to the presence or absence of dimorphic branches, are discussed to support these relationships.

Evolution of oil-producing trichomes in Sisyrinchium (Iridaceae): insights from the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the genus

Science.gov (United States)

Chauveau, Olivier; Eggers, Lilian; Raquin, Christian; Silvério, Adriano; Brown, Spencer; Couloux, Arnaud; Cruaud, Corine; Kaltchuk-Santos, Eliane; Yockteng, Roxana; Souza-Chies, Tatiana T.; Nadot, Sophie

2011-01-01

Background and Aims Sisyrinchium (Iridaceae: Iridoideae: Sisyrinchieae) is one of the largest, most widespread and most taxonomically complex genera in Iridaceae, with all species except one native to the American continent. Phylogenetic relationships within the genus were investigated and the evolution of oil-producing structures related to specialized oil-bee pollination examined. Methods Phylogenetic analyses based on eight molecular markers obtained from 101 Sisyrinchium accessions representing 85 species were conducted in the first extensive phylogenetic analysis of the genus. Total evidence analyses confirmed the monophyly of the genus and retrieved nine major clades weakly connected to the subdivisions previously recognized. The resulting phylogenetic hypothesis was used to reconstruct biogeographical patterns, and to trace the evolutionary origin of glandular trichomes present in the flowers of several species. Key Results and Conclusions Glandular trichomes evolved three times independently in the genus. In two cases, these glandular trichomes are oil-secreting, suggesting that the corresponding flowers might be pollinated by oil-bees. Biogeographical patterns indicate expansions from Central America and the northern Andes to the subandean ranges between Chile and Argentina and to the extended area of the Paraná river basin. The distribution of oil-flower species across the phylogenetic trees suggests that oil-producing trichomes may have played a key role in the diversification of the genus, a hypothesis that requires future testing. PMID:21527419

Seed plant phylogenetic diversity and species richness in conservation planning within a global biodiversity hotspot in eastern Asia.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Rong; Kraft, Nathan J B; Yu, Haiying; Li, Heng

2015-12-01

One of the main goals of conservation biology is to understand the factors shaping variation in biodiversity across the planet. This understanding is critical for conservation planners to be able to develop effective conservation strategies. Although many studies have focused on species richness and the protection of rare and endemic species, less attention has been paid to the protection of the phylogenetic dimension of biodiversity. We explored how phylogenetic diversity, species richness, and phylogenetic community structure vary in seed plant communities along an elevational gradient in a relatively understudied high mountain region, the Dulong Valley, in southeastern Tibet, China. As expected, phylogenetic diversity was well correlated with species richness among the elevational bands and among communities. At the community level, evergreen broad-leaved forests had the highest levels of species richness and phylogenetic diversity. Using null model analyses, we found evidence of nonrandom phylogenetic structure across the region. Evergreen broad-leaved forests were phylogenetically overdispersed, whereas other vegetation types tended to be phylogenetically clustered. We suggest that communities with high species richness or overdispersed phylogenetic structure should be a focus for biodiversity conservation within the Dulong Valley because these areas may help maximize the potential of this flora to respond to future global change. In biodiversity hotspots worldwide, we suggest that the phylogenetic structure of a community may serve as a useful measure of phylogenetic diversity in the context of conservation planning. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

Manufacturing white criminals: Depictions of criminality and violence on Law & Order

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew G. Selepak

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This study examines exposure to the police drama television genre and its impact on perceptions of crime and racial criminality. Content analyses of three seasons of Law & Order were examined to evaluate the show’s portrayal of race and crime compared to actual crime statistics for New York City during the same periods. A survey was also conducted to examine perceptions of personal safety and the influence of television’s depiction of race and crime. Results suggest whites are disproportionately portrayed as criminals five to eight times more often on police dramas compared to actual crime statistics for the city of New York, exposure to police dramas increases beliefs of threats to personal safety, and exposure to police dramas leads to elevated perceptions of white criminality among non-whites. Results provide additional support for cultivation theory and “Mean World Syndrome,” and implications for delimitation and racial distrust.

phylo-node: A molecular phylogenetic toolkit using Node.js.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Halloran, Damien M

2017-01-01

Node.js is an open-source and cross-platform environment that provides a JavaScript codebase for back-end server-side applications. JavaScript has been used to develop very fast and user-friendly front-end tools for bioinformatic and phylogenetic analyses. However, no such toolkits are available using Node.js to conduct comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis. To address this problem, I have developed, phylo-node, which was developed using Node.js and provides a stable and scalable toolkit that allows the user to perform diverse molecular and phylogenetic tasks. phylo-node can execute the analysis and process the resulting outputs from a suite of software options that provides tools for read processing and genome alignment, sequence retrieval, multiple sequence alignment, primer design, evolutionary modeling, and phylogeny reconstruction. Furthermore, phylo-node enables the user to deploy server dependent applications, and also provides simple integration and interoperation with other Node modules and languages using Node inheritance patterns, and a customized piping module to support the production of diverse pipelines. phylo-node is open-source and freely available to all users without sign-up or login requirements. All source code and user guidelines are openly available at the GitHub repository: https://github.com/dohalloran/phylo-node.

Phylogenetic and recombination analysis of tomato spotted wilt virus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sen Lian

Full Text Available Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV severely damages and reduces the yield of many economically important plants worldwide. In this study, we determined the whole-genome sequences of 10 TSWV isolates recently identified from various regions and hosts in Korea. Phylogenetic analysis of these 10 isolates as well as the three previously sequenced isolates indicated that the 13 Korean TSWV isolates could be divided into two groups reflecting either two different origins or divergences of Korean TSWV isolates. In addition, the complete nucleotide sequences for the 13 Korean TSWV isolates along with previously sequenced TSWV RNA segments from Korea and other countries were subjected to phylogenetic and recombination analysis. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that both the RNA L and RNA M segments of most Korean isolates might have originated in Western Europe and North America but that the RNA S segments for all Korean isolates might have originated in China and Japan. Recombination analysis identified a total of 12 recombination events among all isolates and segments and five recombination events among the 13 Korea isolates; among the five recombinants from Korea, three contained the whole RNA L segment, suggesting reassortment rather than recombination. Our analyses provide evidence that both recombination and reassortment have contributed to the molecular diversity of TSWV.

Comparing artistic and geometrical perspective depictions of space in the visual field.

Science.gov (United States)

Baldwin, Joseph; Burleigh, Alistair; Pepperell, Robert

2014-01-01

Which is the most accurate way to depict space in our visual field? Linear perspective, a form of geometrical perspective, has traditionally been regarded as the correct method of depicting visual space. But artists have often found it is limited in the angle of view it can depict; wide-angle scenes require uncomfortably close picture viewing distances or impractical degrees of enlargement to be seen properly. Other forms of geometrical perspective, such as fisheye projections, can represent wider views but typically produce pictures in which objects appear distorted. In this study we created an artistic rendering of a hemispherical visual space that encompassed the full visual field. We compared it to a number of geometrical perspective projections of the same space by asking participants to rate which best matched their visual experience. We found the artistic rendering performed significantly better than the geometrically generated projections.

Are Ichthyosporea animals or fungi? Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of elongation factor 1alpha of Ichthyophonus irregularis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ragan, Mark A; Murphy, Colleen A; Rand, Thomas G

2003-12-01

Ichthyosporea is a recently recognized group of morphologically simple eukaryotes, many of which cause disease in aquatic organisms. Ribosomal RNA sequence analyses place Ichthyosporea near the divergence of the animal and fungal lineages, but do not allow resolution of its exact phylogenetic position. Some of the best evidence for a specific grouping of animals and fungi (Opisthokonta) has come from elongation factor 1alpha, not only phylogenetic analysis of sequences but also the presence or absence of short insertions and deletions. We sequenced the EF-1alpha gene from the ichthyosporean parasite Ichthyophonus irregularis and determined its phylogenetic position using neighbor-joining, parsimony and Bayesian methods. We also sequenced EF-1alpha genes from four chytrids to provide broader representation within fungi. Sequence analyses and the presence of a characteristic 12 amino acid insertion strongly indicate that I. irregularis is a member of Opisthokonta, but do not resolve whether I. irregularis is a specific relative of animals or of fungi. However, the EF-1alpha of I. irregularis exhibits a two amino acid deletion heretofore reported only among fungi.

Tree-Based Unrooted Phylogenetic Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Francis, A; Huber, K T; Moulton, V

2018-02-01

Phylogenetic networks are a generalization of phylogenetic trees that are used to represent non-tree-like evolutionary histories that arise in organisms such as plants and bacteria, or uncertainty in evolutionary histories. An unrooted phylogenetic network on a non-empty, finite set X of taxa, or network, is a connected, simple graph in which every vertex has degree 1 or 3 and whose leaf set is X. It is called a phylogenetic tree if the underlying graph is a tree. In this paper we consider properties of tree-based networks, that is, networks that can be constructed by adding edges into a phylogenetic tree. We show that although they have some properties in common with their rooted analogues which have recently drawn much attention in the literature, they have some striking differences in terms of both their structural and computational properties. We expect that our results could eventually have applications to, for example, detecting horizontal gene transfer or hybridization which are important factors in the evolution of many organisms.

Molecular phylogenetics of porcini mushrooms (Boletus section Boletus).

Science.gov (United States)

Dentinger, Bryn T M; Ammirati, Joseph F; Both, Ernst E; Desjardin, Dennis E; Halling, Roy E; Henkel, Terry W; Moreau, Pierre-Arthur; Nagasawa, Eiji; Soytong, Kasem; Taylor, Andy F; Watling, Roy; Moncalvo, Jean-Marc; McLaughlin, David J

2010-12-01

Porcini (Boletus section Boletus: Boletaceae: Boletineae: Boletales) are a conspicuous group of wild, edible mushrooms characterized by fleshy fruiting bodies with a poroid hymenophore that is "stuffed" with white hyphae when young. Their reported distribution is with ectomycorrhizal plants throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Little progress has been made on the systematics of this group using modern molecular phylogenetic tools because sampling has been limited primarily to European species and the genes employed were insufficient to resolve the phylogeny. We examined the evolutionary history of porcini by using a global geographic sampling of most known species, new discoveries from little explored areas, and multiple genes. We used 78 sequences from the fast-evolving nuclear internal transcribed spacers and are able to recognize 18 reciprocally monophyletic species. To address whether or not porcini form a monophyletic group, we compiled a broadly sampled dataset of 41 taxa, including other members of the Boletineae, and used separate and combined phylogenetic analysis of sequences from the nuclear large subunit ribosomal DNA, the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, and the mitochondrial ATPase subunit six gene. Contrary to previous studies, our separate and combined phylogenetic analyses support the monophyly of porcini. We also report the discovery of two taxa that expand the known distribution of porcini to Australia and Thailand and have ancient phylogenetic connections to the rest of the group. A relaxed molecular clock analysis with these new taxa dates the origin of porcini to between 42 and 54 million years ago, coinciding with the initial diversification of angiosperms, during the Eocene epoch when the climate was warm and humid. These results reveal an unexpected diversity, distribution, and ancient origin of a group of commercially valuable mushrooms that may provide an economic incentive for conservation and support the hypothesis of a tropical

Unique Phylogenetic Lineage Found in the Fusarium-like Clade after Re-examining BCCM/IHEM Fungal Culture Collection Material.

Science.gov (United States)

Triest, David; De Cremer, Koen; Piérard, Denis; Hendrickx, Marijke

2016-09-01

Recently, the Fusarium genus has been narrowed based upon phylogenetic analyses and a Fusarium -like clade was adopted. The few species of the Fusarium -like clade were moved to new, re-installed or existing genera or provisionally retained as " Fusarium ." Only a limited number of reference strains and DNA marker sequences are available for this clade and not much is known about its actual species diversity. Here, we report six strains, preserved by the Belgian fungal culture collection BCCM/IHEM as a Fusarium species, that belong to the Fusarium -like clade. They showed a slow growth and produced pionnotes, typical morphological characteristics of many Fusarium -like species. Multilocus sequencing with comparative sequence analyses in GenBank and phylogenetic analyses, using reference sequences of type material, confirmed that they were indeed member of the Fusarium -like clade. One strain was identified as "Fusarium" ciliatum whereas another strain was identified as Fusicolla merismoides . The four remaining strains were shown to represent a unique phylogenetic lineage in the Fusarium -like clade and were also found morphologically distinct from other members of the Fusarium -like clade. Based upon phylogenetic considerations, a new genus, Pseudofusicolla gen. nov., and a new species, Pseudofusicolla belgica sp. nov., were installed for this lineage. A formal description is provided in this study. Additional sampling will be required to gather isolates other than the historical strains presented in the present study as well as to further reveal the actual species diversity in the Fusarium -like clade.

Sequence variation and phylogenetic analysis of envelope glycoprotein of hepatitis G virus.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, M Y; Fry, K; Yun, A; Chong, S; Linnen, J; Fung, K; Kim, J P

1997-11-01

A transfusion-transmissible agent provisionally designated hepatitis G virus (HGV) was recently identified. In this study, we examined the variability of the HGV genome by analysing sequences in the putative envelope region from 72 isolates obtained from diverse geographical sources. The 1561 nucleotide sequence of the E1/E2/NS2a region of HGV was determined from 12 isolates, and compared with three published sequences. The most variability was observed in 400 nucleotides at the N terminus of E2. We next analysed this 400 nucleotide envelope variable region (EV) from an additional 60 HGV isolates. This sequence varied considerably among the 75 isolates, with overall identity ranging from 79.3% to 99.5% at the nucleotide level, and from 83.5% to 100% at the amino acid level. However, hypervariable regions were not identified. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that the 75 HGV isolates belong to a single genotype. A single-tier distribution of evolutionary distances was observed among the 15 E1/E2/NS2a sequences and the 75 EV sequences. In contrast, 11 isolates of HCV were analysed and showed a three-tiered distribution, representing genotypes, subtypes, and isolates. The 75 isolates of HGV fell into four clusters on the phylogenetic tree. Tight geographical clustering was observed among the HGV isolates from Japan and Korea.

Emended description of the family Chromatiaceae, phylogenetic analyses of the genera Alishewanella, Rheinheimera and Arsukibacterium, transfer of Rheinheimera longhuensis LH2-2T to the genus Alishewanella and description of Alishewanella alkalitolerans sp. nov. from Lonar Lake, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Sisinthy, Shivaji; Chakraborty, Dwaipayan; Adicherla, Harikrishna; Gundlapally, Sathyanarayana Reddy

2017-09-01

Phylogenetic analyses were performed for members of the family Chromatiaceae, signature nucleotides deduced and the genus Alishewanella transferred to Chromatiaceae. Phylogenetic analyses were executed for the genera Alishewanella, Arsukibacterium and Rheinheimera and the genus Rheinheimera is proposed to be split, with the creation of the Pararheinheimera gen. nov. Furthermore, the species Rheinheimera longhuensis, is transferred to the genus Alishewanella as Alishewanella longhuensis comb. nov. Besides, the genera Alishewanella and Rheinheimera are also emended. Strain LNK-7.1 T was isolated from a water sample from the Lonar Lake, India. Cells were Gram-negative, motile rods, positive for catalase, oxidase, phosphatase, contained C 16:0 , C 17:1 ω8c, summed feature3 (C 16:1 ω6c and/or C 16:1 ω7c) and summed feature 8 (C 18:1 ω7c) as major fatty acids, PE and PG as the major lipids and Q-8 as the sole respiratory quinone. Phylogenetic analyses using NJ, ME, ML and Maximum parsimony, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, identified Alishewanella tabrizica RCRI4 T as the closely related species of strain LNK-7.1 T with a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 98.13%. The DNA-DNA similarity between LNK-7.1 T and the closely related species (A. tabrizica) was only 12.0% and, therefore, strain LNK-7.1 T was identified as a novel species of the genus Alishewanella with the proposed name Alishewanella alkalitolerans sp. nov. In addition phenotypic characteristics confirmed the species status to strain LNK-7.1 T . The type strain of A. alkalitolerans is LNK-7.1 T (LMG 29592 T  = KCTC 52279 T ), isolated from a water sample collected from the Lonar lake, India.

Nodal distances for rooted phylogenetic trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Cardona, Gabriel; Llabrés, Mercè; Rosselló, Francesc; Valiente, Gabriel

2010-08-01

Dissimilarity measures for (possibly weighted) phylogenetic trees based on the comparison of their vectors of path lengths between pairs of taxa, have been present in the systematics literature since the early seventies. For rooted phylogenetic trees, however, these vectors can only separate non-weighted binary trees, and therefore these dissimilarity measures are metrics only on this class of rooted phylogenetic trees. In this paper we overcome this problem, by splitting in a suitable way each path length between two taxa into two lengths. We prove that the resulting splitted path lengths matrices single out arbitrary rooted phylogenetic trees with nested taxa and arcs weighted in the set of positive real numbers. This allows the definition of metrics on this general class of rooted phylogenetic trees by comparing these matrices through metrics in spaces M(n)(R) of real-valued n x n matrices. We conclude this paper by establishing some basic facts about the metrics for non-weighted phylogenetic trees defined in this way using L(p) metrics on M(n)(R), with p [epsilon] R(>0).

Does art imitate death? Depictions of suicide in fiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Pridmore, Saxby; Walter, Garry

2013-02-01

To determine whether fiction (narrative products) deals with the issue of suicide and, if so, what it tells us about suicide "drivers". Accounts of suicide in narrative products were sought through web-based lists, book club members, other active readers and a prize-winning film writer and producer. Seventy-one depictions of fictional suicidal events were identified. In 12 suicides, the author appeared to indicate that the death was directly or indirectly due to mental disorder. In 15 suicides, the motivation could not be determined by the reader, and in 44 cases the motivation was social/situational factors. Suicidal events are depicted in fiction, and the features are broadly similar to the features of suicide in the real world. Should it be determined that cultural influences, including fiction, are important in suicide, any preventive activities aimed at modifying cultural influences will need to consider all forms of narrative product.

Ant-Based Phylogenetic Reconstruction (ABPR: A new distance algorithm for phylogenetic estimation based on ant colony optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karla Vittori

2008-12-01

Full Text Available We propose a new distance algorithm for phylogenetic estimation based on Ant Colony Optimization (ACO, named Ant-Based Phylogenetic Reconstruction (ABPR. ABPR joins two taxa iteratively based on evolutionary distance among sequences, while also accounting for the quality of the phylogenetic tree built according to the total length of the tree. Similar to optimization algorithms for phylogenetic estimation, the algorithm allows exploration of a larger set of nearly optimal solutions. We applied the algorithm to four empirical data sets of mitochondrial DNA ranging from 12 to 186 sequences, and from 898 to 16,608 base pairs, and covering taxonomic levels from populations to orders. We show that ABPR performs better than the commonly used Neighbor-Joining algorithm, except when sequences are too closely related (e.g., population-level sequences. The phylogenetic relationships recovered at and above species level by ABPR agree with conventional views. However, like other algorithms of phylogenetic estimation, the proposed algorithm failed to recover expected relationships when distances are too similar or when rates of evolution are very variable, leading to the problem of long-branch attraction. ABPR, as well as other ACO-based algorithms, is emerging as a fast and accurate alternative method of phylogenetic estimation for large data sets.

Complete mitochondrial genome of the Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus), with phylogenetic analysis in phasianidae.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Tai-Cheng; Sha, Tao; Irwin, David M; Zhang, Ya-Ping

2015-01-01

Pavo cristatus, known as the Indian peafowl, is endemic to India and Sri Lanka and has been domesticated for its ornamental and food value. However, its phylogenetic status is still debated. Here, to clarify the phylogenetic status of P. cristatus within Phasianidae, we analyzed its mitochondrial genome (mtDNA). The complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome was determined using 34 pairs of primers. Our data show that the mtDNA genome of P. cristatus is 16,686 bp in length. Molecular phylogenetic analyses of P. cristatus was performed along with 22 complete mtDNA genomes belonging to other species in Phasianidae using Bayesian and maximum likelihood methods, where Aythya americana and Anas platyrhynchos were used as outgroups. Our results show that P. critatus has its closest genetic affinity with Pavo muticus and belongs to clade that contains Gallus, Bambusicola and Francolinus.

Is Mom Still Doing It All?: Reexamining Depictions of Family Work in Popular Advertising

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Bryan K.; Hunter, Erica

2008-01-01

This study examines a sample of 299 advertisements from 4 of the top 10 circulated magazines of 2005 to see how contemporary advertising depicts household labor. Modeling after previous studies that examined the depiction of gender in family advertising, this study seeks to determine whether advertising reflects the changes in families that have…

REFGEN and TREENAMER: Automated Sequence Data Handling for Phylogenetic Analysis in the Genomic Era

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, Guy; Stevens, Jamie R.; Richards, Thomas A.

2009-01-01

The phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences and increasingly that of amino acid sequences is used to address a number of biological questions. Access to extensive datasets, including numerous genome projects, means that standard phylogenetic analyses can include many hundreds of sequences. Unfortunately, most phylogenetic analysis programs do not tolerate the sequence naming conventions of genome databases. Managing large numbers of sequences and standardizing sequence labels for use in phylogenetic analysis programs can be a time consuming and laborious task. Here we report the availability of an online resource for the management of gene sequences recovered from public access genome databases such as GenBank. These web utilities include the facility for renaming every sequence in a FASTA alignment file, with each sequence label derived from a user-defined combination of the species name and/or database accession number. This facility enables the user to keep track of the branching order of the sequences/taxa during multiple tree calculations and re-optimisations. Post phylogenetic analysis, these webpages can then be used to rename every label in the subsequent tree files (with a user-defined combination of species name and/or database accession number). Together these programs drastically reduce the time required for managing sequence alignments and labelling phylogenetic figures. Additional features of our platform include the automatic removal of identical accession numbers (recorded in the report file) and generation of species and accession number lists for use in supplementary materials or figure legends. PMID:19812722

On Tree-Based Phylogenetic Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Louxin

2016-07-01

A large class of phylogenetic networks can be obtained from trees by the addition of horizontal edges between the tree edges. These networks are called tree-based networks. We present a simple necessary and sufficient condition for tree-based networks and prove that a universal tree-based network exists for any number of taxa that contains as its base every phylogenetic tree on the same set of taxa. This answers two problems posted by Francis and Steel recently. A byproduct is a computer program for generating random binary phylogenetic networks under the uniform distribution model.

A phylogenetic transform enhances analysis of compositional microbiota data.

Science.gov (United States)

Silverman, Justin D; Washburne, Alex D; Mukherjee, Sayan; David, Lawrence A

2017-02-15

Surveys of microbial communities (microbiota), typically measured as relative abundance of species, have illustrated the importance of these communities in human health and disease. Yet, statistical artifacts commonly plague the analysis of relative abundance data. Here, we introduce the PhILR transform, which incorporates microbial evolutionary models with the isometric log-ratio transform to allow off-the-shelf statistical tools to be safely applied to microbiota surveys. We demonstrate that analyses of community-level structure can be applied to PhILR transformed data with performance on benchmarks rivaling or surpassing standard tools. Additionally, by decomposing distance in the PhILR transformed space, we identified neighboring clades that may have adapted to distinct human body sites. Decomposing variance revealed that covariation of bacterial clades within human body sites increases with phylogenetic relatedness. Together, these findings illustrate how the PhILR transform combines statistical and phylogenetic models to overcome compositional data challenges and enable evolutionary insights relevant to microbial communities.

Using the Stereotype Content Model to examine group depictions in Fascism: An Archival Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Durante, Federica; Volpato, Chiara; Fiske, Susan T

2010-04-01

The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) suggests potentially universal intergroup depictions. If universal, they should apply across history in archival data. Bridging this gap, we examined social groups descriptions during Italy's Fascist era. In Study 1, articles published in a Fascist magazine- La Difesa della Razza -were content analyzed, and results submitted to correspondence analysis. Admiration prejudice depicted ingroups; envious and contemptuous prejudices depicted specific outgroups, generally in line with SCM predictions. No paternalistic prejudice appeared; historical reasons might explain this finding. Results also fit the recently developed BIAS Map of behavioral consequences. In Study 2, ninety-six undergraduates rated the content-analysis traits on warmth and competence, without knowing their origin. They corroborated SCM's interpretations of the archival data.

Phylogenetic analysis reveals a cryptic species Blastomyces gilchristii, sp. nov. within the human pathogenic fungus Blastomyces dermatitidis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth M Brown

Full Text Available Analysis of the population genetic structure of microbial species is of fundamental importance to many scientific disciplines because it can identify cryptic species, reveal reproductive mode, and elucidate processes that contribute to pathogen evolution. Here, we examined the population genetic structure and geographic differentiation of the sexual, dimorphic fungus Blastomyces dermatitidis, the causative agent of blastomycosis.Criteria for Genealogical Concordance Phylogenetic Species Recognition (GCPSR applied to seven nuclear loci (arf6, chs2, drk1, fads, pyrF, tub1, and its-2 from 78 clinical and environmental isolates identified two previously unrecognized phylogenetic species. Four of seven single gene phylogenies examined (chs2, drk1, pyrF, and its-2 supported the separation of Phylogenetic Species 1 (PS1 and Phylogenetic Species 2 (PS2 which were also well differentiated in the concatenated chs2-drk1-fads-pyrF-tub1-arf6-its2 genealogy with all isolates falling into one of two evolutionarily independent lineages. Phylogenetic species were genetically distinct with interspecific divergence 4-fold greater than intraspecific divergence and a high Fst value (0.772, P<0.001 indicative of restricted gene flow between PS1 and PS2. Whereas panmixia expected of a single freely recombining population was not observed, recombination was detected when PS1 and PS2 were assessed separately, suggesting reproductive isolation. Random mating among PS1 isolates, which were distributed across North America, was only detected after partitioning isolates into six geographic regions. The PS2 population, found predominantly in the hyper-endemic regions of northwestern Ontario, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, contained a substantial clonal component with random mating detected only among unique genotypes in the population.These analyses provide evidence for a genetically divergent clade within Blastomyces dermatitidis, which we use to describe a novel species

Functional & phylogenetic diversity of copepod communities

Science.gov (United States)

Benedetti, F.; Ayata, S. D.; Blanco-Bercial, L.; Cornils, A.; Guilhaumon, F.

2016-02-01

The diversity of natural communities is classically estimated through species identification (taxonomic diversity) but can also be estimated from the ecological functions performed by the species (functional diversity), or from the phylogenetic relationships among them (phylogenetic diversity). Estimating functional diversity requires the definition of specific functional traits, i.e., phenotypic characteristics that impact fitness and are relevant to ecosystem functioning. Estimating phylogenetic diversity requires the description of phylogenetic relationships, for instance by using molecular tools. In the present study, we focused on the functional and phylogenetic diversity of copepod surface communities in the Mediterranean Sea. First, we implemented a specific trait database for the most commonly-sampled and abundant copepod species of the Mediterranean Sea. Our database includes 191 species, described by seven traits encompassing diverse ecological functions: minimal and maximal body length, trophic group, feeding type, spawning strategy, diel vertical migration and vertical habitat. Clustering analysis in the functional trait space revealed that Mediterranean copepods can be gathered into groups that have different ecological roles. Second, we reconstructed a phylogenetic tree using the available sequences of 18S rRNA. Our tree included 154 of the analyzed Mediterranean copepod species. We used these two datasets to describe the functional and phylogenetic diversity of copepod surface communities in the Mediterranean Sea. The replacement component (turn-over) and the species richness difference component (nestedness) of the beta diversity indices were identified. Finally, by comparing various and complementary aspects of plankton diversity (taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity) we were able to gain a better understanding of the relationships among the zooplankton community, biodiversity, ecosystem function, and environmental forcing.

treespace: Statistical exploration of landscapes of phylogenetic trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Jombart, Thibaut; Kendall, Michelle; Almagro-Garcia, Jacob; Colijn, Caroline

2017-11-01

The increasing availability of large genomic data sets as well as the advent of Bayesian phylogenetics facilitates the investigation of phylogenetic incongruence, which can result in the impossibility of representing phylogenetic relationships using a single tree. While sometimes considered as a nuisance, phylogenetic incongruence can also reflect meaningful biological processes as well as relevant statistical uncertainty, both of which can yield valuable insights in evolutionary studies. We introduce a new tool for investigating phylogenetic incongruence through the exploration of phylogenetic tree landscapes. Our approach, implemented in the R package treespace, combines tree metrics and multivariate analysis to provide low-dimensional representations of the topological variability in a set of trees, which can be used for identifying clusters of similar trees and group-specific consensus phylogenies. treespace also provides a user-friendly web interface for interactive data analysis and is integrated alongside existing standards for phylogenetics. It fills a gap in the current phylogenetics toolbox in R and will facilitate the investigation of phylogenetic results. © 2017 The Authors. Molecular Ecology Resources Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Phylogenetic Relationships of Five Asian Schilbid Genera Including Clupisoma (Siluriformes: Schilbeidae.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Wang

Full Text Available The phylogenetic relationships of Asian schilbid catfishes of the genera Clupisoma, Ailia, Horabagrus, Laides and Pseudeutropius are poorly understood, especially those of Clupisoma. Herein, we reconstruct the phylogeny of 38 species of catfishes belonging to 28 genera and 14 families using the concatenated mitochondrial genes COI, cytb, and 16S rRNA, as well as the nuclear genes RAG1 and RAG2. The resulting phylogenetic trees consistently place Clupisoma as the sister taxon of Laides, and the five representative Asian schilbid genera form two monophyletic groups with the relationships (Ailia (Laides, Clupisoma and (Horabagrus, Pseudeutropius. The so-called "Big Asia" lineage relates distantly to African schilbids. Independent analyses of the mitochondrial and nuclear DNA data yield differing trees for the two Asian schilbid groups. Analyses of the mitochondrial gene data support a sister-group relationship for (Ailia (Laides, Clupisoma and the Sisoroidea and a sister-taxon association of (Horabagrus, Pseudeutropius and the Bagridae. In contrast, analyses of the combined nuclear data indicate (Ailia (Laides, Clupisoma to be the sister group to (Horabagrus, Pseudeutropius. Our results indicate that the Horabagridae, recognized by some authors as consisting of Horabagrus, Pseudeutropius and Clupisoma does not include the latter genus. We formally erect a new family, Ailiidae fam. nov. for a monophyletic Asian group comprised of the genera Ailia, Laides and Clupisoma.

Phylogenetic diversity and relationships among species of genus ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Fifty six Nicotiana species were used to construct phylogenetic trees and to asses the genetic relationships between them. Genetic distances estimated from RAPD analysis was used to construct phylogenetic trees using Phylogenetic Inference Package (PHYLIP). Since phylogenetic relationships estimated for closely ...

Phylogenetic utility of ribosomal genes for reconstructing the phylogeny of five Chinese satyrine tribes (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingsheng Yang

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Satyrinae is one of twelve subfamilies of the butterfly family Nymphalidae, which currently includes nine tribes. However, phylogenetic relationships among them remain largely unresolved, though different researches have been conducted based on both morphological and molecular data. However, ribosomal genes have never been used in tribe level phylogenetic analyses of Satyrinae. In this study we investigate for the first time the phylogenetic relationships among the tribes Elymniini, Amathusiini, Zetherini and Melanitini which are indicated to be a monophyletic group, and the Satyrini, using two ribosomal genes (28s rDNA and 16s rDNA and four protein-coding genes (EF-1α, COI, COII and Cytb. We mainly aim to assess the phylogenetic informativeness of the ribosomal genes as well as clarify the relationships among different tribes. Our results show the two ribosomal genes generally have the same high phylogenetic informativeness compared with EF-1α; and we infer the 28s rDNA would show better informativeness if the 28s rDNA sequence data for each sampling taxon are obtained in this study. The placement of the monotypic genus Callarge Leech in Zetherini is confirmed for the first time based on molecular evidence. In addition, our maximum likelihood (ML and Bayesian inference (BI trees consistently show that the involved Satyrinae including the Amathusiini is monophyletic with high support values. Although the relationships among the five tribes are identical among ML and BI analyses and are mostly strongly-supported in BI analysis, those in ML analysis are lowly- or moderately- supported. Therefore, the relationships among the related five tribes recovered herein need further verification based on more sampling taxa.

Nonbinary Tree-Based Phylogenetic Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jetten, L.; van Iersel, L.J.J.

2018-01-01

Rooted phylogenetic networks are used to describe evolutionary histories that contain non-treelike evolutionary events such as hybridization and horizontal gene transfer. In some cases, such histories can be described by a phylogenetic base-tree with additional linking arcs, which can for example

Molecular phylogenetics and character evolution of morphologically diverse groups, Dendrobium section Dendrobium and allies

Science.gov (United States)

Takamiya, Tomoko; Wongsawad, Pheravut; Sathapattayanon, Apirada; Tajima, Natsuko; Suzuki, Shunichiro; Kitamura, Saki; Shioda, Nao; Handa, Takashi; Kitanaka, Susumu; Iijima, Hiroshi; Yukawa, Tomohisa

2014-01-01

It is always difficult to construct coherent classification systems for plant lineages having diverse morphological characters. The genus Dendrobium, one of the largest genera in the Orchidaceae, includes ∼1100 species, and enormous morphological diversification has hindered the establishment of consistent classification systems covering all major groups of this genus. Given the particular importance of species in Dendrobium section Dendrobium and allied groups as floriculture and crude drug genetic resources, there is an urgent need to establish a stable classification system. To clarify phylogenetic relationships in Dendrobium section Dendrobium and allied groups, we analysed the macromolecular characters of the group. Phylogenetic analyses of 210 taxa of Dendrobium were conducted on DNA sequences of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of 18S–26S nuclear ribosomal DNA and the maturase-coding gene (matK) located in an intron of the plastid gene trnK using maximum parsimony and Bayesian methods. The parsimony and Bayesian analyses revealed 13 distinct clades in the group comprising section Dendrobium and its allied groups. Results also showed paraphyly or polyphyly of sections Amblyanthus, Aporum, Breviflores, Calcarifera, Crumenata, Dendrobium, Densiflora, Distichophyllae, Dolichocentrum, Holochrysa, Oxyglossum and Pedilonum. On the other hand, the monophyly of section Stachyobium was well supported. It was found that many of the morphological characters that have been believed to reflect phylogenetic relationships are, in fact, the result of convergence. As such, many of the sections that have been recognized up to this point were found to not be monophyletic, so recircumscription of sections is required. PMID:25107672

Complete mitochondrial genomes elucidate phylogenetic relationships of the deep-sea octocoral families Coralliidae and Paragorgiidae

Science.gov (United States)

Figueroa, Diego F.; Baco, Amy R.

2014-01-01

In the past decade, molecular phylogenetic analyses of octocorals have shown that the current morphological taxonomic classification of these organisms needs to be revised. The latest phylogenetic analyses show that most octocorals can be divided into three main clades. One of these clades contains the families Coralliidae and Paragorgiidae. These families share several taxonomically important characters and it has been suggested that they may not be monophyletic; with the possibility of the Coralliidae being a derived branch of the Paragorgiidae. Uncertainty exists not only in the relationship of these two families, but also in the classification of the two genera that make up the Coralliidae, Corallium and Paracorallium. Molecular analyses suggest that the genus Corallium is paraphyletic, and it can be divided into two main clades, with the Paracorallium as members of one of these clades. In this study we sequenced the whole mitochondrial genome of five species of Paragorgia and of five species of Corallium to use in a phylogenetic analysis to achieve two main objectives; the first to elucidate the phylogenetic relationship between the Paragorgiidae and Coralliidae and the second to determine whether the genera Corallium and Paracorallium are monophyletic. Our results show that other members of the Coralliidae share the two novel mitochondrial gene arrangements found in a previous study in Corallium konojoi and Paracorallium japonicum; and that the Corallium konojoi arrangement is also found in the Paragorgiidae. Our phylogenetic reconstruction based on all the protein coding genes and ribosomal RNAs of the mitochondrial genome suggest that the Coralliidae are not a derived branch of the Paragorgiidae, but rather a monophyletic sister branch to the Paragorgiidae. While our manuscript was in review a study was published using morphological data and several fragments from mitochondrial genes to redefine the taxonomy of the Coralliidae. Paracorallium was subsumed

Anuran trypanosomes: phylogenetic evidence for new clades in Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

da S Ferreira, Juliana I G; da Costa, Andrea P; Ramirez, Diego; Roldan, Jairo A M; Saraiva, Danilo; da S Founier, Gislene F R; Sue, Ana; Zambelli, Erick R; Minervino, Antonio H H; Verdade, Vanessa K; Gennari, Solange M; Marcili, Arlei

2015-05-01

Trypanosomes of anurans and fish are grouped into the Aquatic Clade which includes species isolated from fish, amphibians, turtles and platypus, usually transmitted by leeches and phlebotomine sand flies. Trypanosomes from Brazilian frogs are grouped within the Aquatic Clade with other anuran trypanosome species, where there seems to be coevolutionary patterns with vertebrate hosts and association to Brazilian biomes (Atlantic Forest, Pantanal and Amazonia Rainforest). We characterised the anuran trypanosomes from two different areas of the Cerrado biome and examined their phylogenetic relationships based on the SSU rRNA gene. A total of 112 anurans of six species was analysed and trypanosome prevalence evaluated through haemoculture was found to be 7% (8 positive frogs). However, only three isolates (2.7%) from two anuran species were recovered and cryopreserved. Analysis including SSU rDNA sequences from previous studies segregated the anuran trypanosomes into six groups, the previously reported An01 to An04, and An05 and An06 reported herein. Clade An05 comprises the isolates from Leptodactylus latrans (Steffen) and Pristimantis sp. captured in the Cerrado biome and Trypanosoma chattoni Mathis & Leger, 1911. The inclusion of new isolates in the phylogenetic analyses provided evidence for a new group (An06) of parasites from phlebotomine hosts. Our results indicate that the diversity of trypanosome species is underestimated since studies conducted in Brazil and other regions of the world are still few.

Phylogenetically informed logic relationships improve detection of biological network organization

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background A "phylogenetic profile" refers to the presence or absence of a gene across a set of organisms, and it has been proven valuable for understanding gene functional relationships and network organization. Despite this success, few studies have attempted to search beyond just pairwise relationships among genes. Here we search for logic relationships involving three genes, and explore its potential application in gene network analyses. Results Taking advantage of a phylogenetic matrix constructed from the large orthologs database Roundup, we invented a method to create balanced profiles for individual triplets of genes that guarantee equal weight on the different phylogenetic scenarios of coevolution between genes. When we applied this idea to LAPP, the method to search for logic triplets of genes, the balanced profiles resulted in significant performance improvement and the discovery of hundreds of thousands more putative triplets than unadjusted profiles. We found that logic triplets detected biological network organization and identified key proteins and their functions, ranging from neighbouring proteins in local pathways, to well separated proteins in the whole pathway, and to the interactions among different pathways at the system level. Finally, our case study suggested that the directionality in a logic relationship and the profile of a triplet could disclose the connectivity between the triplet and surrounding networks. Conclusion Balanced profiles are superior to the raw profiles employed by traditional methods of phylogenetic profiling in searching for high order gene sets. Gene triplets can provide valuable information in detection of biological network organization and identification of key genes at different levels of cellular interaction. PMID:22172058

Ultrafast Approximation for Phylogenetic Bootstrap

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bui Quang Minh, [No Value; Nguyen, Thi; von Haeseler, Arndt

Nonparametric bootstrap has been a widely used tool in phylogenetic analysis to assess the clade support of phylogenetic trees. However, with the rapidly growing amount of data, this task remains a computational bottleneck. Recently, approximation methods such as the RAxML rapid bootstrap (RBS) and

Unique Phylogenetic Lineage Found in the Fusarium-like Clade after Re-examining BCCM/IHEM Fungal Culture Collection Material

Science.gov (United States)

De Cremer, Koen; Piérard, Denis; Hendrickx, Marijke

2016-01-01

Recently, the Fusarium genus has been narrowed based upon phylogenetic analyses and a Fusarium-like clade was adopted. The few species of the Fusarium-like clade were moved to new, re-installed or existing genera or provisionally retained as "Fusarium." Only a limited number of reference strains and DNA marker sequences are available for this clade and not much is known about its actual species diversity. Here, we report six strains, preserved by the Belgian fungal culture collection BCCM/IHEM as a Fusarium species, that belong to the Fusarium-like clade. They showed a slow growth and produced pionnotes, typical morphological characteristics of many Fusarium-like species. Multilocus sequencing with comparative sequence analyses in GenBank and phylogenetic analyses, using reference sequences of type material, confirmed that they were indeed member of the Fusarium-like clade. One strain was identified as "Fusarium" ciliatum whereas another strain was identified as Fusicolla merismoides. The four remaining strains were shown to represent a unique phylogenetic lineage in the Fusarium-like clade and were also found morphologically distinct from other members of the Fusarium-like clade. Based upon phylogenetic considerations, a new genus, Pseudofusicolla gen. nov., and a new species, Pseudofusicolla belgica sp. nov., were installed for this lineage. A formal description is provided in this study. Additional sampling will be required to gather isolates other than the historical strains presented in the present study as well as to further reveal the actual species diversity in the Fusarium-like clade. PMID:27790062

Sequence exploration reveals information bias among molecular markers used in phylogenetic reconstruction for Colletotrichum species.

Science.gov (United States)

Rampersad, Sephra N; Hosein, Fazeeda N; Carrington, Christine Vf

2014-01-01

The Colletotrichum gloeosporioides species complex is among the most destructive fungal plant pathogens in the world, however, identification of isolates of quarantine importance to the intra-specific level is confounded by a number of factors that affect phylogenetic reconstruction. Information bias and quality parameters were investigated to determine whether nucleotide sequence alignments and phylogenetic trees accurately reflect the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relatedness of individuals. Sequence exploration of GAPDH, ACT, TUB2 and ITS markers indicated that the query sequences had different patterns of nucleotide substitution but were without evidence of base substitution saturation. Regions of high entropy were much more dispersed in the ACT and GAPDH marker alignments than for the ITS and TUB2 markers. A discernible bimodal gap in the genetic distance frequency histograms was produced for the ACT and GAPDH markers which indicated successful separation of intra- and inter-specific sequences in the data set. Overall, analyses indicated clear differences in the ability of these markers to phylogenetically separate individuals to the intra-specific level which coincided with information bias.

Molecular phylogenetic and scanning electron microscopical analyses places the Choanephoraceae and the Gilbertellaceae in a monophyletic group within the Mucorales (Zygomycetes, Fungi).

Science.gov (United States)

Voigt, Kerstin; Olsson, L

2008-09-01

A multi-gene genealogy based on maximum parsimony and distance analyses of the exonic genes for actin (act) and translation elongation factor 1 alpha (tef), the nuclear genes for the small (18S) and large (28S) subunit ribosomal RNA (comprising 807, 1092, 1863, 389 characters, respectively) of all 50 genera of the Mucorales (Zygomycetes) suggests that the Choanephoraceae is a monophyletic group. The monotypic Gilbertellaceae appears in close phylogenetic relatedness to the Choanephoraceae. The monophyly of the Choanephoraceae has moderate to strong support (bootstrap proportions 67% and 96% in distance and maximum parsimony analyses, respectively), whereas the monophyly of the Choanephoraceae-Gilbertellaceae clade is supported by high bootstrap values (100% and 98%). This suggests that the two families can be joined into one family, which leads to the elimination of the Gilbertellaceae as a separate family. In order to test this hypothesis single-locus neighbor-joining analyses were performed on nuclear genes of the 18S, 5.8S, 28S and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1 ribosomal RNA and the translation elongation factor 1 alpha (tef) and beta tubulin (betatub) nucleotide sequences. The common monophyletic origin of the Choanephoraceae-Gilbertellaceae clade could be confirmed in all gene trees and by investigation of their ultrastructure. Sporangia with persistent, sutured walls splitting in half at maturity and ellipsoidal sporangiospores with striated ornamentations and polar ciliate appendages arising from spores in persistent sporangia and dehiscent sporangiola represent synapomorphic characters of this group. We discuss our data in the context of the historical development of their taxonomy and physiology and propose a reduction of the two families to one family, the Choanephoraceae sensu lato comprising species which are facultative plant pathogens and parasites, especially in subtropical to tropical regions.

Re-evaluation of the taxonomy of the Mitis group of the genus Streptococcus based on whole genome phylogenetic analyses, and proposed reclassification of Streptococcus dentisani as Streptococcus oralis subsp. dentisani comb. nov., Streptococcus tigurinus as Streptococcus oralis subsp. tigurinus comb. nov., and Streptococcus oligofermentans as a later synonym of Streptococcus cristatus.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Anders; Scholz, Christian F P; Kilian, Mogens

2016-11-01

The Mitis group of the genus Streptococcus currently comprises 20 species with validly published names, including the pathogen S. pneumoniae. They have been the subject of much taxonomic confusion, due to phenotypic overlap and genetic heterogeneity, which has hampered a full appreciation of their clinical significance. The purpose of this study was to critically re-examine the taxonomy of the Mitis group using 195 publicly available genomes, including designated type strains for phylogenetic analyses based on core genomes, multilocus sequences and 16S rRNA gene sequences, combined with estimates of average nucleotide identity (ANI) and in silico and in vitro analyses of specific phenotypic characteristics. Our core genomic phylogenetic analyses revealed distinct clades that, to some extent, and from the clustering of type strains represent known species. However, many of the genomes have been incorrectly identified adding to the current confusion. Furthermore, our data show that 16S rRNA gene sequences and ANI are unsuitable for identifying and circumscribing new species of the Mitis group of the genus Streptococci. Based on the clustering patterns resulting from core genome phylogenetic analysis, we conclude that S. oligofermentans is a later synonym of S. cristatus. The recently described strains of the species Streptococcus dentisani includes one previously referred to as 'S. mitis biovar 2'. Together with S. oralis, S. dentisani and S. tigurinus form subclusters within a coherent phylogenetic clade. We propose that the species S. oralis consists of three subspecies: S. oralis subsp. oralis subsp. nov., S. oralis subsp. tigurinus comb. nov., and S. oralis subsp. dentisani comb. nov.

Delimiting invasive Myriophyllum aquaticum in Kashmir Himalaya using a molecular phylogenetic approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Shah, M A; Ali, M A; Al-Hemaid, F M; Reshi, Z A

2014-09-12

Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc. (family Haloragaceae) is one of the most invasive and destructive South American aquatic plant species and is present in a wide range of geographic regions, including the Kashmir Himalaya. Confusion regarding the taxonomic delimitation of M. aquaticum in the Himalayan region impedes effective and targeted management. Hence, our goal was improve the identification of M. aquaticum for exclusive delimitation from other related species in the study region using a molecular phylogenetic approach. A maximum parsimony tree recovered from phylogenetic analyses of the internal transcribed spacer sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA was used to authenticate the identification of M. aquaticum. The results of this study can be used for targeted management of this tropical invader into the temperate Kashmir Himalaya.

Phylogenetic structure in tropical hummingbird communities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Graham, Catherine H; Parra, Juan L; Rahbek, Carsten

2009-01-01

How biotic interactions, current and historical environment, and biogeographic barriers determine community structure is a fundamental question in ecology and evolution, especially in diverse tropical regions. To evaluate patterns of local and regional diversity, we quantified the phylogenetic...... composition of 189 hummingbird communities in Ecuador. We assessed how species and phylogenetic composition changed along environmental gradients and across biogeographic barriers. We show that humid, low-elevation communities are phylogenetically overdispersed (coexistence of distant relatives), a pattern...... that is consistent with the idea that competition influences the local composition of hummingbirds. At higher elevations communities are phylogenetically clustered (coexistence of close relatives), consistent with the expectation of environmental filtering, which may result from the challenge of sustaining...

Constructing phylogenetic trees using interacting pathways.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Peng; Che, Dongsheng

2013-01-01

Phylogenetic trees are used to represent evolutionary relationships among biological species or organisms. The construction of phylogenetic trees is based on the similarities or differences of their physical or genetic features. Traditional approaches of constructing phylogenetic trees mainly focus on physical features. The recent advancement of high-throughput technologies has led to accumulation of huge amounts of biological data, which in turn changed the way of biological studies in various aspects. In this paper, we report our approach of building phylogenetic trees using the information of interacting pathways. We have applied hierarchical clustering on two domains of organisms-eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Our preliminary results have shown the effectiveness of using the interacting pathways in revealing evolutionary relationships.

The Independent Evolution Method Is Not a Viable Phylogenetic Comparative Method.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Randi H Griffin

Full Text Available Phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs use data on species traits and phylogenetic relationships to shed light on evolutionary questions. Recently, Smaers and Vinicius suggested a new PCM, Independent Evolution (IE, which purportedly employs a novel model of evolution based on Felsenstein's Adaptive Peak Model. The authors found that IE improves upon previous PCMs by producing more accurate estimates of ancestral states, as well as separate estimates of evolutionary rates for each branch of a phylogenetic tree. Here, we document substantial theoretical and computational issues with IE. When data are simulated under a simple Brownian motion model of evolution, IE produces severely biased estimates of ancestral states and changes along individual branches. We show that these branch-specific changes are essentially ancestor-descendant or "directional" contrasts, and draw parallels between IE and previous PCMs such as "minimum evolution". Additionally, while comparisons of branch-specific changes between variables have been interpreted as reflecting the relative strength of selection on those traits, we demonstrate through simulations that regressing IE estimated branch-specific changes against one another gives a biased estimate of the scaling relationship between these variables, and provides no advantages or insights beyond established PCMs such as phylogenetically independent contrasts. In light of our findings, we discuss the results of previous papers that employed IE. We conclude that Independent Evolution is not a viable PCM, and should not be used in comparative analyses.

Molecular evolution of Adh and LEAFY and the phylogenetic utility of their introns in Pyrus (Rosaceae).

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Xiaoyan; Hu, Chunyun; Spooner, David; Liu, Jing; Cao, Jiashu; Teng, Yuanwen

2011-09-14

The genus Pyrus belongs to the tribe Pyreae (the former subfamily Maloideae) of the family Rosaceae, and includes one of the most important commercial fruit crops, pear. The phylogeny of Pyrus has not been definitively reconstructed. In our previous efforts, the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) revealed a poorly resolved phylogeny due to non-concerted evolution of nrDNA arrays. Therefore, introns of low copy nuclear genes (LCNG) are explored here for improved resolution. However, paralogs and lineage sorting are still two challenges for applying LCNGs in phylogenetic studies, and at least two independent nuclear loci should be compared. In this work the second intron of LEAFY and the alcohol dehydrogenase gene (Adh) were selected to investigate their molecular evolution and phylogenetic utility. DNA sequence analyses revealed a complex ortholog and paralog structure of Adh genes in Pyrus and Malus, the pears and apples. Comparisons between sequences from RT-PCR and genomic PCR indicate that some Adh homologs are putatively nonfunctional. A partial region of Adh1 was sequenced for 18 Pyrus species and three subparalogs representing Adh1-1 were identified. These led to poorly resolved phylogenies due to low sequence divergence and the inclusion of putative recombinants. For the second intron of LEAFY, multiple inparalogs were discovered for both LFY1int2 and LFY2int2. LFY1int2 is inadequate for phylogenetic analysis due to lineage sorting of two inparalogs. LFY2int2-N, however, showed a relatively high sequence divergence and led to the best-resolved phylogeny. This study documents the coexistence of outparalogs and inparalogs, and lineage sorting of these paralogs and orthologous copies. It reveals putative recombinants that can lead to incorrect phylogenetic inferences, and presents an improved phylogenetic resolution of Pyrus using LFY2int2-N. Our study represents the first phylogenetic analyses based on LCNGs in Pyrus. Ancient and recent duplications lead

Molecular evolution of Adh and LEAFY and the phylogenetic utility of their introns in Pyrus (Rosaceae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cao Jiashu

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The genus Pyrus belongs to the tribe Pyreae (the former subfamily Maloideae of the family Rosaceae, and includes one of the most important commercial fruit crops, pear. The phylogeny of Pyrus has not been definitively reconstructed. In our previous efforts, the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS revealed a poorly resolved phylogeny due to non-concerted evolution of nrDNA arrays. Therefore, introns of low copy nuclear genes (LCNG are explored here for improved resolution. However, paralogs and lineage sorting are still two challenges for applying LCNGs in phylogenetic studies, and at least two independent nuclear loci should be compared. In this work the second intron of LEAFY and the alcohol dehydrogenase gene (Adh were selected to investigate their molecular evolution and phylogenetic utility. Results DNA sequence analyses revealed a complex ortholog and paralog structure of Adh genes in Pyrus and Malus, the pears and apples. Comparisons between sequences from RT-PCR and genomic PCR indicate that some Adh homologs are putatively nonfunctional. A partial region of Adh1 was sequenced for 18 Pyrus species and three subparalogs representing Adh1-1 were identified. These led to poorly resolved phylogenies due to low sequence divergence and the inclusion of putative recombinants. For the second intron of LEAFY, multiple inparalogs were discovered for both LFY1int2 and LFY2int2. LFY1int2 is inadequate for phylogenetic analysis due to lineage sorting of two inparalogs. LFY2int2-N, however, showed a relatively high sequence divergence and led to the best-resolved phylogeny. This study documents the coexistence of outparalogs and inparalogs, and lineage sorting of these paralogs and orthologous copies. It reveals putative recombinants that can lead to incorrect phylogenetic inferences, and presents an improved phylogenetic resolution of Pyrus using LFY2int2-N. Conclusions Our study represents the first phylogenetic analyses based

Inferring Phylogenetic Networks Using PhyloNet.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Dingqiao; Yu, Yun; Zhu, Jiafan; Nakhleh, Luay

2018-07-01

PhyloNet was released in 2008 as a software package for representing and analyzing phylogenetic networks. At the time of its release, the main functionalities in PhyloNet consisted of measures for comparing network topologies and a single heuristic for reconciling gene trees with a species tree. Since then, PhyloNet has grown significantly. The software package now includes a wide array of methods for inferring phylogenetic networks from data sets of unlinked loci while accounting for both reticulation (e.g., hybridization) and incomplete lineage sorting. In particular, PhyloNet now allows for maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference of phylogenetic networks from gene tree estimates. Furthermore, Bayesian inference directly from sequence data (sequence alignments or biallelic markers) is implemented. Maximum parsimony is based on an extension of the "minimizing deep coalescences" criterion to phylogenetic networks, whereas maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference are based on the multispecies network coalescent. All methods allow for multiple individuals per species. As computing the likelihood of a phylogenetic network is computationally hard, PhyloNet allows for evaluation and inference of networks using a pseudolikelihood measure. PhyloNet summarizes the results of the various analyzes and generates phylogenetic networks in the extended Newick format that is readily viewable by existing visualization software.

Diversity of Phylogenetic Information According to the Locus and the Taxonomic Level: An Example from a Parasitic Mesostigmatid Mite Genus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lise Roy

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Molecular markers for cladistic analyses may perform differently according to the taxonomic group considered and the historical level under investigation. Here we evaluate the phylogenetic potential of five different markers for resolving evolutionary relationships within the ectoparasitic genus Dermanyssus at the species level, and their ability to address questions about the evolution of specialization. COI provided 9–18% divergence between species (up to 9% within species, 16S rRNA 10–16% (up to 4% within species, ITS1 and 2 2–9% (up to 1% within species and Tropomyosin intron n 8–20% (up to 6% within species. EF-1a revealed different non-orthologous copies withinindividuals of Dermanyssus and Ornithonyssus. Tropomyosin intron n was shown containing consistent phylogenetic signal at the specific level within Dermanyssus and represents a promising marker for future prospects in phylogenetics of Acari. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the generalist condition is apomorphic and D. gallinae mightrepresent a complex of hybridized lineages. The split into hirsutus-group and gallinae-group in Dermanyssus does not seem to be appropriate based upon these results and D. longipes appears to be composed of two different entities.

Monophyly of Archaeplastida supergroup and relationships among its lineages in the light of phylogenetic and phylogenomic studies. Are we close to a consensus?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paweł Mackiewicz

2014-12-01

Full Text Available One of the key evolutionary events on the scale of the biosphere was an endosymbiosis between a heterotrophic eukaryote and a cyanobacterium, resulting in a primary plastid. Such an organelle is characteristic of three eukaryotic lineages, glaucophytes, red algae and green plants. The three groups are usually united under the common name Archaeplastida or Plantae in modern taxonomic classifications, which indicates they are considered monophyletic. The methods generally used to verify this monophyly are phylogenetic analyses. In this article we review up-to-date results of such analyses and discussed their inconsistencies. Although phylogenies of plastid genes suggest a single primary endosymbiosis, which is assumed to mean a common origin of the Archaeplastida, different phylogenetic trees based on nuclear markers show monophyly, paraphyly, polyphyly or unresolved topologies of Archaeplastida hosts. The difficulties in reconstructing host cell relationships could result from stochastic and systematic biases in data sets, including different substitution rates and patterns, gene paralogy and horizontal/endosymbiotic gene transfer into eukaryotic lineages, which attract Archaeplastida in phylogenetic trees. Based on results to date, it is neither possible to confirm nor refute alternative evolutionary scenarios to a single primary endosymbiosis. Nevertheless, if trees supporting monophyly are considered, relationships inferred among Archaeplastida lineages can be discussed. Phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear genes clearly show the earlier divergence of glaucophytes from red algae and green plants. Plastid genes suggest a more complicated history, but at least some studies are congruent with this concept. Additional research involving more representatives of glaucophytes and many understudied lineages of Eukaryota can improve inferring phylogenetic relationships related to the Archaeplastida. In addition, alternative approaches not directly

Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes.

Science.gov (United States)

Betancur-R, Ricardo; Wiley, Edward O; Arratia, Gloria; Acero, Arturo; Bailly, Nicolas; Miya, Masaki; Lecointre, Guillaume; Ortí, Guillermo

2017-07-06

Fish classifications, as those of most other taxonomic groups, are being transformed drastically as new molecular phylogenies provide support for natural groups that were unanticipated by previous studies. A brief review of the main criteria used by ichthyologists to define their classifications during the last 50 years, however, reveals slow progress towards using an explicit phylogenetic framework. Instead, the trend has been to rely, in varying degrees, on deep-rooted anatomical concepts and authority, often mixing taxa with explicit phylogenetic support with arbitrary groupings. Two leading sources in ichthyology frequently used for fish classifications (JS Nelson's volumes of Fishes of the World and W. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes) fail to adopt a global phylogenetic framework despite much recent progress made towards the resolution of the fish Tree of Life. The first explicit phylogenetic classification of bony fishes was published in 2013, based on a comprehensive molecular phylogeny ( www.deepfin.org ). We here update the first version of that classification by incorporating the most recent phylogenetic results. The updated classification presented here is based on phylogenies inferred using molecular and genomic data for nearly 2000 fishes. A total of 72 orders (and 79 suborders) are recognized in this version, compared with 66 orders in version 1. The phylogeny resolves placement of 410 families, or ~80% of the total of 514 families of bony fishes currently recognized. The ordinal status of 30 percomorph families included in this study, however, remains uncertain (incertae sedis in the series Carangaria, Ovalentaria, or Eupercaria). Comments to support taxonomic decisions and comparisons with conflicting taxonomic groups proposed by others are presented. We also highlight cases were morphological support exist for the groups being classified. This version of the phylogenetic classification of bony fishes is substantially improved, providing resolution

An evaluation of phylogenetic informativeness profiles and the molecular phylogeny of diplazontinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Klopfstein, Seraina; Kropf, Christian; Quicke, Donald L J

2010-03-01

How to quantify the phylogenetic information content of a data set is a longstanding question in phylogenetics, influencing both the assessment of data quality in completed studies and the planning of future phylogenetic projects. Recently, a method has been developed that profiles the phylogenetic informativeness (PI) of a data set through time by linking its site-specific rates of change to its power to resolve relationships at different timescales. Here, we evaluate the performance of this method in the case of 2 standard genetic markers for phylogenetic reconstruction, 28S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) mitochondrial DNA, with maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian analyses of relationships within a group of parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae, Diplazontinae). Retrieving PI profiles of the 2 genes from our own and from 3 additional data sets, we find that the method repeatedly overestimates the performance of the more quickly evolving CO1 compared with 28S. We explore possible reasons for this bias, including phylogenetic uncertainty, violation of the molecular clock assumption, model misspecification, and nonstationary nucleotide composition. As none of these provides a sufficient explanation of the observed discrepancy, we use simulated data sets, based on an idealized setting, to show that the optimum evolutionary rate decreases with increasing number of taxa. We suggest that this relationship could explain why the formula derived from the 4-taxon case overrates the performance of higher versus lower rates of evolution in our case and that caution should be taken when the method is applied to data sets including more than 4 taxa.

REFGEN and TREENAMER: Automated Sequence Data Handling for Phylogenetic Analysis in the Genomic Era

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guy Leonard

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences and increasingly that of amino acid sequences is used to address a number of biological questions. Access to extensive datasets, including numerous genome projects, means that standard phylogenetic analyses can include many hundreds of sequences. Unfortunately, most phylogenetic analysis programs do not tolerate the sequence naming conventions of genome databases. Managing large numbers of sequences and standardizing sequence labels for use in phylogenetic analysis programs can be a time consuming and laborious task. Here we report the availability of an online resource for the management of gene sequences recovered from public access genome databases such as GenBank. These web utilities include the facility for renaming every sequence in a FASTA alignment fi le, with each sequence label derived from a user-defined combination of the species name and/or database accession number. This facility enables the user to keep track of the branching order of the sequences/taxa during multiple tree calculations and re-optimisations. Post phylogenetic analysis, these webpages can then be used to rename every label in the subsequent tree fi les (with a user-defined combination of species name and/or database accession number. Together these programs drastically reduce the time required for managing sequence alignments and labelling phylogenetic figures. Additional features of our platform include the automatic removal of identical accession numbers (recorded in the report file and generation of species and accession number lists for use in supplementary materials or figure legends.

Children's reaction to depictions of healthy foods in fast-food television advertisements.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernhardt, Amy M; Wilking, Cara; Gottlieb, Mark; Emond, Jennifer; Sargent, James D

2014-05-01

Since 2009, quick-service restaurant chains, or fast-food companies, have agreed to depict healthy foods in their advertising targeted at children. To determine how children interpreted depictions of milk and apples in television advertisements for children's meals by McDonald's and Burger King (BK) restaurants. Descriptive qualitative study in a rural pediatric practice setting in Northern New England. A convenience sample of 99 children (age range, 3-7 years) was shown depictions of healthy foods in fast-food advertisements that aired from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011. The images from McDonald's and BK showed milk and apples. Children were asked what they saw and not prompted to respond specifically to any aspect of the images. Two still images drawn from advertisements for healthy meals at McDonald's and BK. Children's responses were independently content coded to food category by 2 researchers. Among the 99 children participating, only 51 (52%) and 69 (70%) correctly identified milk from the McDonald's and BK images, respectively, with a significantly greater percentage correct (P = .02 for both) among older children. The children's recall of apples was significantly different by restaurant, with 79 (80%) mentioning apples when describing the McDonald's image and only 10 (10%) for the BK image (P McDonald's was communicated adequately to the target audience. Representations of milk were inadequately communicated to preliterate children. Televised depictions of apple slices by BK misled the children in this study, although no action was taken by government or self-regulatory bodies.

Renal contrast-enhanced MR angiography: timing errors and accurate depiction of renal artery origins.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Maria A; Morgan, Robert

2008-10-01

To investigate bolus timing artifacts that impair depiction of renal arteries at contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) angiography and to determine the effect of contrast agent infusion rates on artifact generation. Renal contrast-enhanced MR angiography was simulated for a variety of infusion schemes, assuming both correct and incorrect timing between data acquisition and contrast agent injection. In addition, the ethics committee approved the retrospective evaluation of clinical breath-hold renal contrast-enhanced MR angiographic studies obtained with automated detection of contrast agent arrival. Twenty-two studies were evaluated for their ability to depict the origin of renal arteries in patent vessels and for any signs of timing errors. Simulations showed that a completely artifactual stenosis or an artifactual overestimation of an existing stenosis at the renal artery origin can be caused by timing errors of the order of 5 seconds in examinations performed with contrast agent infusion rates compatible with or higher than those of hand injections. Lower infusion rates make the studies more likely to accurately depict the origin of the renal arteries. In approximately one-third of all clinical examinations, different contrast agent uptake rates were detected on the left and right sides of the body, and thus allowed us to confirm that it is often impossible to optimize depiction of both renal arteries. In three renal arteries, a signal void was found at the origin in a patent vessel, and delayed contrast agent arrival was confirmed. Computer simulations and clinical examinations showed that timing errors impair the accurate depiction of renal artery origins. (c) RSNA, 2008.

Phylogenetic and morphologic analyses of a coastal fish reveals a marine biogeographic break of terrestrial origin in the southern Caribbean.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Betancur-R

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Marine allopatric speciation involves interplay between intrinsic organismal properties and extrinsic factors. However, the relative contribution of each depends on the taxon under study and its geographic context. Utilizing sea catfishes in the Cathorops mapale species group, this study tests the hypothesis that both reproductive strategies conferring limited dispersal opportunities and an apparent geomorphologic barrier in the Southern Caribbean have promoted speciation in this group from a little studied area of the world.Mitochondrial gene sequences were obtained from representatives of the Cathorops mapale species group across its distributional range from Colombia to Venezuela. Morphometric and meristic analyses were also done to assess morphologic variation. Along a approximately 2000 km transect, two major lineages, Cathorops sp. and C. mapale, were identified by levels of genetic differentiation, phylogenetic reconstructions, and morphological analyses. The lineages are separated by approximately 150 km at the Santa Marta Massif (SMM in Colombia. The northward displacement of the SMM into the Caribbean in the early Pleistocene altered the geomorphology of the continental margin, ultimately disrupting the natural habitat of C. mapale. The estimated approximately 0.86 my divergence of the lineages from a common ancestor coincides with the timing of the SMM displacement at approximately 0.78 my.Results presented here support the hypothesis that organismal properties as well as extrinsic factors lead to diversification of the Cathorops mapale group along the northern coast of South America. While a lack of pelagic larval stages and ecological specialization are forces impacting this process, the identification of the SMM as contributing to allopatric speciation in marine organisms adds to the list of recognized barriers in the Caribbean. Comparative examination of additional Southern Caribbean taxa, particularly those with varying life

Analysis of complete mitochondrial genomes from extinct and extant rhinoceroses reveals lack of phylogenetic resolution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Willerslev, Eske; Gilbert, Tom; Binladen, Jonas

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: The scientific literature contains many examples where DNA sequence analyses have been used to provide definitive answers to phylogenetic problems that traditional (non-DNA based) approaches alone have failed to resolve. One notable example concerns the rhinoceroses, a group for which...

Improved Maximum Parsimony Models for Phylogenetic Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Iersel, Leo; Jones, Mark; Scornavacca, Celine

2018-05-01

Phylogenetic networks are well suited to represent evolutionary histories comprising reticulate evolution. Several methods aiming at reconstructing explicit phylogenetic networks have been developed in the last two decades. In this article, we propose a new definition of maximum parsimony for phylogenetic networks that permits to model biological scenarios that cannot be modeled by the definitions currently present in the literature (namely, the "hardwired" and "softwired" parsimony). Building on this new definition, we provide several algorithmic results that lay the foundations for new parsimony-based methods for phylogenetic network reconstruction.

Horizontal transfer of a nitrate assimilation gene cluster and ecological transitions in fungi: a phylogenetic study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jason C Slot

Full Text Available High affinity nitrate assimilation genes in fungi occur in a cluster (fHANT-AC that can be coordinately regulated. The clustered genes include nrt2, which codes for a high affinity nitrate transporter; euknr, which codes for nitrate reductase; and NAD(PH-nir, which codes for nitrite reductase. Homologs of genes in the fHANT-AC occur in other eukaryotes and prokaryotes, but they have only been found clustered in the oomycete Phytophthora (heterokonts. We performed independent and concatenated phylogenetic analyses of homologs of all three genes in the fHANT-AC. Phylogenetic analyses limited to fungal sequences suggest that the fHANT-AC has been transferred horizontally from a basidiomycete (mushrooms and smuts to an ancestor of the ascomycetous mold Trichoderma reesei. Phylogenetic analyses of sequences from diverse eukaryotes and eubacteria, and cluster structure, are consistent with a hypothesis that the fHANT-AC was assembled in a lineage leading to the oomycetes and was subsequently transferred to the Dikarya (Ascomycota+Basidiomycota, which is a derived fungal clade that includes the vast majority of terrestrial fungi. We propose that the acquisition of high affinity nitrate assimilation contributed to the success of Dikarya on land by allowing exploitation of nitrate in aerobic soils, and the subsequent transfer of a complete assimilation cluster improved the fitness of T. reesei in a new niche. Horizontal transmission of this cluster of functionally integrated genes supports the "selfish operon" hypothesis for maintenance of gene clusters.

The phylogenetic distribution of extrafloral nectaries in plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Marjorie G; Keeler, Kathleen H

2013-06-01

Understanding the evolutionary patterns of ecologically relevant traits is a central goal in plant biology. However, for most important traits, we lack the comprehensive understanding of their taxonomic distribution needed to evaluate their evolutionary mode and tempo across the tree of life. Here we evaluate the broad phylogenetic patterns of a common plant-defence trait found across vascular plants: extrafloral nectaries (EFNs), plant glands that secrete nectar and are located outside the flower. EFNs typically defend plants indirectly by attracting invertebrate predators who reduce herbivory. Records of EFNs published over the last 135 years were compiled. After accounting for changes in taxonomy, phylogenetic comparative methods were used to evaluate patterns of EFN evolution, using a phylogeny of over 55 000 species of vascular plants. Using comparisons of parametric and non-parametric models, the true number of species with EFNs likely to exist beyond the current list was estimated. To date, EFNs have been reported in 3941 species representing 745 genera in 108 families, about 1-2 % of vascular plant species and approx. 21 % of families. They are found in 33 of 65 angiosperm orders. Foliar nectaries are known in four of 36 fern families. Extrafloral nectaries are unknown in early angiosperms, magnoliids and gymnosperms. They occur throughout monocotyledons, yet most EFNs are found within eudicots, with the bulk of species with EFNs being rosids. Phylogenetic analyses strongly support the repeated gain and loss of EFNs across plant clades, especially in more derived dicot families, and suggest that EFNs are found in a minimum of 457 independent lineages. However, model selection methods estimate that the number of unreported cases of EFNs may be as high as the number of species already reported. EFNs are widespread and evolutionarily labile traits that have repeatedly evolved a remarkable number of times in vascular plants. Our current understanding of the

“I Stand Out Like a Raven”: Depicting the Female Detective and Tudor History in Nancy Bilyeau’s The Crown

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beyer Charlotte

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This article examines the portrayal of female identity and crime in the Tudor period in Nancy Bilyeau’s contemporary historical crime fiction novel, The Crown (2012. Featuring a female detective figure, Joanna Stafford, Bilyeau’s novel forms part of the wealth of contemporary fiction using Tudor history as context, reflecting a continued interest in and fascination with this period and its prominent figures. This article examines Bilyeau’s representation of the Tudor period in The Crown through the depiction of English society and culture from a contemporary perspective, employing genre fiction in order to highlight issues of criminality. My investigation of The Crown as crime fiction specifically involves analysing gender-political questions and their portrayal within the novel and its tumultuous historical context. This investigation furthermore explores the depiction of agency, individuality, religion, and politics. The article concludes that Bilyeau’s suspense-filled novel provides an imaginative representation of Tudor history through the prism of the crime fiction genre. Central to this project is its employment of a resourceful and complex female detective figure at the heart of the narrative.

Phylogenetic inferences of Nepenthes species in Peninsular Malaysia revealed by chloroplast (trnL intron) and nuclear (ITS) DNA sequences

OpenAIRE

Bunawan, Hamidun; Yen, Choong Chee; Yaakop, Salmah; Noor, Normah Mohd

2017-01-01

Background The chloroplastic trnL intron and the nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region were sequenced for 11 Nepenthes species recorded in Peninsular Malaysia to examine their phylogenetic relationship and to evaluate the usage of trnL intron and ITS sequences for phylogenetic reconstruction of this genus. Results Phylogeny reconstruction was carried out using neighbor-joining, maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses. All the trees revealed two major clusters, a lowland group consi...

Video-Game-Like Engine for Depicting Spacecraft Trajectories

Science.gov (United States)

Upchurch, Paul R.

2009-01-01

GoView is a video-game-like software engine, written in the C and C++ computing languages, that enables real-time, three-dimensional (3D)-appearing visual representation of spacecraft and trajectories (1) from any perspective; (2) at any spatial scale from spacecraft to Solar-system dimensions; (3) in user-selectable time scales; (4) in the past, present, and/or future; (5) with varying speeds; and (6) forward or backward in time. GoView constructs an interactive 3D world by use of spacecraft-mission data from pre-existing engineering software tools. GoView can also be used to produce distributable application programs for depicting NASA orbital missions on personal computers running the Windows XP, Mac OsX, and Linux operating systems. GoView enables seamless rendering of Cartesian coordinate spaces with programmable graphics hardware, whereas prior programs for depicting spacecraft trajectories variously require non-Cartesian coordinates and/or are not compatible with programmable hardware. GoView incorporates an algorithm for nonlinear interpolation between arbitrary reference frames, whereas the prior programs are restricted to special classes of inertial and non-inertial reference frames. Finally, whereas the prior programs present complex user interfaces requiring hours of training, the GoView interface provides guidance, enabling use without any training.

A program for verification of phylogenetic network models.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunawan, Andreas D M; Lu, Bingxin; Zhang, Louxin

2016-09-01

Genetic material is transferred in a non-reproductive manner across species more frequently than commonly thought, particularly in the bacteria kingdom. On one hand, extant genomes are thus more properly considered as a fusion product of both reproductive and non-reproductive genetic transfers. This has motivated researchers to adopt phylogenetic networks to study genome evolution. On the other hand, a gene's evolution is usually tree-like and has been studied for over half a century. Accordingly, the relationships between phylogenetic trees and networks are the basis for the reconstruction and verification of phylogenetic networks. One important problem in verifying a network model is determining whether or not certain existing phylogenetic trees are displayed in a phylogenetic network. This problem is formally called the tree containment problem. It is NP-complete even for binary phylogenetic networks. We design an exponential time but efficient method for determining whether or not a phylogenetic tree is displayed in an arbitrary phylogenetic network. It is developed on the basis of the so-called reticulation-visible property of phylogenetic networks. A C-program is available for download on http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/∼matzlx/tcp_package matzlx@nus.edu.sg Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Short branches lead to systematic artifacts when BLAST searches are used as surrogate for phylogenetic reconstruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Dick, Amanda A; Harlow, Timothy J; Gogarten, J Peter

2017-02-01

Long Branch Attraction (LBA) is a well-known artifact in phylogenetic reconstruction when dealing with branch length heterogeneity. Here we show another phenomenon, Short Branch Attraction (SBA), which occurs when BLAST searches, a phenetic analysis, are used as a surrogate method for phylogenetic analysis. This error also results from branch length heterogeneity, but this time it is the short branches that are attracting. The SBA artifact is reciprocal and can be returned 100% of the time when multiple branches differ in length by a factor of more than two. SBA is an intended feature of BLAST searches, but becomes an issue, when top scoring BLAST hit analyses are used to infer Horizontal Gene Transfers (HGTs), assign taxonomic category with environmental sequence data in phylotyping, or gather homologous sequences for building gene families. SBA can lead researchers to believe that there has been a HGT event when only vertical descent has occurred, cause slowly evolving taxa to be over-represented and quickly evolving taxa to be under-represented in phylotyping, or systematically exclude quickly evolving taxa from analyses. SBA also contributes to the changing results of top scoring BLAST hit analyses as the database grows, because more slowly evolving taxa, or short branches, are added over time, introducing more potential for SBA. SBA can be detected by examining reciprocal best BLAST hits among a larger group of taxa, including the known closest phylogenetic neighbors. Therefore, one should look for this phenomenon when conducting best BLAST hit analyses as a surrogate method to identify HGTs, in phylotyping, or when using BLAST to gather homologous sequences. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Molecular Epidemiology and Phylogenetic Analyses of Influenza B Virus in Thailand during 2010 to 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Tewawong, Nipaporn; Suwannakarn, Kamol; Prachayangprecha, Slinporn; Korkong, Sumeth; Vichiwattana, Preeyaporn; Vongpunsawad, Sompong; Poovorawan, Yong

2015-01-01

Influenza B virus remains a major contributor to the seasonal influenza outbreak and its prevalence has increased worldwide. We investigated the epidemiology and analyzed the full genome sequences of influenza B virus strains in Thailand between 2010 and 2014. Samples from the upper respiratory tract were collected from patients diagnosed with influenza like-illness. All samples were screened for influenza A/B viruses by one-step multiplex real-time RT-PCR. The whole genome of 53 influenza B isolates were amplified, sequenced, and analyzed. From 14,418 respiratory samples collected during 2010 to 2014, a total of 3,050 tested positive for influenza virus. Approximately 3.27% (471/14,418) were influenza B virus samples. Fifty three isolates of influenza B virus were randomly chosen for detailed whole genome analysis. Phylogenetic analysis of the HA gene showed clusters in Victoria clades 1A, 1B, 3, 5 and Yamagata clades 2 and 3. Both B/Victoria and B/Yamagata lineages were found to co-circulate during this time. The NA sequences of all isolates belonged to lineage II and consisted of viruses from both HA Victoria and Yamagata lineages, reflecting possible reassortment of the HA and NA genes. No significant changes were seen in the NA protein. The phylogenetic trees generated through the analysis of the PB1 and PB2 genes closely resembled that of the HA gene, while trees generated from the analysis of the PA, NP, and M genes showed similar topology. The NS gene exhibited the pattern of genetic reassortment distinct from those of the PA, NP or M genes. Thus, antigenic drift and genetic reassortment among the influenza B virus strains were observed in the isolates examined. Our findings indicate that the co-circulation of two distinct lineages of influenza B viruses and the limitation of cross-protection of the current vaccine formulation provide support for quadrivalent influenza vaccine in this region. PMID:25602617

A Distance Measure for Genome Phylogenetic Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Minh Duc; Allison, Lloyd; Dix, Trevor

Phylogenetic analyses of species based on single genes or parts of the genomes are often inconsistent because of factors such as variable rates of evolution and horizontal gene transfer. The availability of more and more sequenced genomes allows phylogeny construction from complete genomes that is less sensitive to such inconsistency. For such long sequences, construction methods like maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood are often not possible due to their intensive computational requirement. Another class of tree construction methods, namely distance-based methods, require a measure of distances between any two genomes. Some measures such as evolutionary edit distance of gene order and gene content are computational expensive or do not perform well when the gene content of the organisms are similar. This study presents an information theoretic measure of genetic distances between genomes based on the biological compression algorithm expert model. We demonstrate that our distance measure can be applied to reconstruct the consensus phylogenetic tree of a number of Plasmodium parasites from their genomes, the statistical bias of which would mislead conventional analysis methods. Our approach is also used to successfully construct a plausible evolutionary tree for the γ-Proteobacteria group whose genomes are known to contain many horizontally transferred genes.

Craniomandibular morphology and phylogenetic affinities of panthera atrox

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Per; Harris, J.M.

2009-01-01

The great North American Pleistocene pantherine felid Panthera atrox has had a turbulent phylogenetic history, and has been claimed to show affinities to both the jaguar and the tiger; currently, it is most often regarded as a subspecies of the extant lion. The cranial, mandibular, and dental...... morphology of Panthera atrox was compared with those of extant lions, jaguars, and tigers using bivariate, multivariate, and shape analyses. Results indicate that the skull of Panthera atrox shows lion affinities, but also deviates from lions in numerous aspects. Mandibular morphology is more similar...... to jaguars and tigers and, as with cranial morphology, the mandible shows a number of traits not present among extant pantherines. Multivariate analyses grouped Panthera atrox separately from other pantherines. Panthera atrox was no lion, and cannot be assigned to any of the extant pantherines...

Phylogenetic relationships of Hemiptera inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear genes.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Nan; Li, Hu; Cai, Wanzhi; Yan, Fengming; Wang, Jianyun; Song, Fan

2016-11-01

Here, we reconstructed the Hemiptera phylogeny based on the expanded mitochondrial protein-coding genes and the nuclear 18S rRNA gene, separately. The differential rates of change across lineages may associate with long-branch attraction (LBA) effect and result in conflicting estimates of phylogeny from different types of data. To reduce the potential effects of systematic biases on inferences of topology, various data coding schemes, site removal method, and different algorithms were utilized in phylogenetic reconstruction. We show that the outgroups Phthiraptera, Thysanoptera, and the ingroup Sternorrhyncha share similar base composition, and exhibit "long branches" relative to other hemipterans. Thus, the long-branch attraction between these groups is suspected to cause the failure of recovering Hemiptera under the homogeneous model. In contrast, a monophyletic Hemiptera is supported when heterogeneous model is utilized in the analysis. Although higher level phylogenetic relationships within Hemiptera remain to be answered, consensus between analyses is beginning to converge on a stable phylogeny.

HAlign-II: efficient ultra-large multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree reconstruction with distributed and parallel computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Shixiang; Zou, Quan

2017-01-01

Multiple sequence alignment (MSA) plays a key role in biological sequence analyses, especially in phylogenetic tree construction. Extreme increase in next-generation sequencing results in shortage of efficient ultra-large biological sequence alignment approaches for coping with different sequence types. Distributed and parallel computing represents a crucial technique for accelerating ultra-large (e.g. files more than 1 GB) sequence analyses. Based on HAlign and Spark distributed computing system, we implement a highly cost-efficient and time-efficient HAlign-II tool to address ultra-large multiple biological sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree construction. The experiments in the DNA and protein large scale data sets, which are more than 1GB files, showed that HAlign II could save time and space. It outperformed the current software tools. HAlign-II can efficiently carry out MSA and construct phylogenetic trees with ultra-large numbers of biological sequences. HAlign-II shows extremely high memory efficiency and scales well with increases in computing resource. THAlign-II provides a user-friendly web server based on our distributed computing infrastructure. HAlign-II with open-source codes and datasets was established at http://lab.malab.cn/soft/halign.

Life imitating art: depictions of the hidden curriculum in medical television programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Stanek, Agatha; Clarkin, Chantalle; Bould, M Dylan; Writer, Hilary; Doja, Asif

2015-09-26

The hidden curriculum represents influences occurring within the culture of medicine that indirectly alter medical professionals' interactions, beliefs and clinical practices throughout their training. One approach to increase medical student awareness of the hidden curriculum is to provide them with readily available examples of how it is enacted in medicine; as such the purpose of this study was to examine depictions of the hidden curriculum in popular medical television programs. One full season of ER, Grey's Anatomy and Scrubs were selected for review. A summative content analysis was performed to ascertain the presence of depictions of the hidden curriculum, as well as to record the type, frequency and quality of examples. A second reviewer also viewed a random selection of episodes from each series to establish coding reliability. The most prevalent themes across all television programs were: the hierarchical nature of medicine; challenges during transitional stages in medicine; the importance of role modeling; patient dehumanization; faking or overstating one's capabilities; unprofessionalism; the loss of idealism; and difficulties with work-life balance. The hidden curriculum is frequently depicted in popular medical television shows. These examples of the hidden curriculum could serve as a valuable teaching resource in undergraduate medical programs.

Phylogenetic relationships of true butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) inferred from COI, 16S rRNA and EF-1α sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Man Il; Wan, Xinlong; Kim, Min Jee; Jeong, Heon Cheon; Ahn, Neung-Ho; Kim, Ki-Gyoung; Han, Yeon Soo; Kim, Iksoo

2010-11-01

The molecular phylogenetic relationships among true butterfly families (superfamily Papilionoidea) have been a matter of substantial controversy; this debate has led to several competing hypotheses. Two of the most compelling of those hypotheses involve the relationships of (Nymphalidae + Lycaenidae) + (Pieridae + Papilionidae) and (((Nymphalidae + Lycaenidae) + Pieridae) + Papilionidae). In this study, approximately 3,500 nucleotide sequences from cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA), and elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1α) were sequenced from 83 species belonging to four true butterfly families, along with those of three outgroup species belonging to three lepidopteran superfamilies. These sequences were subjected to phylogenetic reconstruction via Bayesian Inference (BI), Maximum Likelihood (ML), and Maximum Parsimony (MP) algorithms. The monophyletic Pieridae and monophyletic Papilionidae evidenced good recovery in all analyses, but in some analyses, the monophylies of the Lycaenidae and Nymphalidae were hampered by the inclusion of single species of the lycaenid subfamily Miletinae and the nymphalid subfamily Danainae. Excluding those singletons, all phylogenetic analyses among the four true butterfly families clearly identified the Nymphalidae as the sister to the Lycaenidae and identified this group as a sister to the Pieridae, with the Papilionidae identified as the most basal linage to the true butterfly, thus supporting the hypothesis: (Papilionidae + (Pieridae + (Nymphalidae + Lycaenidae))).

Evolution of specialization: a phylogenetic study of host range in the red milkweed beetle (Tetraopes tetraophthalmus).

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmann, Sergio; Agrawal, Anurag A

2011-06-01

Specialization is common in most lineages of insect herbivores, one of the most diverse groups of organisms on earth. To address how and why specialization is maintained over evolutionary time, we hypothesized that plant defense and other ecological attributes of potential host plants would predict the performance of a specialist root-feeding herbivore (the red milkweed beetle, Tetraopes tetraophthalmus). Using a comparative phylogenetic and functional trait approach, we assessed the determinants of insect host range across 18 species of Asclepias. Larval survivorship decreased with increasing phylogenetic distance from the true host, Asclepias syriaca, suggesting that adaptation to plant traits drives specialization. Among several root traits measured, only cardenolides (toxic defense chemicals) correlated with larval survival, and cardenolides also explained the phylogenetic distance effect in phylogenetically controlled multiple regression analyses. Additionally, milkweed species having a known association with other Tetraopes beetles were better hosts than species lacking Tetraopes herbivores, and milkweeds with specific leaf area values (a trait related to leaf function and habitat affiliation) similar to those of A. syriaca were better hosts than species having divergent values. We thus conclude that phylogenetic distance is an integrated measure of phenotypic and ecological attributes of Asclepias species, especially defensive cardenolides, which can be used to explain specialization and constraints on host shifts over evolutionary time.

Double-bundle depiction of the anterior cruciate ligament at 3 Tesla

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adriaensen, M.E.A.P.M. [Atrium Medical Center Parkstad, Department of Radiology, Heerlen (Netherlands); Hogan, B. [Sports Surgery Clinic, Department of Radiology, Dublin (Ireland); Al-Bulushi, H.I.J. [Armed Forces Hospital, Department of Radiology, Muscat (Oman); Kavanagh, E.C. [Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Department of Radiology, Dublin (Ireland)

2012-07-15

Magnetic resonance imaging on 3 Tesla (3T MRI) with arthroscopic correlation has proven to adequately identify the anteromedial bundle (AMB) and posterolateral bundle (PLB) in cadaver knees. The purpose of this study was to describe the depiction of ACL bundle anatomy on 3T MRI in daily practice. In a retrospective cohort study, we included 50 consecutive patients who underwent standard 3T MRI of the knee and had an intact ACL. Two musculoskeletal radiologists independently reviewed all scans for depiction of ACL bundle anatomy using standardized forms. Descriptive statistics were used. Twenty-three right knees (46%) and 27 left knees (54%) were included in the study. Mean age of the patients was 35 years (range 12 to 68 years); 37 patients were male (74%). ACL bundle anatomy was best depicted in the axial plane in 44 knees (88%) and in the coronal plane in six knees (12%). Two bundles were seen in 47 knees (94%). The AMB was completely seen in 45 knees (90%). The PLB was completely seen in 40 knees (80%). Both bundles were completely seen in 37 knees (76%). The double-bundle anatomy of the ACL is visualized in 94% of patients on 3T MRI. Because of potentially associated clinical benefits, we advocate to report separately on the anteromedial bundle and posterolateral bundle in case of anterior cruciate ligament injury of the knee. (orig.)

Morphological reassessment and molecular phylogenetic analyses of Amauroderma s.lat. raised new perspectives in the generic classification of the Ganodermataceae family

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Costa-Rezende, D.H.; Robledo, G.L.; Góes-Neto, A.; Reck, M.A.; Crespo, E.; Drechsler-Santos, E.R.

2017-01-01

Ganodermataceae is a remarkable group of polypore fungi, mainly characterized by particular doublewalled basidiospores with a coloured endosporium ornamented with columns or crests, and a hyaline smooth exosporium. In order to establish an integrative morphological and molecular phylogenetic

Rearrangement moves on rooted phylogenetic networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Gambette, Philippe; van Iersel, Leo; Jones, Mark; Lafond, Manuel; Pardi, Fabio; Scornavacca, Celine

2017-08-01

Phylogenetic tree reconstruction is usually done by local search heuristics that explore the space of the possible tree topologies via simple rearrangements of their structure. Tree rearrangement heuristics have been used in combination with practically all optimization criteria in use, from maximum likelihood and parsimony to distance-based principles, and in a Bayesian context. Their basic components are rearrangement moves that specify all possible ways of generating alternative phylogenies from a given one, and whose fundamental property is to be able to transform, by repeated application, any phylogeny into any other phylogeny. Despite their long tradition in tree-based phylogenetics, very little research has gone into studying similar rearrangement operations for phylogenetic network-that is, phylogenies explicitly representing scenarios that include reticulate events such as hybridization, horizontal gene transfer, population admixture, and recombination. To fill this gap, we propose "horizontal" moves that ensure that every network of a certain complexity can be reached from any other network of the same complexity, and "vertical" moves that ensure reachability between networks of different complexities. When applied to phylogenetic trees, our horizontal moves-named rNNI and rSPR-reduce to the best-known moves on rooted phylogenetic trees, nearest-neighbor interchange and rooted subtree pruning and regrafting. Besides a number of reachability results-separating the contributions of horizontal and vertical moves-we prove that rNNI moves are local versions of rSPR moves, and provide bounds on the sizes of the rNNI neighborhoods. The paper focuses on the most biologically meaningful versions of phylogenetic networks, where edges are oriented and reticulation events clearly identified. Moreover, our rearrangement moves are robust to the fact that networks with higher complexity usually allow a better fit with the data. Our goal is to provide a solid basis for

Rearrangement moves on rooted phylogenetic networks.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philippe Gambette

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Phylogenetic tree reconstruction is usually done by local search heuristics that explore the space of the possible tree topologies via simple rearrangements of their structure. Tree rearrangement heuristics have been used in combination with practically all optimization criteria in use, from maximum likelihood and parsimony to distance-based principles, and in a Bayesian context. Their basic components are rearrangement moves that specify all possible ways of generating alternative phylogenies from a given one, and whose fundamental property is to be able to transform, by repeated application, any phylogeny into any other phylogeny. Despite their long tradition in tree-based phylogenetics, very little research has gone into studying similar rearrangement operations for phylogenetic network-that is, phylogenies explicitly representing scenarios that include reticulate events such as hybridization, horizontal gene transfer, population admixture, and recombination. To fill this gap, we propose "horizontal" moves that ensure that every network of a certain complexity can be reached from any other network of the same complexity, and "vertical" moves that ensure reachability between networks of different complexities. When applied to phylogenetic trees, our horizontal moves-named rNNI and rSPR-reduce to the best-known moves on rooted phylogenetic trees, nearest-neighbor interchange and rooted subtree pruning and regrafting. Besides a number of reachability results-separating the contributions of horizontal and vertical moves-we prove that rNNI moves are local versions of rSPR moves, and provide bounds on the sizes of the rNNI neighborhoods. The paper focuses on the most biologically meaningful versions of phylogenetic networks, where edges are oriented and reticulation events clearly identified. Moreover, our rearrangement moves are robust to the fact that networks with higher complexity usually allow a better fit with the data. Our goal is to provide

Phylogenetic relationships of the Cochliopinae (Rissooidea: Hydrobiidae): an enigmatic group of aquatic gastropods.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, H P; Hershler, R; Thompson, F G

2001-10-01

Phylogenetic analysis based on a partial sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene was performed for 26 representatives of the aquatic gastropod subfamily Cochliopinae, 6 additional members of the family Hydrobiidae, and outgroup species of the families Rissoidae and Pomatiopsidae. Maximum-parsimony analysis yielded a single shortest tree which resolved two monophyletic groups: (1) a clade containing all cochliopine taxa with the exception of Antroselates and (2) a clade composed of Antroselates and the hydrobiid genus Amnicola. The clade containing both of these monophyletic groups was depicted as more closely related to members of the family Pomatiopsidae than to other hydrobiid snails which were basally positioned in our topology. New anatomical evidence supports recognition of the cochliopine and Antroselates-Amnicola clades, and structure within the monophyletic group of cochliopines is largely congruent with genitalic characters. However, the close relationship between the Pomatiopsidae and these clades is in conflict with commonly accepted classifications and suggests that a widely accepted scenario for genitalic evolution in these snails is in need of further study. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Phylogenetic inference of calyptrates, with the first mitogenomes for Gasterophilinae (Diptera: Oestridae) and Paramacronychiinae (Diptera: Sarcophagidae)

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Dong; Yan, Liping; Zhang, Ming; Chu, Hongjun; Cao, Jie; Li, Kai; Hu, Defu; Pape, Thomas

2016-01-01

The complete mitogenome of the horse stomach bot fly Gasterophilus pecorum (Fabricius) and a near-complete mitogenome of Wohlfahrt's wound myiasis fly Wohlfahrtia magnifica (Schiner) were sequenced. The mitogenomes contain the typical 37 mitogenes found in metazoans, organized in the same order and orientation as in other cyclorrhaphan Diptera. Phylogenetic analyses of mitogenomes from 38 calyptrate taxa with and without two non-calyptrate outgroups were performed using Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood. Three sub-analyses were performed on the concatenated data: (1) not partitioned; (2) partitioned by gene; (3) 3rd codon positions of protein-coding genes omitted. We estimated the contribution of each of the mitochondrial genes for phylogenetic analysis, as well as the effect of some popular methodologies on calyptrate phylogeny reconstruction. In the favoured trees, the Oestroidea are nested within the muscoid grade. Relationships at the family level within Oestroidea are (remaining Calliphoridae (Sarcophagidae (Oestridae, Pollenia + Tachinidae))). Our mito-phylogenetic reconstruction of the Calyptratae presents the most extensive taxon coverage so far, and the risk of long-branch attraction is reduced by an appropriate selection of outgroups. We find that in the Calyptratae the ND2, ND5, ND1, COIII, and COI genes are more phylogenetically informative compared with other mitochondrial protein-coding genes. Our study provides evidence that data partitioning and the inclusion of conserved tRNA genes have little influence on calyptrate phylogeny reconstruction, and that the 3rd codon positions of protein-coding genes are not saturated and therefore should be included. PMID:27019632

Multigene analyses resolve early diverging lineages in the Rhodymeniophycidae (Florideophyceae, Rhodophyta).

Science.gov (United States)

Saunders, Gary W; Filloramo, Gina; Dixon, Kyatt; Le Gall, Line; Maggs, Christine A; Kraft, Gerald T

2016-08-01

Multigene phylogenetic analyses were directed at resolving the earliest divergences in the red algal subclass Rhodymeniophycidae. The inclusion of key taxa (new to science and/or previously lacking molecular data), additional sequence data (SSU, LSU, EF2, rbcL, COI-5P), and phylogenetic analyses removing the most variable sites (site stripping) have provided resolution for the first time at these deep nodes. The earliest diverging lineage within the subclass was the enigmatic Catenellopsis oligarthra from New Zealand (Catenellopsidaceae), which is here placed in the Catenellopsidales ord. nov. In our analyses, Atractophora hypnoides was not allied with the other included Bonnemaisoniales, but resolved as sister to the Peyssonneliales, and is here assigned to Atractophoraceae fam. nov. in the Atractophorales ord. nov. Inclusion of Acrothesaurum gemellifilum gen. et sp. nov. from Tasmania has greatly improved our understanding of the Acrosymphytales, to which we assign three families, the Acrosymphytaceae, Acrothesauraceae fam. nov. and Schimmelmanniaceae fam. nov. © 2016 Phycological Society of America.

Fourier transform inequalities for phylogenetic trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsen, Frederick A

2009-01-01

Phylogenetic invariants are not the only constraints on site-pattern frequency vectors for phylogenetic trees. A mutation matrix, by its definition, is the exponential of a matrix with non-negative off-diagonal entries; this positivity requirement implies non-trivial constraints on the site-pattern frequency vectors. We call these additional constraints "edge-parameter inequalities". In this paper, we first motivate the edge-parameter inequalities by considering a pathological site-pattern frequency vector corresponding to a quartet tree with a negative internal edge. This site-pattern frequency vector nevertheless satisfies all of the constraints described up to now in the literature. We next describe two complete sets of edge-parameter inequalities for the group-based models; these constraints are square-free monomial inequalities in the Fourier transformed coordinates. These inequalities, along with the phylogenetic invariants, form a complete description of the set of site-pattern frequency vectors corresponding to bona fide trees. Said in mathematical language, this paper explicitly presents two finite lists of inequalities in Fourier coordinates of the form "monomial < or = 1", each list characterizing the phylogenetically relevant semialgebraic subsets of the phylogenetic varieties.

Phylogenetic search through partial tree mixing

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Recent advances in sequencing technology have created large data sets upon which phylogenetic inference can be performed. Current research is limited by the prohibitive time necessary to perform tree search on a reasonable number of individuals. This research develops new phylogenetic algorithms that can operate on tens of thousands of species in a reasonable amount of time through several innovative search techniques. Results When compared to popular phylogenetic search algorithms, better trees are found much more quickly for large data sets. These algorithms are incorporated in the PSODA application available at http://dna.cs.byu.edu/psoda Conclusions The use of Partial Tree Mixing in a partition based tree space allows the algorithm to quickly converge on near optimal tree regions. These regions can then be searched in a methodical way to determine the overall optimal phylogenetic solution. PMID:23320449

Morphological support for the phylogenetic positioning of Pentastomida and related fossils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elaine Christine Costa Eloy

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Pentastomida is a group of parasites that infects the respiratory tracts of vertebrates. They have a mixture of annelid and arthropod characteristics. For that reason, the phylogenetic relationships of the pentastomids have been controversial in proposals of metazoan phylogeny. Forty-seven characters were selected for the analyses of the taxa Annelida, Arthropoda, Kinorhyncha, Loricifera, Nematoda, Nematomorpha, Onychophora, Pentastomida, Priapulida and Tardigrada. The analyses with PAUP resulted in a single shortest cladogram (length 89, ci 0.78, ri 0.86. Our results indicate that Pentastomida is a transitional group between the Arthropoda and some of the Nemathelminth groups such as Nematoda and Nematomorpha.

Hemiptera Mitochondrial Control Region: New Sights into the Structural Organization, Phylogenetic Utility, and Roles of Tandem Repetitions of the Noncoding Segment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kui Li

2018-04-01

Full Text Available As a major noncoding fragment, the control region (CR of mtDNA is responsible for the initiation of mitogenome transcription and replication. Several structural features of CR sequences have been reported in many insects. However, comprehensive analyses on the structural organization and phylogenetic utility, as well as the role of tandem replications (TRs on length variation, high A+T content, and shift of base skew of CR sequences are poorly investigated in hemipteran insects. In this study, we conducted a series of comparative analyses, using 116 samples covering all 11 infraorders of the five currently recognized monophyletic groups in the Hemiptera. Several structural elements (mononucleotide stretches containing conserved sequence blocks (CSBs, TRs, and GA-rich region were identified in the mitochondrial control region in hemipteran insects, without showing a consistent location. The presence and absence of certain specific structural elements in CR sequences show the various structural organizations of that segment among the five monophyletic groups, which indicates the diversification of the control region’s structural organization in Hemiptera. Among the many groups within Hemiptera, eight monophyletic groups and three consistent phylogenetic trees were recovered, using CSBs datasets by maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods, which suggests the possible utility of CR sequences for phylogenetic reconstruction in certain groups of Hemiptera. Statistical analyses showed that TRs may contribute to the length variation, high AT content, and the shift of base skewing of CR sequences toward high AT content in the Hemiptera. Our findings enrich the knowledge of structural organization, phylogenetic utility, and roles of tandem replication of hemipteran CR, and provide a possible framework for mitochondrial control region analyses in hemimetabolous insects.

Exploring the determinants of phylogenetic diversity and assemblage structure in conifers across temporal, spatial, and taxonomic scales

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eiserhardt, Wolf L.; Borchsenius, Finn; Sandel, Brody Steven

-environmental models are important elements in this framework. Here, we integrate both types of data in order to explore the determinants of forest tree diversity using the conifers as a model group. Conifers are an old, diverse (ca. 650 spp. in 6 families) and widespread group of woody plants of high ecological...... and economic importance. They are better studied than most other globally distributed groups of forest trees, allowing integrative studies with high phylogenetic and spatial resolution. We analyse phylogenetic diversity, assemblage structure, and diversification rates for regional conifer assemblages...

Phylogenetic trends in phenolic metabolism of milkweeds (Asclepias): evidence for escalation.

Science.gov (United States)

Agrawal, Anurag A; Salminen, Juha-Pekka; Fishbein, Mark

2009-03-01

Although plant-defense theory has long predicted patterns of chemical defense across taxa, we know remarkably little about the evolution of defense, especially in the context of directional phylogenetic trends. Here we contrast the production of phenolics and cardenolides in 35 species of milkweeds (Asclepias and Gomphocarpus). Maximum-likelihood analyses of character evolution revealed three major patterns. First, consistent with the defense-escalation hypothesis, the diversification of the milkweeds was associated with a trend for increasing phenolic production; this pattern was reversed (a declining evolutionary trend) for cardenolides, toxins sequestered by specialist herbivores. Second, phylogenetically independent correlations existed among phenolic classes across species. For example, coumaric acid derivatives showed negatively correlated evolution with caffeic acid derivatives, and this was likely driven by the fact that the former are used as precursors for the latter. In contrast, coumaric acid derivatives were positively correlated with flavonoids, consistent with competition for the precursor p-coumaric acid. Finally, of the phenolic classes, only flavonoids showed correlated evolution (positive) with cardenolides, consistent with a physiological and evolutionary link between the two via malonate. Thus, this study presents a rigorous test of the defense-escalation hypothesis and a novel phylogenetic approach to understanding the long-term persistence of physiological constraints on secondary metabolism.

Phylogenetic Signal in AFLP Data Sets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koopman, W.J.M.

2005-01-01

AFLP markers provide a potential source of phylogenetic information for molecular systematic studies. However, there are properties of restriction fragment data that limit phylogenetic interpretation of AFLPs. These are (a) possible nonindependence of fragments, (b) problems of homology assignment

How does cognition evolve? Phylogenetic comparative psychology

Science.gov (United States)

Matthews, Luke J.; Hare, Brian A.; Nunn, Charles L.; Anderson, Rindy C.; Aureli, Filippo; Brannon, Elizabeth M.; Call, Josep; Drea, Christine M.; Emery, Nathan J.; Haun, Daniel B. M.; Herrmann, Esther; Jacobs, Lucia F.; Platt, Michael L.; Rosati, Alexandra G.; Sandel, Aaron A.; Schroepfer, Kara K.; Seed, Amanda M.; Tan, Jingzhi; van Schaik, Carel P.; Wobber, Victoria

2014-01-01

Now more than ever animal studies have the potential to test hypotheses regarding how cognition evolves. Comparative psychologists have developed new techniques to probe the cognitive mechanisms underlying animal behavior, and they have become increasingly skillful at adapting methodologies to test multiple species. Meanwhile, evolutionary biologists have generated quantitative approaches to investigate the phylogenetic distribution and function of phenotypic traits, including cognition. In particular, phylogenetic methods can quantitatively (1) test whether specific cognitive abilities are correlated with life history (e.g., lifespan), morphology (e.g., brain size), or socio-ecological variables (e.g., social system), (2) measure how strongly phylogenetic relatedness predicts the distribution of cognitive skills across species, and (3) estimate the ancestral state of a given cognitive trait using measures of cognitive performance from extant species. Phylogenetic methods can also be used to guide the selection of species comparisons that offer the strongest tests of a priori predictions of cognitive evolutionary hypotheses (i.e., phylogenetic targeting). Here, we explain how an integration of comparative psychology and evolutionary biology will answer a host of questions regarding the phylogenetic distribution and history of cognitive traits, as well as the evolutionary processes that drove their evolution. PMID:21927850

How does cognition evolve? Phylogenetic comparative psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

MacLean, Evan L; Matthews, Luke J; Hare, Brian A; Nunn, Charles L; Anderson, Rindy C; Aureli, Filippo; Brannon, Elizabeth M; Call, Josep; Drea, Christine M; Emery, Nathan J; Haun, Daniel B M; Herrmann, Esther; Jacobs, Lucia F; Platt, Michael L; Rosati, Alexandra G; Sandel, Aaron A; Schroepfer, Kara K; Seed, Amanda M; Tan, Jingzhi; van Schaik, Carel P; Wobber, Victoria

2012-03-01

Now more than ever animal studies have the potential to test hypotheses regarding how cognition evolves. Comparative psychologists have developed new techniques to probe the cognitive mechanisms underlying animal behavior, and they have become increasingly skillful at adapting methodologies to test multiple species. Meanwhile, evolutionary biologists have generated quantitative approaches to investigate the phylogenetic distribution and function of phenotypic traits, including cognition. In particular, phylogenetic methods can quantitatively (1) test whether specific cognitive abilities are correlated with life history (e.g., lifespan), morphology (e.g., brain size), or socio-ecological variables (e.g., social system), (2) measure how strongly phylogenetic relatedness predicts the distribution of cognitive skills across species, and (3) estimate the ancestral state of a given cognitive trait using measures of cognitive performance from extant species. Phylogenetic methods can also be used to guide the selection of species comparisons that offer the strongest tests of a priori predictions of cognitive evolutionary hypotheses (i.e., phylogenetic targeting). Here, we explain how an integration of comparative psychology and evolutionary biology will answer a host of questions regarding the phylogenetic distribution and history of cognitive traits, as well as the evolutionary processes that drove their evolution.

Suitability of cuticular pores and sensilla for harpacticoid copepod species delineation and phylogenetic reconstruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Karanovic, Tomislav; Kim, Kichoon

2014-11-01

Cuticular organs have not been described systematically in harpacticoids until recently, and they haven ever been used as characters for reconstructing phylogenetic relationships in any crustacean group. We survey cuticular pores and sensilla on somites in ten Miraciidae species, belonging to six genera, from Korea, Australia, and Russia. Nine species belong to the subfamily Stenheliinae, while the outgroup belongs to the subfamily Diosaccinae. We aim to compare phylogenetic trees reconstructed for these harpactioids based on: 1) cuticular organs (with 76 characters scored, 71% of them phylogenetically informative); 2) traditionally used macro-morphological characters (66 scored, 77% of them informative);and 3) mtCOI DNA data. All analyses suggest that cuticular organs are useful characters for harpacticoid species delineation, although not as sensitive as some fast-evolving molecular markers. Reconstructed cladograms based on all three datasets show very high bootstrap values for clades representing distinct genera, suggesting that cuticular organs are suitable characters for studying phylogenetic relationships. Bootstrap values for the more basal nodes differ among the different cladograms,as do the sister-group relationships they suggest, indicating that cuticular organs probably have different evolutionary constraints from macro-morphological characters. Cuticular organs could be quite useful in the study of old museum specimens and fossil crustaceans.

Phylogenetic reconstruction methods: an overview.

Science.gov (United States)

De Bruyn, Alexandre; Martin, Darren P; Lefeuvre, Pierre

2014-01-01

Initially designed to infer evolutionary relationships based on morphological and physiological characters, phylogenetic reconstruction methods have greatly benefited from recent developments in molecular biology and sequencing technologies with a number of powerful methods having been developed specifically to infer phylogenies from macromolecular data. This chapter, while presenting an overview of basic concepts and methods used in phylogenetic reconstruction, is primarily intended as a simplified step-by-step guide to the construction of phylogenetic trees from nucleotide sequences using fairly up-to-date maximum likelihood methods implemented in freely available computer programs. While the analysis of chloroplast sequences from various Vanilla species is used as an illustrative example, the techniques covered here are relevant to the comparative analysis of homologous sequences datasets sampled from any group of organisms.

Bears in a forest of gene trees: phylogenetic inference is complicated by incomplete lineage sorting and gene flow.

Science.gov (United States)

Kutschera, Verena E; Bidon, Tobias; Hailer, Frank; Rodi, Julia L; Fain, Steven R; Janke, Axel

2014-08-01

Ursine bears are a mammalian subfamily that comprises six morphologically and ecologically distinct extant species. Previous phylogenetic analyses of concatenated nuclear genes could not resolve all relationships among bears, and appeared to conflict with the mitochondrial phylogeny. Evolutionary processes such as incomplete lineage sorting and introgression can cause gene tree discordance and complicate phylogenetic inferences, but are not accounted for in phylogenetic analyses of concatenated data. We generated a high-resolution data set of autosomal introns from several individuals per species and of Y-chromosomal markers. Incorporating intraspecific variability in coalescence-based phylogenetic and gene flow estimation approaches, we traced the genealogical history of individual alleles. Considerable heterogeneity among nuclear loci and discordance between nuclear and mitochondrial phylogenies were found. A species tree with divergence time estimates indicated that ursine bears diversified within less than 2 My. Consistent with a complex branching order within a clade of Asian bear species, we identified unidirectional gene flow from Asian black into sloth bears. Moreover, gene flow detected from brown into American black bears can explain the conflicting placement of the American black bear in mitochondrial and nuclear phylogenies. These results highlight that both incomplete lineage sorting and introgression are prominent evolutionary forces even on time scales up to several million years. Complex evolutionary patterns are not adequately captured by strictly bifurcating models, and can only be fully understood when analyzing multiple independently inherited loci in a coalescence framework. Phylogenetic incongruence among gene trees hence needs to be recognized as a biologically meaningful signal. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Phylogenetic diversity and ecological pattern of ammonia-oxidizing archaea in the surface sediments of the western Pacific.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Huiluo; Hong, Yiguo; Li, Meng; Gu, Ji-Dong

2011-11-01

The phylogenetic diversity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) was surveyed in the surface sediments from the northern part of the South China Sea (SCS). The distribution pattern of AOA in the western Pacific was discussed through comparing the SCS with other areas in the western Pacific including Changjiang Estuary and the adjacent East China Sea where high input of anthropogenic nitrogen was evident, the tropical West Pacific Continental Margins close to the Philippines, the deep-sea methane seep sediments in the Okhotsk Sea, the cold deep sea of Northeastern Japan Sea, and the hydrothermal field in the Southern Okinawa Trough. These various environments provide a wide spectrum of physical and chemical conditions for a better understanding of the distribution pattern and diversities of AOA in the western Pacific. Under these different conditions, the distinct community composition between shallow and deep-sea sediments was clearly delineated based on the UniFrac PCoA and Jackknife Environmental Cluster analyses. Phylogenetic analyses showed that a few ammonia-oxidizing archaeal subclades in the marine water column/sediment clade and endemic lineages were indicative phylotypes for some environments. Higher phylogenetic diversity was observed in the Philippines while lower diversity in the hydrothermal vent habitat. Water depth and possibly with other environmental factors could be the main driving forces to shape the phylogenetic diversity of AOA observed, not only in the SCS but also in the whole western Pacific. The multivariate regression tree analysis also supported this observation consistently. Moreover, the functions of current and other climate factors were also discussed in comparison of phylogenetic diversity. The information collectively provides important insights into the ecophysiological requirements of uncultured ammonia-oxidizing archaeal lineages in the western Pacific Ocean.

Perceptions of family relations when mothers and fathers are depicted with different parenting styles.

Science.gov (United States)

McGillicuddy-De Lisi, Ann V; De Lisi, Richard

2007-12-01

College students (N = 125) reported their perceptions of family relations in response to vignettes that presented 5 different parenting styles. Participants viewed family relations as most positive when parents were portrayed as authoritative or permissive and as most negative when parents were portrayed as uninvolved-neglecting or authoritarian. Student gender and parent gender effects qualified these findings. Female students reported family relations to be less positive than did male students when parents were depicted as authoritarian or as uninvolved-neglecting, and they rated family relations more positively than did male students when parents were depicted as permissive. Participants viewed family relations as more positive when mothers rather than fathers were presented as permissive and when fathers rather than mothers were depicted as authoritarian. The authors discuss the findings of the study in relation to theories of beliefs about children and implications for future parenting styles of male and female college students.

Phylogenetic inferences of Nepenthes species in Peninsular Malaysia revealed by chloroplast (trnL intron) and nuclear (ITS) DNA sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Bunawan, Hamidun; Yen, Choong Chee; Yaakop, Salmah; Noor, Normah Mohd

2017-01-26

The chloroplastic trnL intron and the nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region were sequenced for 11 Nepenthes species recorded in Peninsular Malaysia to examine their phylogenetic relationship and to evaluate the usage of trnL intron and ITS sequences for phylogenetic reconstruction of this genus. Phylogeny reconstruction was carried out using neighbor-joining, maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses. All the trees revealed two major clusters, a lowland group consisting of N. ampullaria, N. mirabilis, N. gracilis and N. rafflesiana, and another containing both intermediately distributed species (N. albomarginata and N. benstonei) and four highland species (N. sanguinea, N. macfarlanei, N. ramispina and N. alba). The trnL intron and ITS sequences proved to provide phylogenetic informative characters for deriving a phylogeny of Nepenthes species in Peninsular Malaysia. To our knowledge, this is the first molecular phylogenetic study of Nepenthes species occurring along an altitudinal gradient in Peninsular Malaysia.

Morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses of unusual morphospecies of Microcystis novacekii forming bloom in the Cheffia Dam (Algeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noureddine BOUAÏCHA

2009-08-01

Full Text Available The toxicological potential and morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rDNA sequence and the 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS were investigated in unusual morphospecies of Microcystis (MCYS-CH01 isolated from the Cheffia Dam in Algeria. The presence of microcystin synthetase genes (mcyA, -B, and -C in isolated colonies of this morphospecies, and the fact that serine/threonine phosphatase (PP2A was inhibited by its crude extract indicated that this morphospecies was microcystin-producer. The morphological features of this unusual morphospecies were very different from any of those described in the literature of all known species of Microcystis. The phylogenic tree based on 16S rDNA sequences shows that this morphospecies is indistinguishable from the reference strain Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 and from many other known Microcystis species and, therefore, this tree did not necessarily correlate to the distinctions between morphospecies. However, phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S-23S rRNA spacer region could be an effective way to assign this unusual morphospecies MCYS-CH01 to the Asian species Microcystis novacekii. Comparison of the ITS sequence of this morphospecies with sequences available in the GenBank database showed that some highly conserved genotypes are found throughout the world.

Computed tomography depiction of small pediatric vessels with model-based iterative reconstruction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koc, Gonca; Courtier, Jesse L.; Phelps, Andrew; Marcovici, Peter A.; MacKenzie, John D. [UCSF Benioff Children' s Hospital, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, San Francisco, CA (United States)

2014-07-15

Computed tomography (CT) is extremely important in characterizing blood vessel anatomy and vascular lesions in children. Recent advances in CT reconstruction technology hold promise for improved image quality and also reductions in radiation dose. This report evaluates potential improvements in image quality for the depiction of small pediatric vessels with model-based iterative reconstruction (Veo trademark), a technique developed to improve image quality and reduce noise. To evaluate Veo trademark as an improved method when compared to adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR trademark) for the depiction of small vessels on pediatric CT. Seventeen patients (mean age: 3.4 years, range: 2 days to 10.0 years; 6 girls, 11 boys) underwent contrast-enhanced CT examinations of the chest and abdomen in this HIPAA compliant and institutional review board approved study. Raw data were reconstructed into separate image datasets using Veo trademark and ASIR trademark algorithms (GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI). Four blinded radiologists subjectively evaluated image quality. The pulmonary, hepatic, splenic and renal arteries were evaluated for the length and number of branches depicted. Datasets were compared with parametric and non-parametric statistical tests. Readers stated a preference for Veo trademark over ASIR trademark images when subjectively evaluating image quality criteria for vessel definition, image noise and resolution of small anatomical structures. The mean image noise in the aorta and fat was significantly less for Veo trademark vs. ASIR trademark reconstructed images. Quantitative measurements of mean vessel lengths and number of branches vessels delineated were significantly different for Veo trademark and ASIR trademark images. Veo trademark consistently showed more of the vessel anatomy: longer vessel length and more branching vessels. When compared to the more established adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction algorithm, model

Computed tomography depiction of small pediatric vessels with model-based iterative reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koc, Gonca; Courtier, Jesse L.; Phelps, Andrew; Marcovici, Peter A.; MacKenzie, John D.

2014-01-01

Computed tomography (CT) is extremely important in characterizing blood vessel anatomy and vascular lesions in children. Recent advances in CT reconstruction technology hold promise for improved image quality and also reductions in radiation dose. This report evaluates potential improvements in image quality for the depiction of small pediatric vessels with model-based iterative reconstruction (Veo trademark), a technique developed to improve image quality and reduce noise. To evaluate Veo trademark as an improved method when compared to adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR trademark) for the depiction of small vessels on pediatric CT. Seventeen patients (mean age: 3.4 years, range: 2 days to 10.0 years; 6 girls, 11 boys) underwent contrast-enhanced CT examinations of the chest and abdomen in this HIPAA compliant and institutional review board approved study. Raw data were reconstructed into separate image datasets using Veo trademark and ASIR trademark algorithms (GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI). Four blinded radiologists subjectively evaluated image quality. The pulmonary, hepatic, splenic and renal arteries were evaluated for the length and number of branches depicted. Datasets were compared with parametric and non-parametric statistical tests. Readers stated a preference for Veo trademark over ASIR trademark images when subjectively evaluating image quality criteria for vessel definition, image noise and resolution of small anatomical structures. The mean image noise in the aorta and fat was significantly less for Veo trademark vs. ASIR trademark reconstructed images. Quantitative measurements of mean vessel lengths and number of branches vessels delineated were significantly different for Veo trademark and ASIR trademark images. Veo trademark consistently showed more of the vessel anatomy: longer vessel length and more branching vessels. When compared to the more established adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction algorithm, model

Recent activity on the post-irradiation analyses of nuclear fuels and actinide samples at JAERI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinohara, Nobuo; Nakahara, Yoshinori; Kohno, Nobuaki; Tsujimoto, Kazufumi

2003-01-01

Radiochemical analyses of spent fuels have been carried out at JAERI for contributing to the development of nuclear technologies, where several samples from research reactors and nuclear power plants were analyzed to obtain isotopic compositions and burnups. The history and procedures of the radiochemical analyses are depicted and some recent results are given in this paper. (author)

Sequence analyses and 3D structure prediction of two Type III ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Internet

2012-04-17

Apr 17, 2012 ... analyses were performed using the sequence data of growth hormone gene (gh) ... used as a phylogenetic marker for different taxonomic ..... structural changes have been observed in some parts of ..... of spatial restraints.

The Imperial Style: Rhetorical Depiction and Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, James R.

2000-01-01

Contributes to scholarship advancing the understanding of human communication by examining a powerful set of imperialist symbols that have a lingering impact on the British national psyche. Investigates the Queen's Diamond Jubilee speech and the performative rhetoric of the Jubilee celebration itself, to illustrate how rhetorical depiction may…

Phylogenetic patterns in populations of Chilean species of the genus Orestias (Teleostei: Cyprinodontidae): results of mitochondrial DNA analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lüssen, Arne; Falk, Thomas M; Villwock, Wolfgang

2003-10-01

Patterns of molecular genetic differentiation among taxa of the "agassii species complex" (Parenti, 1984) were analysed based on partial mtDNA control region sequences. Special attention has been paid to Chilean populations of Orestias agassii and species from isolated lakes of northern Chile, e.g., O. agassii, Orestias chungarensis, Orestias parinacotensis, Orestias laucaensis, and Orestias ascotanensis. Orestias tschudii, Orestias luteus, and Orestias ispi were analysed comparatively. Our findings support the utility of mtDNA control region sequences for phylogenetic studies within the "agassii species complex" and confirmed the monophyly of this particular lineage, excluding O. luteus. However, the monophyly of further morphologically defined lineages within the "agassii complex" appears doubtful. No support was found for the utility of these data sets for inferring phylogenetic relationships between more distantly related taxa originating from Lake Titicaca.

Molecular, phylogenetic and comparative genomic analysis of the cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase gene family in the Poaceae.

Science.gov (United States)

Mameaux, Sabine; Cockram, James; Thiel, Thomas; Steuernagel, Burkhard; Stein, Nils; Taudien, Stefan; Jack, Peter; Werner, Peter; Gray, John C; Greenland, Andy J; Powell, Wayne

2012-01-01

The genomes of cereals such as wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) are large and therefore problematic for the map-based cloning of agronomicaly important traits. However, comparative approaches within the Poaceae permit transfer of molecular knowledge between species, despite their divergence from a common ancestor sixty million years ago. The finding that null variants of the rice gene cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase 2 (OsCKX2) result in large yield increases provides an opportunity to explore whether similar gains could be achieved in other Poaceae members. Here, phylogenetic, molecular and comparative analyses of CKX families in the sequenced grass species rice, brachypodium, sorghum, maize and foxtail millet, as well as members identified from the transcriptomes/genomes of wheat and barley, are presented. Phylogenetic analyses define four Poaceae CKX clades. Comparative analyses showed that CKX phylogenetic groupings can largely be explained by a combination of local gene duplication, and the whole-genome duplication event that predates their speciation. Full-length OsCKX2 homologues in barley (HvCKX2.1, HvCKX2.2) and wheat (TaCKX2.3, TaCKX2.4, TaCKX2.5) are characterized, with comparative analysis at the DNA, protein and genetic/physical map levels suggesting that true CKX2 orthologs have been identified. Furthermore, our analysis shows CKX2 genes in barley and wheat have undergone a Triticeae-specific gene-duplication event. Finally, by identifying ten of the eleven CKX genes predicted to be present in barley by comparative analyses, we show that next-generation sequencing approaches can efficiently determine the gene space of large-genome crops. Together, this work provides the foundation for future functional investigation of CKX family members within the Poaceae. © 2011 National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB). Plant Biotechnology Journal © 2011 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and Blackwell

Nucleotide diversity and phylogenetic relationships among ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

NIRAJ SINGH

for phylogenetic analysis of Gladiolus and related taxa using combined datasets from chloroplast genome. The psbA–trnH ... phylogenetic relationships among cultivars could be useful for hybridization programmes for further improvement of the crop. [Singh N. ... breeding in nature, and exhibited diverse pollination mech-.

Extraction and phylogenetic survey of extracellular and intracellular DNA in marine sediments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Torti, Andrea

indeed inflate richness estimates of sediments microbial communities, and point to a role of bioturbation in shaping the prokaryotic diversity of the eDNA pool at the investigated site. Analysis of 18S RNA gene sequences revealed a diverse collection of eukaryotic taxa throughout the sediment column......DNA, and validated for minimal cell lysis during the eDNA extraction process. The optimized method was applied to investigate and compare the bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic diversity within iDNA and eDNA pools, in the context of differing geochemical and lithological zones in the Holocene sediment column...... of Aarhus Bay (Demark). Using high-throughput sequencing technologies, I first explored whether, and to what extent, prokaryotic eDNA parallels the phylogenetic composition of the local microbiome. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that, in near-surface sediments influenced by faunal activities, 50% of all...

Phylogenetic ctDNA analysis depicts early stage lung cancer evolution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abbosh, Christopher; Birkbak, Nicolai Juul; Wilson, Gareth A.

2017-01-01

The early detection of relapse following primary surgery for non-small cell lung cancer and the characterization of emerging subclones seeding metastatic sites might offer new therapeutic approaches to limit tumor recurrence. The potential to non-invasively track tumor evolutionary dynamics in ct...

Using the logical basis of phylogenetics as the framework for teaching biology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles Morphy D. Santos

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The influence of the evolutionary theory is widespread in modern worldview. Due to its great explanatory power and pervasiveness, the theory of evolution should be used as the organizing theme in biology teaching. For this purpose, the essential concepts of phylogenetic systematics are useful as a didactic instrument. The phylogenetic method was the first objective set of rules to implement in systematics the evolutionary view that the organisms are all connected at some hierarchical level due to common ancestry, as suggested by Darwin and Wallace. Phylogenetic systematics was firstly proposed by the German Entomologist Willi Hennig in 1950 and had considerably importance in the decrease of the role of essentialism and subjectivity in classificatory studies, becoming one of the paradigms in biological systematics. Based on cladograms, a general phylogenetic reference system allows to the depiction and representation of large amounts of biological information in branching diagrams. Besides, the phylogenetic approach sheds light upon typical misconceptions concerning evolution and related concepts that directly affect students' comprehension about the evolutionary process and the hierarchical structure of the living world. The phylogenetic method is also a form of introducing students to some of the philosophical and scientific idiosyncrasies, providing them the ability to understand concepts such as hypothesis, theory, paradigm and falsifiability. The students are incited to use arguments during the process of accepting or denying scientific hypotheses, which overcomes the mere assimilation of knowledge previously elaborated.A influência da teoria evolutiva é disseminada na visão de mundo moderna. Devido a seu grande poder explanatório e penetração, a teoria da evolução deve ser usada como o tema organizador do ensino de biologia. Para esse propósito, os conceitos essenciais da sistemática filogenética são úteis como instrumentos did

Phylogenetic relationships, diversification and expansion of chili peppers (Capsicum, Solanaceae).

Science.gov (United States)

Carrizo García, Carolina; Barfuss, Michael H J; Sehr, Eva M; Barboza, Gloria E; Samuel, Rosabelle; Moscone, Eduardo A; Ehrendorfer, Friedrich

2016-07-01

Capsicum (Solanaceae), native to the tropical and temperate Americas, comprises the well-known sweet and hot chili peppers and several wild species. So far, only partial taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses have been done for the genus. Here, the phylogenetic relationships between nearly all taxa of Capsicum were explored to test the monophyly of the genus and to obtain a better knowledge of species relationships, diversification and expansion. Thirty-four of approximately 35 Capsicum species were sampled. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference analyses were performed using two plastid markers (matK and psbA-trnH) and one single-copy nuclear gene (waxy). The evolutionary changes of nine key features were reconstructed following the parsimony ancestral states method. Ancestral areas were reconstructed through a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis. Capsicum forms a monophyletic clade, with Lycianthes as a sister group, following both phylogenetic approaches. Eleven well-supported clades (four of them monotypic) can be recognized within Capsicum, although some interspecific relationships need further analysis. A few features are useful to characterize different clades (e.g. fruit anatomy, chromosome base number), whereas some others are highly homoplastic (e.g. seed colour). The origin of Capsicum is postulated in an area along the Andes of western to north-western South America. The expansion of the genus has followed a clockwise direction around the Amazon basin, towards central and south-eastern Brazil, then back to western South America, and finally northwards to Central America. New insights are provided regarding interspecific relationships, character evolution, and geographical origin and expansion of Capsicum A clearly distinct early-diverging clade can be distinguished, centred in western-north-western South America. Subsequent rapid speciation has led to the origin of the remaining clades. The diversification of Capsicum has culminated in the origin

Phylogenetic relationships, diversification and expansion of chili peppers (Capsicum, Solanaceae)

Science.gov (United States)

Carrizo García, Carolina; Barfuss, Michael H. J.; Sehr, Eva M.; Barboza, Gloria E.; Samuel, Rosabelle; Moscone, Eduardo A.; Ehrendorfer, Friedrich

2016-01-01

Background and Aims Capsicum (Solanaceae), native to the tropical and temperate Americas, comprises the well-known sweet and hot chili peppers and several wild species. So far, only partial taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses have been done for the genus. Here, the phylogenetic relationships between nearly all taxa of Capsicum were explored to test the monophyly of the genus and to obtain a better knowledge of species relationships, diversification and expansion. Methods Thirty-four of approximately 35 Capsicum species were sampled. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference analyses were performed using two plastid markers (matK and psbA-trnH) and one single-copy nuclear gene (waxy). The evolutionary changes of nine key features were reconstructed following the parsimony ancestral states method. Ancestral areas were reconstructed through a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis. Key Results Capsicum forms a monophyletic clade, with Lycianthes as a sister group, following both phylogenetic approaches. Eleven well-supported clades (four of them monotypic) can be recognized within Capsicum, although some interspecific relationships need further analysis. A few features are useful to characterize different clades (e.g. fruit anatomy, chromosome base number), whereas some others are highly homoplastic (e.g. seed colour). The origin of Capsicum is postulated in an area along the Andes of western to north-western South America. The expansion of the genus has followed a clockwise direction around the Amazon basin, towards central and south-eastern Brazil, then back to western South America, and finally northwards to Central America. Conclusions New insights are provided regarding interspecific relationships, character evolution, and geographical origin and expansion of Capsicum. A clearly distinct early-diverging clade can be distinguished, centred in western–north-western South America. Subsequent rapid speciation has led to the origin of the remaining clades. The

Complete genome sequence and phylogenetic analyses of an aquabirnavirus isolated from a diseased marbled eel culture in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Chiu-Ming

2017-08-01

An aquabirnavirus was isolated from diseased marbled eels (Anguilla marmorata; MEIPNV1310) with gill haemorrhages and associated mortality. Its genome segment sequences were obtained through next-generation sequencing and compared with published aquabirnavirus sequences. The results indicated that the genome sequence of MEIPNV1310 contains segment A (3099 nucleotides) and segment B (2789 nucleotides). Phylogenetic analysis showed that MEIPNV1310 is closely related to the infectious pancreatic necrosis Ab strain within genogroup II. This genome sequence is beneficial for studying the geographic distribution and evolution of aquabirnaviruses.

Phylogenetic Position of Barbus lacerta Heckel, 1843

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mustafa Korkmaz

2015-11-01

As a result, five clades come out from phylogenetic reconstruction and in phylogenetic tree Barbus lacerta determined to be sister group of Barbus macedonicus, Barbus oligolepis and Barbus plebejus complex.

Effects of phylogenetic reconstruction method on the robustness of species delimitation using single-locus data.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Cuong Q; Humphreys, Aelys M; Fontaneto, Diego; Barraclough, Timothy G; Paradis, Emmanuel

2014-10-01

Coalescent-based species delimitation methods combine population genetic and phylogenetic theory to provide an objective means for delineating evolutionarily significant units of diversity. The generalised mixed Yule coalescent (GMYC) and the Poisson tree process (PTP) are methods that use ultrametric (GMYC or PTP) or non-ultrametric (PTP) gene trees as input, intended for use mostly with single-locus data such as DNA barcodes. Here, we assess how robust the GMYC and PTP are to different phylogenetic reconstruction and branch smoothing methods. We reconstruct over 400 ultrametric trees using up to 30 different combinations of phylogenetic and smoothing methods and perform over 2000 separate species delimitation analyses across 16 empirical data sets. We then assess how variable diversity estimates are, in terms of richness and identity, with respect to species delimitation, phylogenetic and smoothing methods. The PTP method generally generates diversity estimates that are more robust to different phylogenetic methods. The GMYC is more sensitive, but provides consistent estimates for BEAST trees. The lower consistency of GMYC estimates is likely a result of differences among gene trees introduced by the smoothing step. Unresolved nodes (real anomalies or methodological artefacts) affect both GMYC and PTP estimates, but have a greater effect on GMYC estimates. Branch smoothing is a difficult step and perhaps an underappreciated source of bias that may be widespread among studies of diversity and diversification. Nevertheless, careful choice of phylogenetic method does produce equivalent PTP and GMYC diversity estimates. We recommend simultaneous use of the PTP model with any model-based gene tree (e.g. RAxML) and GMYC approaches with BEAST trees for obtaining species hypotheses.

The phylogenetics of succession can guide restoration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shooner, Stephanie; Chisholm, Chelsea Lee; Davies, T. Jonathan

2015-01-01

Phylogenetic tools have increasingly been used in community ecology to describe the evolutionary relationships among co-occurring species. In studies of succession, such tools may allow us to identify the evolutionary lineages most suited for particular stages of succession and habitat...... rehabilitation. However, to date, these two applications have been largely separate. Here, we suggest that information on phylogenetic community structure might help to inform community restoration strategies following major disturbance. Our study examined phylogenetic patterns of succession based...... for species sorting along abiotic gradients (slope and aspect) on the mine sites that had been abandoned for the longest. Synthesis and applications. Understanding the trajectory of succession is critical for restoration efforts. Our results suggest that early colonizers represent a phylogenetically random...

Effects of Phylogenetic Tree Style on Student Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Dees, Jonathan Andrew

Phylogenetic trees are powerful tools of evolutionary biology that have become prominent across the life sciences. Consequently, learning to interpret and reason from phylogenetic trees is now an essential component of biology education. However, students often struggle to understand these diagrams, even after explicit instruction. One factor that has been observed to affect student understanding of phylogenetic trees is style (i.e., diagonal or bracket). The goal of this dissertation research was to systematically explore effects of style on student interpretations and construction of phylogenetic trees in the context of an introductory biology course. Before instruction, students were significantly more accurate with bracket phylogenetic trees for a variety of interpretation and construction tasks. Explicit instruction that balanced the use of diagonal and bracket phylogenetic trees mitigated some, but not all, style effects. After instruction, students were significantly more accurate for interpretation tasks involving taxa relatedness and construction exercises when using the bracket style. Based on this dissertation research and prior studies on style effects, I advocate for introductory biology instructors to use only the bracket style. Future research should examine causes of style effects and variables other than style to inform the development of research-based instruction that best supports student understanding of phylogenetic trees.

Long-branch attraction bias and inconsistency in Bayesian phylogenetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolaczkowski, Bryan; Thornton, Joseph W

2009-12-09

Bayesian inference (BI) of phylogenetic relationships uses the same probabilistic models of evolution as its precursor maximum likelihood (ML), so BI has generally been assumed to share ML's desirable statistical properties, such as largely unbiased inference of topology given an accurate model and increasingly reliable inferences as the amount of data increases. Here we show that BI, unlike ML, is biased in favor of topologies that group long branches together, even when the true model and prior distributions of evolutionary parameters over a group of phylogenies are known. Using experimental simulation studies and numerical and mathematical analyses, we show that this bias becomes more severe as more data are analyzed, causing BI to infer an incorrect tree as the maximum a posteriori phylogeny with asymptotically high support as sequence length approaches infinity. BI's long branch attraction bias is relatively weak when the true model is simple but becomes pronounced when sequence sites evolve heterogeneously, even when this complexity is incorporated in the model. This bias--which is apparent under both controlled simulation conditions and in analyses of empirical sequence data--also makes BI less efficient and less robust to the use of an incorrect evolutionary model than ML. Surprisingly, BI's bias is caused by one of the method's stated advantages--that it incorporates uncertainty about branch lengths by integrating over a distribution of possible values instead of estimating them from the data, as ML does. Our findings suggest that trees inferred using BI should be interpreted with caution and that ML may be a more reliable framework for modern phylogenetic analysis.

Phylogenetic radiation of the greenbottle flies (Diptera, Calliphoridae, Luciliinae)

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Kirstin A.; Lamb, Jennifer; Villet, Martin H.

2016-01-01

Abstract The subfamily Luciliinae is diverse and geographically widespread. Its four currently recognised genera (Dyscritomyia Grimshaw, 1901, Hemipyrellia Townsend, 1918, Hypopygiopsis Townsend 1916 and Lucilia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830) contain species that range from saprophages to obligate parasites, but their pattern of phylogenetic diversification is unclear. The 28S rRNA, COI and Period genes of 14 species of Lucilia and Hemipyrellia were partially sequenced and analysed together with sequences of 11 further species from public databases. The molecular data confirmed molecular paraphyly in three species-pairs in Lucilia that hamper barcode identifications of those six species. Lucilia sericata and Lucilia cuprina were confirmed as mutual sister species. The placements of Dyscritomyia and Hypopygiopsis were ambiguous, since both made Lucilia paraphyletic in some analyses. Recognising Hemipyrellia as a genus consistently left Lucilia s.l. paraphyletic, and the occasionally-recognised (sub)genus Phaenicia was consistently paraphyletic, so these taxa should be synonymised with Lucilia to maintain monophyly. Analysis of a matrix of 14 morphological characters scored for adults of all genera and for most of the species included in the molecular analysis confirmed several of these findings. The different degrees of parasitism were phylogenetically clustered within this genus but did not form a graded series of evolutionary stages, and there was no particular relationship between feeding habits and biogeography. Because of the ubiquity of hybridization, introgression and incomplete lineage sorting in blow flies, we recommend that using a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear markers should be a procedural standard for medico-criminal forensic identifications of insects. PMID:27103874

Nucleotide diversity and phylogenetic relationships among ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Navya

2 attached at the base of tree as the diverging Iridaceae relative's lineage. Present study revealed that psbA-trnH region are useful in addressing questions of phylogenetic relationships among the Gladiolus cultivars, as these intergenic spacers are more variable and have more phylogenetically informative sites than the ...

Do Branch Lengths Help to Locate a Tree in a Phylogenetic Network?

Science.gov (United States)

Gambette, Philippe; van Iersel, Leo; Kelk, Steven; Pardi, Fabio; Scornavacca, Celine

2016-09-01

Phylogenetic networks are increasingly used in evolutionary biology to represent the history of species that have undergone reticulate events such as horizontal gene transfer, hybrid speciation and recombination. One of the most fundamental questions that arise in this context is whether the evolution of a gene with one copy in all species can be explained by a given network. In mathematical terms, this is often translated in the following way: is a given phylogenetic tree contained in a given phylogenetic network? Recently this tree containment problem has been widely investigated from a computational perspective, but most studies have only focused on the topology of the phylogenies, ignoring a piece of information that, in the case of phylogenetic trees, is routinely inferred by evolutionary analyses: branch lengths. These measure the amount of change (e.g., nucleotide substitutions) that has occurred along each branch of the phylogeny. Here, we study a number of versions of the tree containment problem that explicitly account for branch lengths. We show that, although length information has the potential to locate more precisely a tree within a network, the problem is computationally hard in its most general form. On a positive note, for a number of special cases of biological relevance, we provide algorithms that solve this problem efficiently. This includes the case of networks of limited complexity, for which it is possible to recover, among the trees contained by the network with the same topology as the input tree, the closest one in terms of branch lengths.

Point estimates in phylogenetic reconstructions

OpenAIRE

Benner, Philipp; Bacak, Miroslav; Bourguignon, Pierre-Yves

2013-01-01

Motivation: The construction of statistics for summarizing posterior samples returned by a Bayesian phylogenetic study has so far been hindered by the poor geometric insights available into the space of phylogenetic trees, and ad hoc methods such as the derivation of a consensus tree makeup for the ill-definition of the usual concepts of posterior mean, while bootstrap methods mitigate the absence of a sound concept of variance. Yielding satisfactory results with sufficiently concentrated pos...

Phylogenetic Information Content of Copepoda Ribosomal DNA Repeat Units: ITS1 and ITS2 Impact

Science.gov (United States)

Zagoskin, Maxim V.; Lazareva, Valentina I.; Grishanin, Andrey K.; Mukha, Dmitry V.

2014-01-01

The utility of various regions of the ribosomal repeat unit for phylogenetic analysis was examined in 16 species representing four families, nine genera, and two orders of the subclass Copepoda (Crustacea). Fragments approximately 2000 bp in length containing the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) 18S and 28S gene fragments, the 5.8S gene, and the internal transcribed spacer regions I and II (ITS1 and ITS2) were amplified and analyzed. The DAMBE (Data Analysis in Molecular Biology and Evolution) software was used to analyze the saturation of nucleotide substitutions; this test revealed the suitability of both the 28S gene fragment and the ITS1/ITS2 rDNA regions for the reconstruction of phylogenetic trees. Distance (minimum evolution) and probabilistic (maximum likelihood, Bayesian) analyses of the data revealed that the 28S rDNA and the ITS1 and ITS2 regions are informative markers for inferring phylogenetic relationships among families of copepods and within the Cyclopidae family and associated genera. Split-graph analysis of concatenated ITS1/ITS2 rDNA regions of cyclopoid copepods suggested that the Mesocyclops, Thermocyclops, and Macrocyclops genera share complex evolutionary relationships. This study revealed that the ITS1 and ITS2 regions potentially represent different phylogenetic signals. PMID:25215300

Long Valley caldera and the UCERF depiction of Sierra Nevada range-front faults

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, David P.; Montgomery-Brown, Emily K.

2015-01-01

Long Valley caldera lies within a left-stepping offset in the north-northwest-striking Sierra Nevada range-front normal faults with the Hilton Creek fault to the south and Hartley Springs fault to the north. Both Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF) 2 and its update, UCERF3, depict slip on these major range-front normal faults as extending well into the caldera, with significant normal slip on overlapping, subparallel segments separated by ∼10  km. This depiction is countered by (1) geologic evidence that normal faulting within the caldera consists of a series of graben structures associated with postcaldera magmatism (intrusion and tumescence) and not systematic down-to-the-east displacements consistent with distributed range-front faulting and (2) the lack of kinematic evidence for an evolving, postcaldera relay ramp structure between overlapping strands of the two range-front normal faults. The modifications to the UCERF depiction described here reduce the predicted shaking intensity within the caldera, and they are in accord with the tectonic influence that underlapped offset range-front faults have on seismicity patterns within the caldera associated with ongoing volcanic unrest.

Fiber crossing in human brain depicted with diffusion tensor MR imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wiegell, M.R.; Larsson, H.B.; Wedeen, V.J.

2000-01-01

Human white matter fiber crossings were investigated with use of the full eigenstructure of the magnetic resonance diffusion tensor. Intravoxel fiber dispersions were characterized by the plane spanned by the major and medium eigenvectors and depicted with three-dimensional graphics. This method...

Phylogenetic evidence for cladogenetic polyploidization in land plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhan, Shing H; Drori, Michal; Goldberg, Emma E; Otto, Sarah P; Mayrose, Itay

2016-07-01

Polyploidization is a common and recurring phenomenon in plants and is often thought to be a mechanism of "instant speciation". Whether polyploidization is associated with the formation of new species (cladogenesis) or simply occurs over time within a lineage (anagenesis), however, has never been assessed systematically. We tested this hypothesis using phylogenetic and karyotypic information from 235 plant genera (mostly angiosperms). We first constructed a large database of combined sequence and chromosome number data sets using an automated procedure. We then applied likelihood models (ClaSSE) that estimate the degree of synchronization between polyploidization and speciation events in maximum likelihood and Bayesian frameworks. Our maximum likelihood analysis indicated that 35 genera supported a model that includes cladogenetic transitions over a model with only anagenetic transitions, whereas three genera supported a model that incorporates anagenetic transitions over one with only cladogenetic transitions. Furthermore, the Bayesian analysis supported a preponderance of cladogenetic change in four genera but did not support a preponderance of anagenetic change in any genus. Overall, these phylogenetic analyses provide the first broad confirmation that polyploidization is temporally associated with speciation events, suggesting that it is indeed a major speciation mechanism in plants, at least in some genera. © 2016 Botanical Society of America.

Environmental filtering of eudicot lineages underlies phylogenetic clustering in tropical South American flooded forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Aldana, Ana M; Carlucci, Marcos B; Fine, Paul V A; Stevenson, Pablo R

2017-02-01

The phylogenetic community assembly approach has been used to elucidate the role of ecological and historical processes in shaping tropical tree communities. Recent studies have shown that stressful environments, such as seasonally dry, white-sand and flooded forests tend to be phylogenetically clustered, arguing for niche conservatism as the main driver for this pattern. Very few studies have attempted to identify the lineages that contribute to such assembly patterns. We aimed to improve our understanding of the assembly of flooded forest tree communities in Northern South America by asking the following questions: are seasonally flooded forests phylogenetically clustered? If so, which angiosperm lineages are over-represented in seasonally flooded forests? To assess our hypotheses, we investigated seasonally flooded and terra firme forests from the Magdalena, Orinoco and Amazon Basins, in Colombia. Our results show that, regardless of the river basin in which they are located, seasonally flooded forests of Northern South America tend to be phylogenetically clustered, which means that the more abundant taxa in these forests are more closely related to each other than expected by chance. Based on our alpha and beta phylodiversity analyses we interpret that eudicots are more likely to adapt to extreme environments such as seasonally flooded forests, which indicates the importance of environmental filtering in the assembly of the Neotropical flora.

Dengue virus type 3 in Brazil: a phylogenetic perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josélio Maria Galvão de Araújo

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Circulation of a new dengue virus (DENV-3 genotype was recently described in Brazil and Colombia, but the precise classification of this genotype has been controversial. Here we perform phylogenetic and nucleotide-distance analyses of the envelope gene, which support the subdivision of DENV-3 strains into five distinct genotypes (GI to GV and confirm the classification of the new South American genotype as GV. The extremely low genetic distances between Brazilian GV strains and the prototype Philippines/L11423 GV strain isolated in 1956 raise important questions regarding the origin of GV in South America.

Phylogenetic relationships and divergence dates of softshell turtles (Testudines: Trionychidae) inferred from complete mitochondrial genomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, H; Liu, J; Xiong, L; Zhang, H; Zhou, H; Yin, H; Jing, W; Li, J; Shi, Q; Wang, Y; Liu, J; Nie, L

2017-05-01

The softshell turtles (Trionychidae) are one of the most widely distributed reptile groups in the world, and fossils have been found on all continents except Antarctica. The phylogenetic relationships among members of this group have been previously studied; however, disagreements regarding its taxonomy, its phylogeography and divergence times are still poorly understood as well. Here, we present a comprehensive mitogenomic study of softshell turtles. We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genomes of 10 softshell turtles, in addition to the GenBank sequence of Dogania subplana, Lissemys punctata, Trionyx triunguis, which cover all extant genera within Trionychidae except for Cyclanorbis and Cycloderma. These data were combined with other mitogenomes of turtles for phylogenetic analyses. Divergence time calibration and ancestral reconstruction were calculated using BEAST and RASP software, respectively. Our phylogenetic analyses indicate that Trionychidae is the sister taxon of Carettochelyidae, and support the monophyly of Trionychinae and Cyclanorbinae, which is consistent with morphological data and molecular analysis. Our phylogenetic analyses have established a sister taxon relationship between the Asian Rafetus and the Asian Palea + Pelodiscus + Dogania + Nilssonia + Amyda, whereas a previous study grouped the Asian Rafetus with the American Apalone. The results of divergence time estimates and area ancestral reconstruction show that extant Trionychidae originated in Asia at around 108 million years ago (MA), and radiations mainly occurred during two warm periods, namely Late Cretaceous-Early Eocene and Oligocene. By combining the estimated divergence time and the reconstructed ancestral area of softshell turtles, we determined that the dispersal of softshell turtles out of Asia may have taken three routes. Furthermore, the times of dispersal seem to be in agreement with the time of the India-Asia collision and opening of the Bering Strait, which

Perovskite classification: An Excel spreadsheet to determine and depict end-member proportions for the perovskite- and vapnikite-subgroups of the perovskite supergroup

Science.gov (United States)

Locock, Andrew J.; Mitchell, Roger H.

2018-04-01

Perovskite mineral oxides commonly exhibit extensive solid-solution, and are therefore classified on the basis of the proportions of their ideal end-members. A uniform sequence of calculation of the end-members is required if comparisons are to be made between different sets of analytical data. A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet has been programmed to assist with the classification and depiction of the minerals of the perovskite- and vapnikite-subgroups following the 2017 nomenclature of the perovskite supergroup recommended by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA). Compositional data for up to 36 elements are input into the spreadsheet as oxides in weight percent. For each analysis, the output includes the formula, the normalized proportions of 15 end-members, and the percentage of cations which cannot be assigned to those end-members. The data are automatically plotted onto the ternary and quaternary diagrams recommended by the IMA for depiction of perovskite compositions. Up to 200 analyses can be entered into the spreadsheet, which is accompanied by data calculated for 140 perovskite compositions compiled from the literature.

Phylogenetic classification of yeasts and related taxa within Pucciniomycotina.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Q-M; Yurkov, A M; Göker, M; Lumbsch, H T; Leavitt, S D; Groenewald, M; Theelen, B; Liu, X-Z; Boekhout, T; Bai, F-Y

2015-06-01

Most small genera containing yeast species in the Pucciniomycotina (Basidiomycota, Fungi) are monophyletic, whereas larger genera including Bensingtonia, Rhodosporidium, Rhodotorula, Sporidiobolus and Sporobolomyces are polyphyletic. With the implementation of the "One Fungus = One Name" nomenclatural principle these polyphyletic genera were revised. Nine genera, namely Bannoa, Cystobasidiopsis, Colacogloea, Kondoa, Erythrobasidium, Rhodotorula, Sporobolomyces, Sakaguchia and Sterigmatomyces, were emended to include anamorphic and teleomorphic species based on the results obtained by a multi-gene phylogenetic analysis, phylogenetic network analyses, branch length-based methods, as well as morphological, physiological and biochemical comparisons. A new class Spiculogloeomycetes is proposed to accommodate the order Spiculogloeales. The new families Buckleyzymaceae with Buckleyzyma gen. nov., Chrysozymaceae with Chrysozyma gen. nov., Microsporomycetaceae with Microsporomyces gen. nov., Ruineniaceae with Ruinenia gen. nov., Symmetrosporaceae with Symmetrospora gen. nov., Colacogloeaceae and Sakaguchiaceae are proposed. The new genera Bannozyma, Buckleyzyma, Fellozyma, Hamamotoa, Hasegawazyma, Jianyunia, Rhodosporidiobolus, Oberwinklerozyma, Phenoliferia, Pseudobensingtonia, Pseudohyphozyma, Sampaiozyma, Slooffia, Spencerozyma, Trigonosporomyces, Udeniozyma, Vonarxula, Yamadamyces and Yunzhangia are proposed to accommodate species segregated from the genera Bensingtonia, Rhodosporidium, Rhodotorula, Sporidiobolus and Sporobolomyces. Ballistosporomyces is emended and reintroduced to include three Sporobolomyces species of the sasicola clade. A total of 111 new combinations are proposed in this study.

BEASTling: A software tool for linguistic phylogenetics using BEAST 2

Science.gov (United States)

Forkel, Robert; Kaiping, Gereon A.; Atkinson, Quentin D.

2017-01-01

We present a new open source software tool called BEASTling, designed to simplify the preparation of Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of linguistic data using the BEAST 2 platform. BEASTling transforms comparatively short and human-readable configuration files into the XML files used by BEAST to specify analyses. By taking advantage of Creative Commons-licensed data from the Glottolog language catalog, BEASTling allows the user to conveniently filter datasets using names for recognised language families, to impose monophyly constraints so that inferred language trees are backward compatible with Glottolog classifications, or to assign geographic location data to languages for phylogeographic analyses. Support for the emerging cross-linguistic linked data format (CLDF) permits easy incorporation of data published in cross-linguistic linked databases into analyses. BEASTling is intended to make the power of Bayesian analysis more accessible to historical linguists without strong programming backgrounds, in the hopes of encouraging communication and collaboration between those developing computational models of language evolution (who are typically not linguists) and relevant domain experts. PMID:28796784

BEASTling: A software tool for linguistic phylogenetics using BEAST 2.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luke Maurits

Full Text Available We present a new open source software tool called BEASTling, designed to simplify the preparation of Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of linguistic data using the BEAST 2 platform. BEASTling transforms comparatively short and human-readable configuration files into the XML files used by BEAST to specify analyses. By taking advantage of Creative Commons-licensed data from the Glottolog language catalog, BEASTling allows the user to conveniently filter datasets using names for recognised language families, to impose monophyly constraints so that inferred language trees are backward compatible with Glottolog classifications, or to assign geographic location data to languages for phylogeographic analyses. Support for the emerging cross-linguistic linked data format (CLDF permits easy incorporation of data published in cross-linguistic linked databases into analyses. BEASTling is intended to make the power of Bayesian analysis more accessible to historical linguists without strong programming backgrounds, in the hopes of encouraging communication and collaboration between those developing computational models of language evolution (who are typically not linguists and relevant domain experts.

Detecting Network Communities: An Application to Phylogenetic Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Andrade, Roberto F. S.; Rocha-Neto, Ivan C.; Santos, Leonardo B. L.; de Santana, Charles N.; Diniz, Marcelo V. C.; Lobão, Thierry Petit; Goés-Neto, Aristóteles; Pinho, Suani T. R.; El-Hani, Charbel N.

2011-01-01

This paper proposes a new method to identify communities in generally weighted complex networks and apply it to phylogenetic analysis. In this case, weights correspond to the similarity indexes among protein sequences, which can be used for network construction so that the network structure can be analyzed to recover phylogenetically useful information from its properties. The analyses discussed here are mainly based on the modular character of protein similarity networks, explored through the Newman-Girvan algorithm, with the help of the neighborhood matrix . The most relevant networks are found when the network topology changes abruptly revealing distinct modules related to the sets of organisms to which the proteins belong. Sound biological information can be retrieved by the computational routines used in the network approach, without using biological assumptions other than those incorporated by BLAST. Usually, all the main bacterial phyla and, in some cases, also some bacterial classes corresponded totally (100%) or to a great extent (>70%) to the modules. We checked for internal consistency in the obtained results, and we scored close to 84% of matches for community pertinence when comparisons between the results were performed. To illustrate how to use the network-based method, we employed data for enzymes involved in the chitin metabolic pathway that are present in more than 100 organisms from an original data set containing 1,695 organisms, downloaded from GenBank on May 19, 2007. A preliminary comparison between the outcomes of the network-based method and the results of methods based on Bayesian, distance, likelihood, and parsimony criteria suggests that the former is as reliable as these commonly used methods. We conclude that the network-based method can be used as a powerful tool for retrieving modularity information from weighted networks, which is useful for phylogenetic analysis. PMID:21573202

Phylogenetic classification of the world's tropical forests

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Slik, J. W. Ferry; Franklin, Janet; Arroyo-Rodriguez, Victor

2018-01-01

-Pacific counterparts. We also find indications for the existence of a global dry forest region, with representatives in America, Africa, Madagascar, and India. Additionally, a northern-hemisphere Subtropical forest region was identified with representatives in Asia and America, providing support for a link between......Knowledge about the biogeographic affinities of the world's tropical forests helps to better understand regional differences in forest structure, diversity, composition, and dynamics. Such understanding will enable anticipation of region-specific responses to global environmental change. Modern...... phylogenies, in combination with broad coverage of species inventory data, now allow for global biogeographic analyses that take species evolutionary distance into account. Here we present a classification of the world's tropical forests based on their phylogenetic similarity. We identify five principal...

Characterization of Escherichia coli Phylogenetic Groups ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Escherichia coli strains mainly fall into four phylogenetic groups (A, B1, B2, and D) and that virulent extra‑intestinal strains mainly belong to groups B2 and D. Aim: The aim was to determine the association between phylogenetic groups of E. coli causing extraintestinal infections (ExPEC) regarding the site of ...

On the Trajectories of Projectiles Depicted in Early Ballistic Woodcuts

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Sean M.

2012-01-01

Motivated by quaint woodcut depictions often found in many late 16th and 17th century ballistic manuals of cannonballs fired in air, a comparison of their shapes with those calculated for the classic case of a projectile moving in a linear resisting medium is made. In considering the asymmetrical nature of such trajectories, the initial launch…

Phylogenetic relationships among Neoechinorhynchus species (Acanthocephala: Neoechinorhynchidae) from North-East Asia based on molecular data.

Science.gov (United States)

Malyarchuk, Boris; Derenko, Miroslava; Mikhailova, Ekaterina; Denisova, Galina

2014-02-01

Phylogenetic and statistical analyses of DNA sequences of two genes, cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (cox 1) of the mitochondrial DNA and 18S subunit of the nuclear ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA), was used to characterize Neoechinorhynchus species from fishes collected in different localities of North-East Asia. It has been found that four species can be clearly recognized using molecular markers-Neoechinorhynchus tumidus, Neoechinorhynchus beringianus, Neoechinorhynchus simansularis and Neoechinorhynchus salmonis. 18S sequences ascribed to Neoechinorhynchus crassus specimens from North-East Asia were identical to those of N. tumidus, but differed substantially from North American N. crassus. We renamed North-East Asian N. crassus specimens to N. sp., although the possibility that they represent a subspecies of N. tumidus cannot be excluded, taking into account a relatively small distance between cox 1 sequences of North-East Asian specimens of N. crassus and N. tumidus. Maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference analyses were performed for phylogeny reconstruction. All the phylogenetic trees showed that North-East Asian species of Neoechinorhynchus analyzed in this study represent independent clades, with the only exception of N. tumidus and N. sp. for 18S data. Phylogenetic analysis has shown that the majority of species sampled (N. tumidus+N. sp., N. simansularis and N. beringianus) are probably very closely related, while N. salmonis occupies separate position in the trees, possibly indicating a North American origin of this species. © 2013.

Integrating Horizontal Gene Transfer and Common Descent to Depict Evolution and Contrast It with “Common Design”1

Science.gov (United States)

GUILLERMO PAZ-Y-MIÑO-C; ESPINOSA, AVELINA

2016-01-01

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and common descent interact in space and time. Because events of HGT co-occur with phylogenetic evolution, it is difficult to depict evolutionary patterns graphically. Tree-like representations of life’s diversification are useful, but they ignore the significance of HGT in evolutionary history, particularly of unicellular organisms, ancestors of multicellular life. Here we integrate the reticulated-tree model, ring of life, symbiogenesis whole-organism model, and eliminative pattern pluralism to represent evolution. Using Entamoeba histolytica alcohol dehydrogenase 2 (EhADH2), a bifunctional enzyme in the glycolytic pathway of amoeba, we illustrate how EhADH2 could be the product of both horizontally acquired features from ancestral prokaryotes (i.e. aldehyde dehydrogenase [ALDH] and alcohol dehydrogenase [ADH]), and subsequent functional integration of these enzymes into EhADH2, which is now inherited by amoeba via common descent. Natural selection has driven the evolution of EhADH2 active sites, which require specific amino acids (cysteine 252 in the ALDH domain; histidine 754 in the ADH domain), iron- and NAD+ as cofactors, and the substrates acetyl-CoA for ALDH and acetaldehyde for ADH. Alternative views invoking “common design” (i.e. the non-naturalistic emergence of major taxa independent from ancestry) to explain the interaction between horizontal and vertical evolution are unfounded. PMID:20021546

Visualizing phylogenetic tree landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilgenbusch, James C; Huang, Wen; Gallivan, Kyle A

2017-02-02

Genomic-scale sequence alignments are increasingly used to infer phylogenies in order to better understand the processes and patterns of evolution. Different partitions within these new alignments (e.g., genes, codon positions, and structural features) often favor hundreds if not thousands of competing phylogenies. Summarizing and comparing phylogenies obtained from multi-source data sets using current consensus tree methods discards valuable information and can disguise potential methodological problems. Discovery of efficient and accurate dimensionality reduction methods used to display at once in 2- or 3- dimensions the relationship among these competing phylogenies will help practitioners diagnose the limits of current evolutionary models and potential problems with phylogenetic reconstruction methods when analyzing large multi-source data sets. We introduce several dimensionality reduction methods to visualize in 2- and 3-dimensions the relationship among competing phylogenies obtained from gene partitions found in three mid- to large-size mitochondrial genome alignments. We test the performance of these dimensionality reduction methods by applying several goodness-of-fit measures. The intrinsic dimensionality of each data set is also estimated to determine whether projections in 2- and 3-dimensions can be expected to reveal meaningful relationships among trees from different data partitions. Several new approaches to aid in the comparison of different phylogenetic landscapes are presented. Curvilinear Components Analysis (CCA) and a stochastic gradient decent (SGD) optimization method give the best representation of the original tree-to-tree distance matrix for each of the three- mitochondrial genome alignments and greatly outperformed the method currently used to visualize tree landscapes. The CCA + SGD method converged at least as fast as previously applied methods for visualizing tree landscapes. We demonstrate for all three mtDNA alignments that 3D

MPBoot: fast phylogenetic maximum parsimony tree inference and bootstrap approximation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoang, Diep Thi; Vinh, Le Sy; Flouri, Tomáš; Stamatakis, Alexandros; von Haeseler, Arndt; Minh, Bui Quang

2018-02-02

The nonparametric bootstrap is widely used to measure the branch support of phylogenetic trees. However, bootstrapping is computationally expensive and remains a bottleneck in phylogenetic analyses. Recently, an ultrafast bootstrap approximation (UFBoot) approach was proposed for maximum likelihood analyses. However, such an approach is still missing for maximum parsimony. To close this gap we present MPBoot, an adaptation and extension of UFBoot to compute branch supports under the maximum parsimony principle. MPBoot works for both uniform and non-uniform cost matrices. Our analyses on biological DNA and protein showed that under uniform cost matrices, MPBoot runs on average 4.7 (DNA) to 7 times (protein data) (range: 1.2-20.7) faster than the standard parsimony bootstrap implemented in PAUP*; but 1.6 (DNA) to 4.1 times (protein data) slower than the standard bootstrap with a fast search routine in TNT (fast-TNT). However, for non-uniform cost matrices MPBoot is 5 (DNA) to 13 times (protein data) (range:0.3-63.9) faster than fast-TNT. We note that MPBoot achieves better scores more frequently than PAUP* and fast-TNT. However, this effect is less pronounced if an intensive but slower search in TNT is invoked. Moreover, experiments on large-scale simulated data show that while both PAUP* and TNT bootstrap estimates are too conservative, MPBoot bootstrap estimates appear more unbiased. MPBoot provides an efficient alternative to the standard maximum parsimony bootstrap procedure. It shows favorable performance in terms of run time, the capability of finding a maximum parsimony tree, and high bootstrap accuracy on simulated as well as empirical data sets. MPBoot is easy-to-use, open-source and available at http://www.cibiv.at/software/mpboot .

Phylogenetic analyses and morphological characteristics support the description of a second species of Tridimeris (Annonaceae)

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz-Rodriguez, Andres Ernesto; Escobar-Castellanos, Marcos Alberto; Pérez-Farrera, Miguel Angel

2016-01-01

Abstract Based on phylogenetic and morphological evidence, Tridimeris chiapensis Escobar-Castellanos & Ortiz-Rodr., sp. n. (Annonaceae), a new species from the karst forest of southern Mexico, is described and illustrated. The new species differs from Tridimeris hahniana, the only described species in the genus, in that the latter has flowers with sepals densely tomentose outside, one (rarely two) carpel(s) per flower and fruits densely covered with golden-brown hairs, while Tridimeris chiapensis has flowers with glabrous sepals outside, two to five carpels per flower and glabrous fruits. Furthermore, a shallow triangular white patch at the base of the inner petals is found in Tridimeris chiapensis, a morphological character shared with the sister genus Sapranthus but absent in Tridimeris hahniana. Geographically, both species occur allopatrically. With just one known locality and seven individuals of Tridimeris chiapensis recorded in one sampling hectare, and based on application of the criteria established by the IUCN, we conclude tentatively that the species is critically endangered. PMID:28127237

A Practical Algorithm for Reconstructing Level-1 Phylogenetic Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

K.T. Huber; L.J.J. van Iersel (Leo); S.M. Kelk (Steven); R. Suchecki

2010-01-01

htmlabstractRecently much attention has been devoted to the construction of phylogenetic networks which generalize phylogenetic trees in order to accommodate complex evolutionary processes. Here we present an efficient, practical algorithm for reconstructing level-1 phylogenetic networks - a type of

A practical algorithm for reconstructing level-1 phylogenetic networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huber, K.T.; Iersel, van L.J.J.; Kelk, S.M.; Suchecki, R.

2011-01-01

Recently, much attention has been devoted to the construction of phylogenetic networks which generalize phylogenetic trees in order to accommodate complex evolutionary processes. Here, we present an efficient, practical algorithm for reconstructing level-1 phylogenetic networks-a type of network

Plant DNA barcodes and assessment of phylogenetic community structure of a tropical mixed dipterocarp forest in Brunei Darussalam (Borneo)

Science.gov (United States)

Abu Salim, Kamariah; Chase, Mark W.; Dexter, Kyle G.; Pennington, R. Toby; Tan, Sylvester; Kaye, Maria Ellen; Samuel, Rosabelle

2017-01-01

DNA barcoding is a fast and reliable tool to assess and monitor biodiversity and, via community phylogenetics, to investigate ecological and evolutionary processes that may be responsible for the community structure of forests. In this study, DNA barcodes for the two widely used plastid coding regions rbcL and matK are used to contribute to identification of morphologically undetermined individuals, as well as to investigate phylogenetic structure of tree communities in 70 subplots (10 × 10m) of a 25-ha forest-dynamics plot in Brunei (Borneo, Southeast Asia). The combined matrix (rbcL + matK) comprised 555 haplotypes (from ≥154 genera, 68 families and 25 orders sensu APG, Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, 2016), making a substantial contribution to tree barcode sequences from Southeast Asia. Barcode sequences were used to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships using maximum likelihood, both with and without constraining the topology of taxonomic orders to match that proposed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. A third phylogenetic tree was reconstructed using the program Phylomatic to investigate the influence of phylogenetic resolution on results. Detection of non-random patterns of community assembly was determined by net relatedness index (NRI) and nearest taxon index (NTI). In most cases, community assembly was either random or phylogenetically clustered, which likely indicates the importance to community structure of habitat filtering based on phylogenetically correlated traits in determining community structure. Different phylogenetic trees gave similar overall results, but the Phylomatic tree produced greater variation across plots for NRI and NTI values, presumably due to noise introduced by using an unresolved phylogenetic tree. Our results suggest that using a DNA barcode tree has benefits over the traditionally used Phylomatic approach by increasing precision and accuracy and allowing the incorporation of taxonomically unidentified individuals into analyses

Plant DNA barcodes and assessment of phylogenetic community structure of a tropical mixed dipterocarp forest in Brunei Darussalam (Borneo.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacqueline Heckenhauer

Full Text Available DNA barcoding is a fast and reliable tool to assess and monitor biodiversity and, via community phylogenetics, to investigate ecological and evolutionary processes that may be responsible for the community structure of forests. In this study, DNA barcodes for the two widely used plastid coding regions rbcL and matK are used to contribute to identification of morphologically undetermined individuals, as well as to investigate phylogenetic structure of tree communities in 70 subplots (10 × 10m of a 25-ha forest-dynamics plot in Brunei (Borneo, Southeast Asia. The combined matrix (rbcL + matK comprised 555 haplotypes (from ≥154 genera, 68 families and 25 orders sensu APG, Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, 2016, making a substantial contribution to tree barcode sequences from Southeast Asia. Barcode sequences were used to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships using maximum likelihood, both with and without constraining the topology of taxonomic orders to match that proposed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. A third phylogenetic tree was reconstructed using the program Phylomatic to investigate the influence of phylogenetic resolution on results. Detection of non-random patterns of community assembly was determined by net relatedness index (NRI and nearest taxon index (NTI. In most cases, community assembly was either random or phylogenetically clustered, which likely indicates the importance to community structure of habitat filtering based on phylogenetically correlated traits in determining community structure. Different phylogenetic trees gave similar overall results, but the Phylomatic tree produced greater variation across plots for NRI and NTI values, presumably due to noise introduced by using an unresolved phylogenetic tree. Our results suggest that using a DNA barcode tree has benefits over the traditionally used Phylomatic approach by increasing precision and accuracy and allowing the incorporation of taxonomically unidentified individuals

Folding and unfolding phylogenetic trees and networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Katharina T; Moulton, Vincent; Steel, Mike; Wu, Taoyang

2016-12-01

Phylogenetic networks are rooted, labelled directed acyclic graphswhich are commonly used to represent reticulate evolution. There is a close relationship between phylogenetic networks and multi-labelled trees (MUL-trees). Indeed, any phylogenetic network N can be "unfolded" to obtain a MUL-tree U(N) and, conversely, a MUL-tree T can in certain circumstances be "folded" to obtain aphylogenetic network F(T) that exhibits T. In this paper, we study properties of the operations U and F in more detail. In particular, we introduce the class of stable networks, phylogenetic networks N for which F(U(N)) is isomorphic to N, characterise such networks, and show that they are related to the well-known class of tree-sibling networks. We also explore how the concept of displaying a tree in a network N can be related to displaying the tree in the MUL-tree U(N). To do this, we develop aphylogenetic analogue of graph fibrations. This allows us to view U(N) as the analogue of the universal cover of a digraph, and to establish a close connection between displaying trees in U(N) and reconciling phylogenetic trees with networks.

Topological variation in single-gene phylogenetic trees

OpenAIRE

Castresana, Jose

2007-01-01

A recent large-scale phylogenomic study has shown the great degree of topological variation that can be found among eukaryotic phylogenetic trees constructed from single genes, highlighting the problems that can be associated with gene sampling in phylogenetic studies.

Judgments toward male and transgendered victims in a depicted stranger rape.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Michelle; Hudson, Jenefer

2011-01-01

There has been an increasing amount of research interest into perceptions of male rape in recent years. However, no research has assessed how people react when a transgendered person is raped. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of transgendered status and sexuality on victim blame and perceived severity in a depicted rape scenario. The sexuality of the victim was manipulated to include a heterosexual, homosexual, cross-dresser, female-to-male transsexual, and male-to-female transsexual. It was predicted that the heterosexual victims would be judged the most positively and that heterosexual male participants would make the most anti-victim judgments. One hundred thirty-three lesbian, gay male, and heterosexual members of the general population read a scenario depicting a rape and then completed a questionnaire measuring victim blame and perceived severity of the assault. Results conformed to the predictions. Results are discussed in relation to traditional gender roles and homophobia.

Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis of core gene of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Phylogenetic analysis suggests that our sequences are clustered with sequences reported from Japan. This is the first phylogenetic analysis of HCV core gene from Pakistani population. Our sequences and sequences from Japan are grouped into same cluster in the phylogenetic tree. Sequence comparison and ...

Phylogenetic relationships in Asarum: Effect of data partitioning and a revised classification.

Science.gov (United States)

Sinn, Brandon T; Kelly, Lawrence M; Freudenstein, John V

2015-05-01

Generic boundaries and infrageneric relationships among the charismatic temperate magnoliid Asarum sensu lato (Aristolochiaceae) have long been uncertain. Previous molecular phylogenetic analyses used either plastid or nuclear loci alone and varied greatly in their taxonomic implications for the genus. We analyzed additional molecular markers from the nuclear and plastid genomes, reevaluated the possibility of a derived loss of autonomous self-pollination, and investigated the topological effects of matrix-partitioning-scheme choice. We sequenced seven plastid regions and the nuclear ITS1-ITS2 region of 58 individuals representing all previously recognized Asarum s.l. segregate genera and the monotypic genus Saruma. Matrices were partitioned using common a priori partitioning schemes and PartitionFinder. Topologies that were recovered using a priori partitioning of matrices differed from those recovered using a PartitionFinder-selected scheme, and by analysis method. We recovered six monophyletic groups that we circumscribed into three subgenera and six sections. Putative fungal mimic characters served as synapomorphies only for subgenus Heterotropa. Subgenus Geotaenium, a new subgenus, was recovered as sister to the remainder of Asarum by ML analyses of highly partitioned datasets. Section Longistylis, also newly named, is sister to section Hexastylis. Our analyses do not unambiguously support a single origin for all fungal-mimicry characters. Topologies recovered through the analysis of PartitionFinder-optimized matrices can differ drastically from those inferred from a priori partitioned matrices, and by analytical method. We recommend that investigators evaluate the topological effects of matrix partitioning using multiple methods of phylogenetic reconstruction. © 2015 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

Phylogenomic Resolution of the Phylogeny of Laurasiatherian Mammals: Exploring Phylogenetic Signals within Coding and Noncoding Sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Meng-Yun; Liang, Dan; Zhang, Peng

2017-08-01

The interordinal relationships of Laurasiatherian mammals are currently one of the most controversial questions in mammalian phylogenetics. Previous studies mainly relied on coding sequences (CDS) and seldom used noncoding sequences. Here, by data mining public genome data, we compiled an intron data set of 3,638 genes (all introns from a protein-coding gene are considered as a gene) (19,055,073 bp) and a CDS data set of 10,259 genes (20,994,285 bp), covering all major lineages of Laurasiatheria (except Pholidota). We found that the intron data contained stronger and more congruent phylogenetic signals than the CDS data. In agreement with this observation, concatenation and species-tree analyses of the intron data set yielded well-resolved and identical phylogenies, whereas the CDS data set produced weakly supported and incongruent results. Further analyses showed that the phylogeny inferred from the intron data is highly robust to data subsampling and change in outgroup, but the CDS data produced unstable results under the same conditions. Interestingly, gene tree statistical results showed that the most frequently observed gene tree topologies for the CDS and intron data are identical, suggesting that the major phylogenetic signal within the CDS data is actually congruent with that within the intron data. Our final result of Laurasiatheria phylogeny is (Eulipotyphla,((Chiroptera, Perissodactyla),(Carnivora, Cetartiodactyla))), favoring a close relationship between Chiroptera and Perissodactyla. Our study 1) provides a well-supported phylogenetic framework for Laurasiatheria, representing a step towards ending the long-standing "hard" polytomy and 2) argues that intron within genome data is a promising data resource for resolving rapid radiation events across the tree of life. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Ampelopsis: gene organization, comparative analysis and phylogenetic relationships to other angiosperms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gurusamy eRaman

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Ampelopsis brevipedunculata is an economically important plant that belongs to the Vitaceae family of angiosperms. The phylogenetic placement of Vitaceae is still unresolved. Recent phylogenetic studies suggested that it should be placed in various alternative families including Caryophyllaceae, asteraceae, Saxifragaceae, Dilleniaceae, or with the rest of the rosid families. However, these analyses provided weak supportive results because they were based on only one of several genes. Accordingly, complete chloroplast genome sequences are required to resolve the phylogenetic relationships among angiosperms. Recent phylogenetic analyses based on the complete chloroplast genome sequence suggested strong support for the position of Vitaceae as the earliest diverging lineage of rosids and placed it as a sister to the remaining rosids. These studies also revealed relationships among several major lineages of angiosperms; however, they highlighted the significance of taxon sampling for obtaining accurate phylogenies. In the present study, we sequenced the complete chloroplast genome of A. brevipedunculata and used these data to assess the relationships among 32 angiosperms, including 18 taxa of rosids. The Ampelopsis chloroplast genome is 161,090 bp in length, and includes a pair of inverted repeats of 26,394 bp that are separated by small and large single copy regions of 19,036 bp and 89,266 bp, respectively. The gene content and order of Ampelopsis is identical to many other unrearranged angiosperm chloroplast genomes, including Vitis and tobacco. A phylogenetic tree constructed based on 70 protein-coding genes of 33 angiosperms showed that both Saxifragales and Vitaceae diverged from the rosid clade and formed two clades with 100% bootstrap value. The position of the Vitaceae is sister to Saxifragales, and both are the basal and earliest diverging lineages. Moreover, Saxifragales forms a sister clade to Vitaceae of rosids. Overall, the results of

Dynamically heterogenous partitions and phylogenetic inference: an evaluation of analytical strategies with cytochrome b and ND6 gene sequences in cranes.

Science.gov (United States)

Krajewski, C; Fain, M G; Buckley, L; King, D G

1999-11-01

ki ctes over whether molecular sequence data should be partitioned for phylogenetic analysis often confound two types of heterogeneity among partitions. We distinguish historical heterogeneity (i.e., different partitions have different evolutionary relationships) from dynamic heterogeneity (i.e., different partitions show different patterns of sequence evolution) and explore the impact of the latter on phylogenetic accuracy and precision with a two-gene, mitochondrial data set for cranes. The well-established phylogeny of cranes allows us to contrast tree-based estimates of relevant parameter values with estimates based on pairwise comparisons and to ascertain the effects of incorporating different amounts of process information into phylogenetic estimates. We show that codon positions in the cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6 genes are dynamically heterogenous under both Poisson and invariable-sites + gamma-rates versions of the F84 model and that heterogeneity includes variation in base composition and transition bias as well as substitution rate. Estimates of transition-bias and relative-rate parameters from pairwise sequence comparisons were comparable to those obtained as tree-based maximum likelihood estimates. Neither rate-category nor mixed-model partitioning strategies resulted in a loss of phylogenetic precision relative to unpartitioned analyses. We suggest that weighted-average distances provide a computationally feasible alternative to direct maximum likelihood estimates of phylogeny for mixed-model analyses of large, dynamically heterogenous data sets. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Phylogenetic Analysis of Staphylococcus aureus CC398 Reveals a Sub-Lineage Epidemiologically Associated with Infections in Horses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abdelbary, Mohamed M. H.; Wittenberg, Anne; Cuny, Christiane

2014-01-01

-allelic polymorphisms, and phylogenetic analyses revealed that an epidemic sub-clone within CC398 (dubbed 'clade (C)') has spread within and between equine hospitals, where it causes nosocomial infections in horses and colonises the personnel. While clade (C) was strongly associated with S. aureus from horses...

Targeted Enrichment of Large Gene Families for Phylogenetic Inference: Phylogeny and Molecular Evolution of Photosynthesis Genes in the Portullugo Clade (Caryophyllales).

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Abigail J; Vos, Jurriaan M De; Hancock, Lillian P; Goolsby, Eric; Edwards, Erika J

2018-05-01

Hybrid enrichment is an increasingly popular approach for obtaining hundreds of loci for phylogenetic analysis across many taxa quickly and cheaply. The genes targeted for sequencing are typically single-copy loci, which facilitate a more straightforward sequence assembly and homology assignment process. However, this approach limits the inclusion of most genes of functional interest, which often belong to multi-gene families. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of including large gene families in hybrid enrichment protocols for phylogeny reconstruction and subsequent analyses of molecular evolution, using a new set of bait sequences designed for the "portullugo" (Caryophyllales), a moderately sized lineage of flowering plants (~ 2200 species) that includes the cacti and harbors many evolutionary transitions to C$_{\\mathrm{4}}$ and CAM photosynthesis. Including multi-gene families allowed us to simultaneously infer a robust phylogeny and construct a dense sampling of sequences for a major enzyme of C$_{\\mathrm{4}}$ and CAM photosynthesis, which revealed the accumulation of adaptive amino acid substitutions associated with C$_{\\mathrm{4}}$ and CAM origins in particular paralogs. Our final set of matrices for phylogenetic analyses included 75-218 loci across 74 taxa, with ~ 50% matrix completeness across data sets. Phylogenetic resolution was greatly improved across the tree, at both shallow and deep levels. Concatenation and coalescent-based approaches both resolve the sister lineage of the cacti with strong support: Anacampserotaceae $+$ Portulacaceae, two lineages of mostly diminutive succulent herbs of warm, arid regions. In spite of this congruence, BUCKy concordance analyses demonstrated strong and conflicting signals across gene trees. Our results add to the growing number of examples illustrating the complexity of phylogenetic signals in genomic-scale data.

Predicting rates of interspecific interaction from phylogenetic trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Nuismer, Scott L; Harmon, Luke J

2015-01-01

Integrating phylogenetic information can potentially improve our ability to explain species' traits, patterns of community assembly, the network structure of communities, and ecosystem function. In this study, we use mathematical models to explore the ecological and evolutionary factors that modulate the explanatory power of phylogenetic information for communities of species that interact within a single trophic level. We find that phylogenetic relationships among species can influence trait evolution and rates of interaction among species, but only under particular models of species interaction. For example, when interactions within communities are mediated by a mechanism of phenotype matching, phylogenetic trees make specific predictions about trait evolution and rates of interaction. In contrast, if interactions within a community depend on a mechanism of phenotype differences, phylogenetic information has little, if any, predictive power for trait evolution and interaction rate. Together, these results make clear and testable predictions for when and how evolutionary history is expected to influence contemporary rates of species interaction. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Phylogenetic Structure of Foliar Spectral Traits in Tropical Forest Canopies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly M. McManus

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The Spectranomics approach to tropical forest remote sensing has established a link between foliar reflectance spectra and the phylogenetic composition of tropical canopy tree communities vis-à-vis the taxonomic organization of biochemical trait variation. However, a direct relationship between phylogenetic affiliation and foliar reflectance spectra of species has not been established. We sought to develop this relationship by quantifying the extent to which underlying patterns of phylogenetic structure drive interspecific variation among foliar reflectance spectra within three Neotropical canopy tree communities with varying levels of soil fertility. We interpreted the resulting spectral patterns of phylogenetic signal in the context of foliar biochemical traits that may contribute to the spectral-phylogenetic link. We utilized a multi-model ensemble to elucidate trait-spectral relationships, and quantified phylogenetic signal for spectral wavelengths and traits using Pagel’s lambda statistic. Foliar reflectance spectra showed evidence of phylogenetic influence primarily within the visible and shortwave infrared spectral regions. These regions were also selected by the multi-model ensemble as those most important to the quantitative prediction of several foliar biochemical traits. Patterns of phylogenetic organization of spectra and traits varied across sites and with soil fertility, indicative of the complex interactions between the environmental and phylogenetic controls underlying patterns of biodiversity.

Phylogenetic study of Class Armophorea (Alveolata, Ciliophora based on 18S-rDNA data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thiago da Silva Paiva

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The 18S rDNA phylogeny of Class Armophorea, a group of anaerobic ciliates, is proposed based on an analysis of 44 sequences (out of 195 retrieved from the NCBI/GenBank database. Emphasis was placed on the use of two nucleotide alignment criteria that involved variation in the gap-opening and gap-extension parameters and the use of rRNA secondary structure to orientate multiple-alignment. A sensitivity analysis of 76 data sets was run to assess the effect of variations in indel parameters on tree topologies. Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony phylogenetic analyses were used to explore how different analytic frameworks influenced the resulting hypotheses. A sensitivity analysis revealed that the relationships among higher taxa of the Intramacronucleata were dependent upon how indels were determined during multiple-alignment of nucleotides. The phylogenetic analyses rejected the monophyly of the Armophorea most of the time and consistently indicated that the Metopidae and Nyctotheridae were related to the Litostomatea. There was no consensus on the placement of the Caenomorphidae, which could be a sister group of the Metopidae + Nyctorheridae, or could have diverged at the base of the Spirotrichea branch or the Intramacronucleata tree.

Morphologic, Phylogenetic and Chemical Characterization of a Brackish Colonial Picocyanobacterium (Coelosphaeriaceae with Bioactive Properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kerstin Häggqvist

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Despite their cosmopolitan distribution, knowledge on cyanobacteria in the family Coelosphaeriaceae is limited. In this study, a single species culture of a coelosphaeran cyanobacterium isolated from a brackish rock pool in the Baltic Sea was established. The strain was characterized by morphological features, partial 16S rRNA sequence and nonribosomal oligopeptide profile. The bioactivity of fractionated extracts against several serine proteases, as well as protein-serine/threonine phosphatases was studied. Phylogenetic analyses of the strain suggested a close relationship with Snowella litoralis, but its morphology resembled Woronichinia compacta. The controversial morphologic and phylogenetic results demonstrated remaining uncertainties regarding species division in this cyanobacteria family. Chemical analyses of the strain indicated production of nonribosomal oligopeptides. In fractionated extracts, masses and ion fragmentation spectra of seven possible anabaenopeptins were identified. Additionally, fragmentation spectra of cyanopeptolin-like peptides were collected in several of the fractions. The nonribosomal oligopeptide profile adds another potential identification criterion in future inter- and intraspecies comparisons of coelosphaeran cyanobacteria. The fractionated extracts showed significant activity against carboxypeptidase A and trypsin. Inhibition of these important metabolic enzymes might have impacts at the ecosystem level in aquatic habitats with high cyanobacteria densities.

Species boundaries and phylogenetic relationships in the critically endangered Asian box turtle genus Cuora.

Science.gov (United States)

Spinks, Phillip Q; Thomson, Robert C; Zhang, YaPing; Che, Jing; Wu, Yonghua; Shaffer, H Bradley

2012-06-01

Turtles are currently the most endangered major clade of vertebrates on earth, and Asian box turtles (Cuora) are in catastrophic decline. Effective management of this diverse turtle clade has been hampered by human-mediated, and perhaps natural hybridization, resulting in discordance between mitochondrial and nuclear markers and confusion regarding species boundaries and phylogenetic relationships among hypothesized species of Cuora. Here, we present analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA data for all 12 currently hypothesized species to resolve both species boundaries and phylogenetic relationships. Our 15-gene, 40-individual nuclear data set was frequently in conflict with our mitochondrial data set; based on its general concordance with published morphological analyses and the strength of 15 independent estimates of evolutionary history, we interpret the nuclear data as representing the most reliable estimate of species boundaries and phylogeny of Cuora. Our results strongly reiterate the necessity of using multiple nuclear markers for phylogeny and species delimitation in these animals, including any form of DNA "barcoding", and point to Cuora as an important case study where reliance on mitochondrial DNA can lead to incorrect species identification. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Long-branch attraction bias and inconsistency in Bayesian phylogenetics.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bryan Kolaczkowski

Full Text Available Bayesian inference (BI of phylogenetic relationships uses the same probabilistic models of evolution as its precursor maximum likelihood (ML, so BI has generally been assumed to share ML's desirable statistical properties, such as largely unbiased inference of topology given an accurate model and increasingly reliable inferences as the amount of data increases. Here we show that BI, unlike ML, is biased in favor of topologies that group long branches together, even when the true model and prior distributions of evolutionary parameters over a group of phylogenies are known. Using experimental simulation studies and numerical and mathematical analyses, we show that this bias becomes more severe as more data are analyzed, causing BI to infer an incorrect tree as the maximum a posteriori phylogeny with asymptotically high support as sequence length approaches infinity. BI's long branch attraction bias is relatively weak when the true model is simple but becomes pronounced when sequence sites evolve heterogeneously, even when this complexity is incorporated in the model. This bias--which is apparent under both controlled simulation conditions and in analyses of empirical sequence data--also makes BI less efficient and less robust to the use of an incorrect evolutionary model than ML. Surprisingly, BI's bias is caused by one of the method's stated advantages--that it incorporates uncertainty about branch lengths by integrating over a distribution of possible values instead of estimating them from the data, as ML does. Our findings suggest that trees inferred using BI should be interpreted with caution and that ML may be a more reliable framework for modern phylogenetic analysis.

Maximizing the phylogenetic diversity of seed banks.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, Kate E; Balding, Sharon T; Dickie, John B; Lewis, Gwilym P; Pearce, Tim R; Grenyer, Richard

2015-04-01

Ex situ conservation efforts such as those of zoos, botanical gardens, and seed banks will form a vital complement to in situ conservation actions over the coming decades. It is therefore necessary to pay the same attention to the biological diversity represented in ex situ conservation facilities as is often paid to protected-area networks. Building the phylogenetic diversity of ex situ collections will strengthen our capacity to respond to biodiversity loss. Since 2000, the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership has banked seed from 14% of the world's plant species. We assessed the taxonomic, geographic, and phylogenetic diversity of the Millennium Seed Bank collection of legumes (Leguminosae). We compared the collection with all known legume genera, their known geographic range (at country and regional levels), and a genus-level phylogeny of the legume family constructed for this study. Over half the phylogenetic diversity of legumes at the genus level was represented in the Millennium Seed Bank. However, pragmatic prioritization of species of economic importance and endangerment has led to the banking of a less-than-optimal phylogenetic diversity and prioritization of range-restricted species risks an underdispersed collection. The current state of the phylogenetic diversity of legumes in the Millennium Seed Bank could be substantially improved through the strategic banking of relatively few additional taxa. Our method draws on tools that are widely applied to in situ conservation planning, and it can be used to evaluate and improve the phylogenetic diversity of ex situ collections. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

Reconstructing phylogenetic networks using maximum parsimony.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakhleh, Luay; Jin, Guohua; Zhao, Fengmei; Mellor-Crummey, John

2005-01-01

Phylogenies - the evolutionary histories of groups of organisms - are one of the most widely used tools throughout the life sciences, as well as objects of research within systematics, evolutionary biology, epidemiology, etc. Almost every tool devised to date to reconstruct phylogenies produces trees; yet it is widely understood and accepted that trees oversimplify the evolutionary histories of many groups of organims, most prominently bacteria (because of horizontal gene transfer) and plants (because of hybrid speciation). Various methods and criteria have been introduced for phylogenetic tree reconstruction. Parsimony is one of the most widely used and studied criteria, and various accurate and efficient heuristics for reconstructing trees based on parsimony have been devised. Jotun Hein suggested a straightforward extension of the parsimony criterion to phylogenetic networks. In this paper we formalize this concept, and provide the first experimental study of the quality of parsimony as a criterion for constructing and evaluating phylogenetic networks. Our results show that, when extended to phylogenetic networks, the parsimony criterion produces promising results. In a great majority of the cases in our experiments, the parsimony criterion accurately predicts the numbers and placements of non-tree events.

Mapping Phylogenetic Trees to Reveal Distinct Patterns of Evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Kendall, Michelle; Colijn, Caroline

2016-10-01

Evolutionary relationships are frequently described by phylogenetic trees, but a central barrier in many fields is the difficulty of interpreting data containing conflicting phylogenetic signals. We present a metric-based method for comparing trees which extracts distinct alternative evolutionary relationships embedded in data. We demonstrate detection and resolution of phylogenetic uncertainty in a recent study of anole lizards, leading to alternate hypotheses about their evolutionary relationships. We use our approach to compare trees derived from different genes of Ebolavirus and find that the VP30 gene has a distinct phylogenetic signature composed of three alternatives that differ in the deep branching structure. phylogenetics, evolution, tree metrics, genetics, sequencing. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Molecular Phylogenetics: Mathematical Framework and Unsolved Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Xuhua

Phylogenetic relationship is essential in dating evolutionary events, reconstructing ancestral genes, predicting sites that are important to natural selection, and, ultimately, understanding genomic evolution. Three categories of phylogenetic methods are currently used: the distance-based, the maximum parsimony, and the maximum likelihood method. Here, I present the mathematical framework of these methods and their rationales, provide computational details for each of them, illustrate analytically and numerically the potential biases inherent in these methods, and outline computational challenges and unresolved problems. This is followed by a brief discussion of the Bayesian approach that has been recently used in molecular phylogenetics.

Identification of putative orthologous genes for the phylogenetic reconstruction of temperate woody bamboos (Poaceae: Bambusoideae).

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Li-Na; Zhang, Xian-Zhi; Zhang, Yu-Xiao; Zeng, Chun-Xia; Ma, Peng-Fei; Zhao, Lei; Guo, Zhen-Hua; Li, De-Zhu

2014-09-01

The temperate woody bamboos (Arundinarieae) are highly diverse in morphology but lack a substantial amount of genetic variation. The taxonomy of this lineage is intractable, and the relationships within the tribe have not been well resolved. Recent studies indicated that this tribe could have a complex evolutionary history. Although phylogenetic studies of the tribe have been carried out, most of these phylogenetic reconstructions were based on plastid data, which provide lower phylogenetic resolution compared with nuclear data. In this study, we intended to identify a set of desirable nuclear genes for resolving the phylogeny of the temperate woody bamboos. Using two different methodologies, we identified 209 and 916 genes, respectively, as putative single copy orthologous genes. A total of 112 genes was successfully amplified and sequenced by next-generation sequencing technologies in five species sampled from the tribe. As most of the genes exhibited intra-individual allele heterozygotes, we investigated phylogenetic utility by reconstructing the phylogeny based on individual genes. Discordance among gene trees was observed and, to resolve the conflict, we performed a range of analyses using BUCKy and HybTree. While caution should be taken when inferring a phylogeny from multiple conflicting genes, our analysis indicated that 74 of the 112 investigated genes are potential markers for resolving the phylogeny of the temperate woody bamboos. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Phylogenetic relationships of Malaysia's pig-tailed macaque Macaca nemestrina based on D-loop region sequences

Science.gov (United States)

Abdul-Latiff M. A., B.; Ampeng, A.; Yaakop, S.; Md-Zain B., M.

2014-09-01

Phylogenetic relationships among Malaysian pig-tailed macaques have never been established even though the data are crucial in aiding conservation plan for the species. The aims of this study is to establish the phylogenetic relationships of Macaca nemestrina in Malaysia. A total of 21 genetic samples of M. nemestrina yielding 458 bp of D-loop sequences were used in phylogenetic analyses, in addition to one sample of M. fascicularis which was used as an outgroup. Sequence character analysis revealed that D-loop locus contains 23% parsimony informative character detected among the ingroups. Further analysis indicated a clear separation between populations originating from different regions; the Malay Peninsula populations are separated from Borneo Insular population; and Perak population formed a distinctive clade within Peninsular Malaysia populations. Phylogenetic trees (NJ, MP and Bayesian) portray a consistent clustering paradigm as Borneo population was distinguished from Peninsula population (100% bootstrap value in the NJ, MP, 1.00 posterior probability in Bayesian trees). Perak's population was separated from other Peninsula populations (100% in NJ, 99% in MP and 1.00 in Bayesian). D-loop region of mtDNA is proven to be a suitable locus in studying the separation of M. nemestrina at population level. These findings are crucial in aiding the conservation management and translocation process of M. fascicularis populations in Malaysia.

Phylogenetic Framework and Molecular Signatures for the Main Clades of the Phylum Actinobacteria

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Beile

2012-01-01

Summary: The phylum Actinobacteria harbors many important human pathogens and also provides one of the richest sources of natural products, including numerous antibiotics and other compounds of biotechnological interest. Thus, a reliable phylogeny of this large phylum and the means to accurately identify its different constituent groups are of much interest. Detailed phylogenetic and comparative analyses of >150 actinobacterial genomes reported here form the basis for achieving these objectives. In phylogenetic trees based upon 35 conserved proteins, most of the main groups of Actinobacteria as well as a number of their superageneric clades are resolved. We also describe large numbers of molecular markers consisting of conserved signature indels in protein sequences and whole proteins that are specific for either all Actinobacteria or their different clades (viz., orders, families, genera, and subgenera) at various taxonomic levels. These signatures independently support the existence of different phylogenetic clades, and based upon them, it is now possible to delimit the phylum Actinobacteria (excluding Coriobacteriia) and most of its major groups in clear molecular terms. The species distribution patterns of these markers also provide important information regarding the interrelationships among different main orders of Actinobacteria. The identified molecular markers, in addition to enabling the development of a stable and reliable phylogenetic framework for this phylum, also provide novel and powerful means for the identification of different groups of Actinobacteria in diverse environments. Genetic and biochemical studies on these Actinobacteria-specific markers should lead to the discovery of novel biochemical and/or other properties that are unique to different groups of Actinobacteria. PMID:22390973

Phylogenetic community structure: temporal variation in fish assemblage

OpenAIRE

Santorelli, Sergio; Magnusson, William; Ferreira, Efrem; Caramaschi, Erica; Zuanon, Jansen; Amadio, Sidnéia

2014-01-01

Hypotheses about phylogenetic relationships among species allow inferences about the mechanisms that affect species coexistence. Nevertheless, most studies assume that phylogenetic patterns identified are stable over time. We used data on monthly samples of fish from a single lake over 10 years to show that the structure in phylogenetic assemblages varies over time and conclusions depend heavily on the time scale investigated. The data set was organized in guild structures and temporal scales...

36 CFR 13.1188 - Where to get charts depicting closed waters.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... closed waters. 13.1188 Section 13.1188 Parks, Forests, and Public Property NATIONAL PARK SERVICE... and Preserve Vessel Operating Restrictions § 13.1188 Where to get charts depicting closed waters. Closed waters and islands within Glacier Bay as described in §§ 13.1174-13.1180 of this subpart are...

Phylogenetic studies of transmission dynamics in generalized HIV epidemics: An essential tool where the burden is greatest?

Science.gov (United States)

Dennis, Ann M.; Herbeck, Joshua T.; Brown, Andrew Leigh; Kellam, Paul; de Oliveira, Tulio; Pillay, Deenan; Fraser, Christophe; Cohen, Myron S.

2014-01-01

Efficient and effective HIV prevention measures for generalized epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa have not yet been validated at the population-level. Design and impact evaluation of such measures requires fine-scale understanding of local HIV transmission dynamics. The novel tools of HIV phylogenetics and molecular epidemiology may elucidate these transmission dynamics. Such methods have been incorporated into studies of concentrated HIV epidemics to identify proximate and determinant traits associated with ongoing transmission. However, applying similar phylogenetic analyses to generalized epidemics, including the design and evaluation of prevention trials, presents additional challenges. Here we review the scope of these methods and present examples of their use in concentrated epidemics in the context of prevention. Next, we describe the current uses for phylogenetics in generalized epidemics, and discuss their promise for elucidating transmission patterns and informing prevention trials. Finally, we review logistic and technical challenges inherent to large-scale molecular epidemiological studies of generalized epidemics, and suggest potential solutions. PMID:24977473

Expressed sequence tags as a tool for phylogenetic analysis of placental mammal evolution.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morgan Kullberg

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: We investigate the usefulness of expressed sequence tags, ESTs, for establishing divergences within the tree of placental mammals. This is done on the example of the established relationships among primates (human, lagomorphs (rabbit, rodents (rat and mouse, artiodactyls (cow, carnivorans (dog and proboscideans (elephant. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have produced 2000 ESTs (1.2 mega bases from a marsupial mouse and characterized the data for their use in phylogenetic analysis. The sequences were used to identify putative orthologous sequences from whole genome projects. Although most ESTs stem from single sequence reads, the frequency of potential sequencing errors was found to be lower than allelic variation. Most of the sequences represented slowly evolving housekeeping-type genes, with an average amino acid distance of 6.6% between human and mouse. Positive Darwinian selection was identified at only a few single sites. Phylogenetic analyses of the EST data yielded trees that were consistent with those established from whole genome projects. CONCLUSIONS: The general quality of EST sequences and the general absence of positive selection in these sequences make ESTs an attractive tool for phylogenetic analysis. The EST approach allows, at reasonable costs, a fast extension of data sampling from species outside the genome projects.

Reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships in a highly reticulate group with deep coalescence and recent speciation (Hieracium, Asteraceae).

Science.gov (United States)

Krak, K; Caklová, P; Chrtek, J; Fehrer, J

2013-02-01

Phylogeny reconstruction based on multiple unlinked markers is often hampered by incongruent gene trees, especially in closely related species complexes with high degrees of hybridization and polyploidy. To investigate the particular strengths and limitations of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), low-copy nuclear and multicopy nuclear markers for elucidating the evolutionary history of such groups, we focus on Hieracium s.str., a predominantly apomictic genus combining the above-mentioned features. Sequences of the trnV-ndhC and trnT-trnL intergenic spacers were combined for phylogenetic analyses of cpDNA. Part of the highly variable gene for squalene synthase (sqs) was applied as a low-copy nuclear marker. Both gene trees were compared with previous results based on the multicopy external transcribed spacer (ETS) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. The power of the different markers to detect hybridization varied, but they largely agreed on particular hybrid and allopolyploid origins. The same crown groups of species were recognizable in each dataset, but basal relationships were strongly incongruent among cpDNA, sqs and ETS trees. The ETS tree was considered as the best approximation of the species tree. Both cpDNA and sqs trees showed basal polytomies as well as merging or splitting of species groups of non-hybrid taxa. These patterns can be best explained by a rapid diversification of the genus with ancestral polymorphism and incomplete lineage sorting. A hypothetical scenario of Hieracium speciation based on all available (including non-molecular) evidence is depicted. Incorporation of seemingly contradictory information helped to better understand species origins and evolutionary patterns in this notoriously difficult agamic complex.

Analysis of plasmid genes by phylogenetic profiling and visualization of homology relationships using Blast2Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bazzicalupo Marco

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Phylogenetic methods are well-established bioinformatic tools for sequence analysis, allowing to describe the non-independencies of sequences because of their common ancestor. However, the evolutionary profiles of bacterial genes are often complicated by hidden paralogy and extensive and/or (multiple horizontal gene transfer (HGT events which make bifurcating trees often inappropriate. In this context, plasmid sequences are paradigms of network-like relationships characterizing the evolution of prokaryotes. Actually, they can be transferred among different organisms allowing the dissemination of novel functions, thus playing a pivotal role in prokaryotic evolution. However, the study of their evolutionary dynamics is complicated by the absence of universally shared genes, a prerequisite for phylogenetic analyses. Results To overcome such limitations we developed a bioinformatic package, named Blast2Network (B2N, allowing the automatic phylogenetic profiling and the visualization of homology relationships in a large number of plasmid sequences. The software was applied to the study of 47 completely sequenced plasmids coming from Escherichia, Salmonella and Shigella spps. Conclusion The tools implemented by B2N allow to describe and visualize in a new way some of the evolutionary features of plasmid molecules of Enterobacteriaceae; in particular it helped to shed some light on the complex history of Escherichia, Salmonella and Shigella plasmids and to focus on possible roles of unannotated proteins. The proposed methodology is general enough to be used for comparative genomic analyses of bacteria.

Phenotypic differentiation and phylogenetic signal of wing shape in western European biting midges, Culicoides spp., of the subgenus Avaritia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Muñoz-Muñoz, F.; Talavera, S.; Carpenter, S.

2014-01-01

of cytochrome oxidase subunit I barcode sequencing and geometric morphometric analyses to investigate wing shape as a means to infer species identification within this subgenus. In addition the congruence of morphological data with different phylogenetic hypotheses is tested. Five different species...

PhyloExplorer: a web server to validate, explore and query phylogenetic trees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Auberval Nicolas

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Many important problems in evolutionary biology require molecular phylogenies to be reconstructed. Phylogenetic trees must then be manipulated for subsequent inclusion in publications or analyses such as supertree inference and tree comparisons. However, no tool is currently available to facilitate the management of tree collections providing, for instance: standardisation of taxon names among trees with respect to a reference taxonomy; selection of relevant subsets of trees or sub-trees according to a taxonomic query; or simply computation of descriptive statistics on the collection. Moreover, although several databases of phylogenetic trees exist, there is currently no easy way to find trees that are both relevant and complementary to a given collection of trees. Results We propose a tool to facilitate assessment and management of phylogenetic tree collections. Given an input collection of rooted trees, PhyloExplorer provides facilities for obtaining statistics describing the collection, correcting invalid taxon names, extracting taxonomically relevant parts of the collection using a dedicated query language, and identifying related trees in the TreeBASE database. Conclusion PhyloExplorer is a simple and interactive website implemented through underlying Python libraries and MySQL databases. It is available at: http://www.ncbi.orthomam.univ-montp2.fr/phyloexplorer/ and the source code can be downloaded from: http://code.google.com/p/taxomanie/.

Literary Depictions i n Ghazavâtnâmahs That Adress the Crimean War

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kürşat Şamil ŞAHİN

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The Crimean War that started in 1853 between the Ottoman Empire and Russia lasted until 1856. It ended with the defeat of the Russians as England and France sided with the Ottoman Empire. A great number of work has been written then and since about this war which deeply affect our social and politica l life. Among these, there are ghazavâtnâmahs that describe what happened down - to - line, usually by the pen of the poets and writers who closely witnessed the war. The causes of war, the preparations, what happened at the time of expedition and measures tha t were taken, the outcome of the events during the war and afterwards are all brought into sharp relief in most of these works. Whether in verse, prose or mixed typed, these works of art have gradually increased after 15 th century in Turkish literature. Th is genre has decreased by the Ottoman Empire began to decline and the raids were scarce; and it totally disappeared after the tradition of ghaza were ceased. In this study the literary depictions in - the last examples of the genre - Salih Hayri’s Kırım Zafe rnamesi (Hayrâbât, Ahmed Rızâ Trabzonî’s Manzume - i Sivastopol and Süleyman Şâdî’s Muzaffernâme are presented. There are not many studies that focus on literary depictions in ghazavâtnâmahs, particularly on literary war depictions. The characteristics of t hese literary depictions are tried to be explained with reference to ghazavâtnâmahs belonging to the Empire's last era.

Phylogenetics links monster larva to deep-sea shrimp.

Science.gov (United States)

Bracken-Grissom, Heather D; Felder, Darryl L; Vollmer, Nicole L; Martin, Joel W; Crandall, Keith A

2012-10-01

Mid-water plankton collections commonly include bizarre and mysterious developmental stages that differ conspicuously from their adult counterparts in morphology and habitat. Unaware of the existence of planktonic larval stages, early zoologists often misidentified these unique morphologies as independent adult lineages. Many such mistakes have since been corrected by collecting larvae, raising them in the lab, and identifying the adult forms. However, challenges arise when the larva is remarkably rare in nature and relatively inaccessible due to its changing habitats over the course of ontogeny. The mid-water marine species Cerataspis monstrosa (Gray 1828) is an armored crustacean larva whose adult identity has remained a mystery for over 180 years. Our phylogenetic analyses, based in part on recent collections from the Gulf of Mexico, provide definitive evidence that the rare, yet broadly distributed larva, C. monstrosa, is an early developmental stage of the globally distributed deepwater aristeid shrimp, Plesiopenaeus armatus. Divergence estimates and phylogenetic relationships across five genes confirm the larva and adult are the same species. Our work demonstrates the diagnostic power of molecular systematics in instances where larval rearing seldom succeeds and morphology and habitat are not indicative of identity. Larval-adult linkages not only aid in our understanding of biodiversity, they provide insights into the life history, distribution, and ecology of an organism.

Depictions of females and males in Mozambican and Victorian (Australia primary mathematics textbooks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adelino Evaristo Murimo

2007-10-01

Full Text Available The depiction of females and males in Mozambican Primary Mathematics textbooks for grades 6 and 7 were examined, and comparisons made with Victorian  (Australia textbooks for years 5 and 6. It was found that mathematics learning was portrayed as a  male domain in the Mozambican textbooks, reflecting what used to be the case with Australian texts of the 1970s, although there are some differences between the two countries that may be culturally based. The Victorian textbooks depicted mathematics learning as a domain for all children, and in the majority of categories examined, females and males were distributed fairly evenly. Compared to earlier reported findings, there was a general improvement in the portrayal of females in Victorian textbooks.

Virulence, serotype and phylogenetic groups of diarrhoeagenic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Dr DADIE Thomas

2014-02-17

Feb 17, 2014 ... The virulence, serotype and phylogenetic traits of diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli were detected in 502 strains isolated during digestive infections. Molecular detection of the target virulence genes, rfb gene of operon O and phylogenetic grouping genes Chua, yjaA and TSPE4.C2 was performed.

Taxonomic revision and molecular phylogenetics of the Idarnes incertus species-group (Hymenoptera, Agaonidae, Sycophaginae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando H.A. Farache

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Sycophaginae is a group of non-pollinating fig wasps considered closely related to the fig pollinators (Agaoninae, Tetrapusiinae, and Kradibiinae in the most recent phylogenetic analyses. They occur in all tropical regions and are associated with Ficus subgenera Urostigma and Sycomorus. There are six described genera of Sycophaginae, and two are native and confined to the Neotropics, namely Idarnes Walker, 1843 and Anidarnes Bouček, 1993. Genus Idarnes is divided into three morphologically distinct groups that were proven to be monophyletic by recent molecular phylogenetic analyses. In this paper we reviewed the Idarnes incertus species-group and provide detailed morphological descriptions and illustrations for the species belonging to this group. Three previously described species were redescribed: I. brasiliensis (Mayr, 1906 comb. nov., I. hansoni Bouček, 1993, and I. incertus (Ashmead, 1900. Seventeen new species are described by Farache and Rasplus: I. amacayacuensis sp. n., I. amazonicus sp. n., I. americanae sp. n., I. badiovertex sp. n., I. brevis sp. n., I. brunneus sp. n., I. comptoni sp. n., I. cremersiae sp. n., I. dimorphicus sp. n., I. flavicrus sp. n., I. flaviventris sp. n., I. gibberosus sp. n., I. gordhi sp. n., I. maximus sp. n., I. nigriventris sp. n., I. pseudoflavus sp. n. and I. ramirezi sp. n. We provided keys for the identification of the species as well as for recognising the different species-groups of Idarnes and a closely related genus (Sycophaga Westwood, 1840. Additionally, phylogenetic relationships among 13 species of the I. incertus species-group were inferred using four molecular markers and discussed in the light of Ficus taxonomy and host specificity.

Phylogenetics of tribe Orchideae (Orchidaceae: Orchidoideae) based on combined DNA matrices: inferences regarding timing of diversification and evolution of pollination syndromes.

Science.gov (United States)

Inda, Luis A; Pimentel, Manuel; Chase, Mark W

2012-07-01

Tribe Orchideae (Orchidaceae: Orchidoideae) comprises around 62 mostly terrestrial genera, which are well represented in the Northern Temperate Zone and less frequently in tropical areas of both the Old and New Worlds. Phylogenetic relationships within this tribe have been studied previously using only nuclear ribosomal DNA (nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer, nrITS). However, different parts of the phylogenetic tree in these analyses were weakly supported, and integrating information from different plant genomes is clearly necessary in orchids, where reticulate evolution events are putatively common. The aims of this study were to: (1) obtain a well-supported and dated phylogenetic hypothesis for tribe Orchideae, (ii) assess appropriateness of recent nomenclatural changes in this tribe in the last decade, (3) detect possible examples of reticulate evolution and (4) analyse in a temporal context evolutionary trends for subtribe Orchidinae with special emphasis on pollination systems. The analyses included 118 samples, belonging to 103 species and 25 genera, for three DNA regions (nrITS, mitochondrial cox1 intron and plastid rpl16 intron). Bayesian and maximum-parsimony methods were used to construct a well-supported and dated tree. Evolutionary trends in the subtribe were analysed using Bayesian and maximum-likelihood methods of character evolution. The dated phylogenetic tree strongly supported the recently recircumscribed generic concepts of Bateman and collaborators. Moreover, it was found that Orchidinae have diversified in the Mediterranean basin during the last 15 million years, and one potential example of reticulate evolution in the subtribe was identified. In Orchidinae, pollination systems have shifted on numerous occasions during the last 23 million years. The results indicate that ancestral Orchidinae were hymenopteran-pollinated, food-deceptive plants and that these traits have been dominant throughout the evolutionary history of the

Range extension for the common dolphin (Delphinus sp. to the Colombian Caribbean, with taxonomic implications from genetic barcoding and phylogenetic analyses.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nohelia Farías-Curtidor

Full Text Available The nearest known population of common dolphins (Delphinus sp. to the Colombian Caribbean occurs in a fairly restricted range in eastern Venezuela. These dolphins have not been previously reported in the Colombian Caribbean, likely because of a lack of study of the local cetacean fauna. We collected cetacean observations in waters of the Guajira Department, northern Colombia (~11°N, 73°W during two separate efforts: (a a seismic vessel survey (December 2009-March 2010, and (b three coastal surveys from small boats (May-July 2012, May 2013, and May 2014. Here we document ten sightings of common dolphins collected during these surveys, which extend the known range of the species by ~1000 km into the southwestern Caribbean. We also collected nine skin biopsies in 2013 and 2014. In order to determine the taxonomic identity of the specimens, we conducted genetic barcoding and phylogenetic analyses using two mitochondrial markers, the Control Region (mtDNA and Cytochrome b (Cytb. Results indicate that these specimens are genetically closer to the short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis even though morphologically they resemble a long-beaked form (Delphinus sp.. However, the specific taxonomic status of common dolphins in the Caribbean and in the Western Atlantic remains unresolved. It is also unclear whether the distribution of the species between northern Colombia and eastern Venezuela is continuous or disjoined, or whether they can be considered part of the same stock.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the styloperlid stonefly species Styloperla spinicercia Wu (Insecta: Plecoptera) with family-level phylogenetic analyses of the Pteronarcyoidea.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ying; Cao, Jinjun; Li, Weihai

2017-03-13

We present the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome sequence of the stonefly, Styloperla spinicercia Wu, 1935 (Plecoptera: Styloperlidae), the type species of the genus Styloperla and the first complete mt genome for the family Styloperlidae. The genome is circular, 16,129 base pairs long, has an A+T content of 70.7%, and contains 37 genes including the large and small ribosomal RNA (rRNA) subunits, 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes and a large non-coding region (CR). All of the PCGs use the standard initiation codon ATN except ND1 and ND5, which start with TTG and GTG. Twelve of the PCGs stop with conventional terminal codons TAA and TAG, except ND5 which shows an incomplete terminator signal T. All tRNAs have the classic clover-leaf structures with the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm of tRNASer(AGN) forming a simple loop. Secondary structures of the two ribosomal RNAs are presented with reference to previous models. The structural elements and the variable numbers of tandem repeats are described within the control region. Phylogenetic analyses using both Bayesian (BI) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) methods support the previous hypotheses regarding family level relationships within the Pteronarcyoidea. The genetic distance calculated based on 13 PCGs and two rRNAs between Styloperla sp. and S. spinicercia is provided and interspecific divergence is discussed.

["Long-branch Attraction" artifact in phylogenetic reconstruction].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yi-Wei; Yu, Li; Zhang, Ya-Ping

2007-06-01

Phylogenetic reconstruction among various organisms not only helps understand their evolutionary history but also reveal several fundamental evolutionary questions. Understanding of the evolutionary relationships among organisms establishes the foundation for the investigations of other biological disciplines. However, almost all the widely used phylogenetic methods have limitations which fail to eliminate systematic errors effectively, preventing the reconstruction of true organismal relationships. "Long-branch Attraction" (LBA) artifact is one of the most disturbing factors in phylogenetic reconstruction. In this review, the conception and analytic method as well as the avoidance strategy of LBA were summarized. In addition, several typical examples were provided. The approach to avoid and resolve LBA artifact has been discussed.

Possible sister groups and phylogenetic relationships among selected North Pacific and North Atlantic Rhodophyta

Science.gov (United States)

Lindstrom, Sandra C.

1987-09-01

Although the cool temperate (boreal) waters of the N. Pacific and N. Atlantic share many similar if not identical species, there have been few studies to test the identity of these species pairs. Whereas such tests are important from a taxonomic perspective, they tell us little if anything about biogeographic relationships. A more useful approach is one employing phylogenetic systematics (cladistics). The interpretation of phylogenetic diagrams (cladograms) in terms of biogeographic area relationships is explained. It is argued that cladistic analyses of taxa occurring in the cool temperate waters of the northern oceans can provide biogeographic tracks, which in turn can suggest the origins and migrations of species and possibly even floras. A number of cool temperate taxa that appear particularly amenable to this approach are discussed, including genera in the Palmariaceae, Corallinaceae, Dumontiaceae, Solieriaceae, Petrocelidaceae, Ceramiaceae and Rhodomelaceae.

Application of multigene phylogenetics and site-stripping to resolve intraordinal relationships in the Rhodymeniales (Rhodophyta).

Science.gov (United States)

Filloramo, Gina V; Saunders, Gary W

2016-06-01

Previous molecular assessments of the red algal order Rhodymeniales have confirmed its monophyly and distinguished the six currently recognized families (viz. Champiaceae, Faucheaceae, Fryeellaceae, Hymenocladiaceae, Lomentariaceae, and Rhodymeniaceae); however, relationships among most of these families have remained unresolved possibly as a result of substitution saturation at deeper phylogenetic nodes. The objective of the current study was to improve rhodymenialean systematics by increasing taxonomic representation and using a more robust multigene dataset of mitochondrial (COB, COI/COI-5P), nuclear (LSU, EF2) and plastid markers (psbA, rbcL). Additionally, we aimed to prevent phylogenetic inference problems associated with substitution saturation (particularly at the interfamilial nodes) by removing fast-evolving sites and analyzing a series of progressively more conservative alignments. The Rhodymeniales was resolved as two major lineages: (i) the Fryeellaceae as sister to the Faucheaceae and Lomentariaceae; and (ii) the Rhodymeniaceae allied to the Champiaceae and Hymenocladiaceae. Support at the interfamilial nodes was highest when 20% of variable sites were removed. Inclusion of Binghamiopsis, Chamaebotrys, and Minium, which were absent in previous phylogenetic investigations, established their phylogenetic affinities while assessment of two genera consistently polyphyletic in phylogenetic analyses, Erythrymenia and Lomentaria, resulted in the proposition of the novel genera Perbella and Fushitsunagia. The taxonomic position of Drouetia was reinvestigated with re-examination of holotype material of D. coalescens to clarify tetrasporangial development in this genus. In addition, we added three novel Australian species to Drouetia as a result of ongoing DNA barcoding assessments-D. aggregata sp. nov., D. scutellata sp. nov., and D. viridescens sp. nov. © 2016 Phycological Society of America.

INCORRIGIBLE WHILE INCARCERATED: CRITICALLY ANALYZING MAINSTREAM CANADIAN NEWS DEPICTIONS OF ASHLEY SMITH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessi Ring

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Ashley Smith, who is typically presented in the media as mentally ill, was nineteen years old when she died from self-strangulation in an Ontario women’s prison on October 19th, 2007. In this paper, I explore how Ashley Smith’s actions and death were portrayed in four mainstream Canadian newspapers (Globe and Mail, Telegraph-Journal, Toronto Star and National Post. My aims in this paper are to critically analyze depictions of mental illness presented by these news articles and connect these portrayals to labeling theories. Two variables—the timing of the news coverage and newspaper political affiliation—emerged as being influential in how newspapers depicted Ashley Smith as mentally ill, through their use of generic and/or negative terminology and vulnerability stereotypes. I also discuss ‘alternative’ stories of Ashley Smith and examine their potential to challenge typical conceptualizations of mental illness, gender and carceral environments.

Clinical features and phylogenetic analysis of Coxsackievirus A9 in Northern Taiwan in 2011

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huang Yi-Chuan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Coxsackievirus A9 (CA9 was one of the most prevalent serotype of enteroviral infections in Taiwan in 2011. After several patient series were reported in the 1960s and 1970s, few studies have focused on the clinical manifestations of CA9 infections. Our study explores and deepens the current understanding of CA9. Methods We analyzed the clinical presentations of 100 culture-proven CA9-infected patients in 2011 by reviewing their medical records and depicted the CA9 phylogenetic tree. Results Of the 100 patients with culture-proven CA9 infections, the mean (SD age was 4.6 (3.4 years and the male to female ratio was 1.9. For clinical manifestations, 96 patients (96% had fever and the mean (SD duration of fever was 5.9 (3.4 days. Sixty one patients (61% developed a skin rash, and the predominant pattern was a generalized non-itchy maculopapular rash without vesicular changes. While most patients showed injected throat, oral ulcers were found in only 19 cases (19%, among whom, 6 were diagnosed as herpangina. Complicated cases included: aseptic meningitis (n=8, bronchopneumonia (n=6, acute cerebellitis (n=1, and polio-like syndrome (n=1. Phylogenetic analysis for current CA9 strains is closest to the CA9 isolate 27-YN-2008 from the border area of mainland China and Myanmar. Conclusions The most common feature of CA9 during the 2011 epidemic in Taiwan is generalized febrile exanthema rather than herpangina or hand, foot, and mouth disease. Given that prolonged fever and some complications are possible, caution should be advised in assessing patients as well as in predicting the clinical course.

Obesity and extent of emphysema depicted at CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gu, S.; Li, R.; Leader, J.K.; Zheng, B.; Bon, J.; Gur, D.; Sciurba, F.; Jin, C.; Pu, J.

2015-01-01

Aim: To investigate the underlying relationship between obesity and the extent of emphysema depicted at CT. Methods and materials: A dataset of 477 CT examinations was retrospectively collected from a study of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The low attenuation areas (LAAs; ≤950 HU) of the lungs were identified. The extent of emphysema (denoted as %LAA) was defined as the percentage of LAA divided by the lung volume. The association between log-transformed %LAA and body mass index (BMI) adjusted for age, sex, the forced expiratory volume in one second as percent predicted value (FEV1% predicted), and smoking history (pack years) was assessed using multiple linear regression analysis. Results: After adjusting for age, gender, smoking history, and FEV1% predicted, BMI was negatively associated with severe emphysema in patients with COPD. Specifically, one unit increase in BMI is associated with a 0.93-fold change (95% CI: 0.91–0.96, p < 0.001) in %LAA; the estimated %LAA for males was 1.75 (95% CI: 1.36–2.26, p < 0.001) times that of females; per 10% increase in FEV1% predicated is associated with a 0.72-fold change (95% CI: 0.69–0.76, p < 0.001) in %LAA. Conclusion: Increasing obesity is negatively associated with severity of emphysema independent of gender, age, and smoking history. - Highlights: • BMI is inversely associated with emphysema depicted on CT. • Emphysema severity in men was higher than that in women. • ∼50% of the subjects with COPD in our dataset were either overweight or obese. • Age and smoking status are not significantly associated with %LAA

Phylogenetically Acquired Representations and Evolutionary Algorithms.

OpenAIRE

Wozniak , Adrianna

2006-01-01

First, we explain why Genetic Algorithms (GAs), inspired by the Modern Synthesis, do not accurately model biological evolution, being rather an artificial version of artificial, rather than natural selection. Being focused on optimisation, we propose two improvements of GAs, with the aim to successfully generate adapted, desired behaviour. The first one concerns phylogenetic grounding of meaning, a way to avoid the Symbol Grounding Problem. We give a definition of Phylogenetically Acquired Re...

Evaluating Fast Maximum Likelihood-Based Phylogenetic Programs Using Empirical Phylogenomic Data Sets

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Xiaofan; Shen, Xing-Xing; Hittinger, Chris Todd

2018-01-01

Abstract The sizes of the data matrices assembled to resolve branches of the tree of life have increased dramatically, motivating the development of programs for fast, yet accurate, inference. For example, several different fast programs have been developed in the very popular maximum likelihood framework, including RAxML/ExaML, PhyML, IQ-TREE, and FastTree. Although these programs are widely used, a systematic evaluation and comparison of their performance using empirical genome-scale data matrices has so far been lacking. To address this question, we evaluated these four programs on 19 empirical phylogenomic data sets with hundreds to thousands of genes and up to 200 taxa with respect to likelihood maximization, tree topology, and computational speed. For single-gene tree inference, we found that the more exhaustive and slower strategies (ten searches per alignment) outperformed faster strategies (one tree search per alignment) using RAxML, PhyML, or IQ-TREE. Interestingly, single-gene trees inferred by the three programs yielded comparable coalescent-based species tree estimations. For concatenation-based species tree inference, IQ-TREE consistently achieved the best-observed likelihoods for all data sets, and RAxML/ExaML was a close second. In contrast, PhyML often failed to complete concatenation-based analyses, whereas FastTree was the fastest but generated lower likelihood values and more dissimilar tree topologies in both types of analyses. Finally, data matrix properties, such as the number of taxa and the strength of phylogenetic signal, sometimes substantially influenced the programs’ relative performance. Our results provide real-world gene and species tree phylogenetic inference benchmarks to inform the design and execution of large-scale phylogenomic data analyses. PMID:29177474

NGS combined with phylogenetic analysis to detect HIV-1 dual infection in Romanian people who inject drugs.

Science.gov (United States)

Popescu, Bogdan; Banica, Leontina; Nicolae, Ionelia; Radu, Eugen; Niculescu, Iulia; Abagiu, Adrian; Otelea, Dan; Paraschiv, Simona

2018-04-04

Dual HIV infections are possible and likely in people who inject drugs (PWID). Thirty-eight newly diagnosed patients, 19 PWID and 19 heterosexually HIV infected were analysed. V2-V3 loop of HIV-1 env gene was sequenced on the NGS platform 454 GSJunior (Roche). HIV-1 dual/multiple infections were identified in five PWID. For three of these patients, the reconstructed variants belonged to pure F1 subtype and CRF14_BG strains according to phylogenetic analysis. New recombinant forms between these parental strains were identified in two PWID samples. NGS data can provide, with the help of phylogenetic analysis, important insights about the intra-host sub-population structure. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Insights into the phylogeny of Northern Hemisphere Armillaria: Neighbor-net and Bayesian analyses of translation elongation factor 1-α gene sequences

Science.gov (United States)

Ned B. Klopfenstein; Jane E. Stewart; Yuko Ota; John W. Hanna; Bryce A. Richardson; Amy L. Ross-Davis; Ruben D. Elias-Roman; Kari Korhonen; Nenad Keca; Eugenia Iturritxa; Dionicio Alvarado-Rosales; Halvor Solheim; Nicholas J. Brazee; Piotr Lakomy; Michelle R. Cleary; Eri Hasegawa; Taisei Kikuchi; Fortunato Garza-Ocanas; Panaghiotis Tsopelas; Daniel Rigling; Simone Prospero; Tetyana Tsykun; Jean A. Berube; Franck O. P. Stefani; Saeideh Jafarpour; Vladimir Antonin; Michal Tomsovsky; Geral I. McDonald; Stephen Woodward; Mee-Sook Kim

2017-01-01

Armillaria possesses several intriguing characteristics that have inspired wide interest in understanding phylogenetic relationships within and among species of this genus. Nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence–based analyses of Armillaria provide only limited information for phylogenetic studies among widely divergent taxa. More recent studies have shown that translation...

Environmental quality of a stream can be better predicted by phylogenetic than by taxonomic diversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koperski Paweł

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Different indices of taxonomic diversity (TD and phylogenetic diversity (PD of the macrobenthos were compared to determine the efficient predictors of environmental quality (EQ in different types of watercourses in Poland. Archived data of 864 samples of benthic invertebrates identified to the family level were analysed on the basis of linear and non-linear multiply regression. The strengths of the correlations between two measures of EQ:BMWPpl (British Monitoring Working Party score system, Polish modification and MMI (Multimetric Macroinvertebrate Index and the values of taxonomic richness and three well-known TD indices: Shannon, Margalef and J' Evenness were compared to those for values of three PD indices, based on taxonomic distinctness. Taxonomic richness and all PD indices correlated more strongly with both measures of EQ than all TD indices. Correlations with both types of diversity indices were visibly stronger for BMWPpl when compared with MMI. We suggest that analysed indices of PD, especially MDis (mean phylogenetic distance between families in a sample, are related with EQ strongly enough to be taken into account as potential metrics in selection procedures of biological assessment.

Using ESTs for phylogenomics: Can one accurately infer a phylogenetic tree from a gappy alignment?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hartmann Stefanie

2008-03-01

sequences and gappy multiple sequence alignments can pose a major problem for phylogenetic analysis. The concern will be greatest for high-throughput phylogenomic analyses, in which Neighbor Joining is often the preferred method due to its computational efficiency. Both approaches can be used to increase the accuracy of phylogenetic inference from a gappy alignment. The choice between the two approaches will depend upon how robust the application is to the loss of sequences from the input set, with alignment masking generally giving a much greater improvement in accuracy but at the cost of discarding a larger number of the input sequences.

Using ESTs for phylogenomics: can one accurately infer a phylogenetic tree from a gappy alignment?

Science.gov (United States)

Hartmann, Stefanie; Vision, Todd J

2008-03-26

major problem for phylogenetic analysis. The concern will be greatest for high-throughput phylogenomic analyses, in which Neighbor Joining is often the preferred method due to its computational efficiency. Both approaches can be used to increase the accuracy of phylogenetic inference from a gappy alignment. The choice between the two approaches will depend upon how robust the application is to the loss of sequences from the input set, with alignment masking generally giving a much greater improvement in accuracy but at the cost of discarding a larger number of the input sequences.

Comparative evolutionary diversity and phylogenetic structure across multiple forest dynamics plots: a mega-phylogeny approach

Science.gov (United States)

Erickson, David L.; Jones, Frank A.; Swenson, Nathan G.; Pei, Nancai; Bourg, Norman A.; Chen, Wenna; Davies, Stuart J.; Ge, Xue-jun; Hao, Zhanqing; Howe, Robert W.; Huang, Chun-Lin; Larson, Andrew J.; Lum, Shawn K. Y.; Lutz, James A.; Ma, Keping; Meegaskumbura, Madhava; Mi, Xiangcheng; Parker, John D.; Fang-Sun, I.; Wright, S. Joseph; Wolf, Amy T.; Ye, W.; Xing, Dingliang; Zimmerman, Jess K.; Kress, W. John

2014-01-01

phylogenetic diversity in the mega-phylogeny were more consistent, thereby removing a potential source of bias at the plot-level, and demonstrating the value of assessing phylogenetic relationships simultaneously within a mega-phylogeny. An unexpected result of the comparisons among plots based on the mega-phylogeny was that the communities in the ForestGEO plots in general appear to be assemblages of more closely related species than expected by chance, and that differentiation among communities is very low, suggesting deep floristic connections among communities and new avenues for future analyses in community ecology. PMID:25414723

A program to compute the soft Robinson-Foulds distance between phylogenetic networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Bingxin; Zhang, Louxin; Leong, Hon Wai

2017-03-14

Over the past two decades, phylogenetic networks have been studied to model reticulate evolutionary events. The relationships among phylogenetic networks, phylogenetic trees and clusters serve as the basis for reconstruction and comparison of phylogenetic networks. To understand these relationships, two problems are raised: the tree containment problem, which asks whether a phylogenetic tree is displayed in a phylogenetic network, and the cluster containment problem, which asks whether a cluster is represented at a node in a phylogenetic network. Both the problems are NP-complete. A fast exponential-time algorithm for the cluster containment problem on arbitrary networks is developed and implemented in C. The resulting program is further extended into a computer program for fast computation of the Soft Robinson-Foulds distance between phylogenetic networks. Two computer programs are developed for facilitating reconstruction and validation of phylogenetic network models in evolutionary and comparative genomics. Our simulation tests indicated that they are fast enough for use in practice. Additionally, the distribution of the Soft Robinson-Foulds distance between phylogenetic networks is demonstrated to be unlikely normal by our simulation data.

Molecular Phylogenetic: Organism Taxonomy Method Based on Evolution History

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N.L.P Indi Dharmayanti

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Phylogenetic is described as taxonomy classification of an organism based on its evolution history namely its phylogeny and as a part of systematic science that has objective to determine phylogeny of organism according to its characteristic. Phylogenetic analysis from amino acid and protein usually became important area in sequence analysis. Phylogenetic analysis can be used to follow the rapid change of a species such as virus. The phylogenetic evolution tree is a two dimensional of a species graphic that shows relationship among organisms or particularly among their gene sequences. The sequence separation are referred as taxa (singular taxon that is defined as phylogenetically distinct units on the tree. The tree consists of outer branches or leaves that represents taxa and nodes and branch represent correlation among taxa. When the nucleotide sequence from two different organism are similar, they were inferred to be descended from common ancestor. There were three methods which were used in phylogenetic, namely (1 Maximum parsimony, (2 Distance, and (3 Maximum likehoood. Those methods generally are applied to construct the evolutionary tree or the best tree for determine sequence variation in group. Every method is usually used for different analysis and data.

Pareto-optimal phylogenetic tree reconciliation.

Science.gov (United States)

Libeskind-Hadas, Ran; Wu, Yi-Chieh; Bansal, Mukul S; Kellis, Manolis

2014-06-15

Phylogenetic tree reconciliation is a widely used method for reconstructing the evolutionary histories of gene families and species, hosts and parasites and other dependent pairs of entities. Reconciliation is typically performed using maximum parsimony, in which each evolutionary event type is assigned a cost and the objective is to find a reconciliation of minimum total cost. It is generally understood that reconciliations are sensitive to event costs, but little is understood about the relationship between event costs and solutions. Moreover, choosing appropriate event costs is a notoriously difficult problem. We address this problem by giving an efficient algorithm for computing Pareto-optimal sets of reconciliations, thus providing the first systematic method for understanding the relationship between event costs and reconciliations. This, in turn, results in new techniques for computing event support values and, for cophylogenetic analyses, performing robust statistical tests. We provide new software tools and demonstrate their use on a number of datasets from evolutionary genomic and cophylogenetic studies. Our Python tools are freely available at www.cs.hmc.edu/∼hadas/xscape. . © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

YBYRÁ facilitates comparison of large phylogenetic trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Machado, Denis Jacob

2015-07-01

The number and size of tree topologies that are being compared by phylogenetic systematists is increasing due to technological advancements in high-throughput DNA sequencing. However, we still lack tools to facilitate comparison among phylogenetic trees with a large number of terminals. The "YBYRÁ" project integrates software solutions for data analysis in phylogenetics. It comprises tools for (1) topological distance calculation based on the number of shared splits or clades, (2) sensitivity analysis and automatic generation of sensitivity plots and (3) clade diagnoses based on different categories of synapomorphies. YBYRÁ also provides (4) an original framework to facilitate the search for potential rogue taxa based on how much they affect average matching split distances (using MSdist). YBYRÁ facilitates comparison of large phylogenetic trees and outperforms competing software in terms of usability and time efficiency, specially for large data sets. The programs that comprises this toolkit are written in Python, hence they do not require installation and have minimum dependencies. The entire project is available under an open-source licence at http://www.ib.usp.br/grant/anfibios/researchSoftware.html .

Disentangling the phylogenetic and ecological components of spider phenotypic variation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonçalves-Souza, Thiago; Diniz-Filho, José Alexandre Felizola; Romero, Gustavo Quevedo

2014-01-01

An understanding of how the degree of phylogenetic relatedness influences the ecological similarity among species is crucial to inferring the mechanisms governing the assembly of communities. We evaluated the relative importance of spider phylogenetic relationships and ecological niche (plant morphological variables) to the variation in spider body size and shape by comparing spiders at different scales: (i) between bromeliads and dicot plants (i.e., habitat scale) and (ii) among bromeliads with distinct architectural features (i.e., microhabitat scale). We partitioned the interspecific variation in body size and shape into phylogenetic (that express trait values as expected by phylogenetic relationships among species) and ecological components (that express trait values independent of phylogenetic relationships). At the habitat scale, bromeliad spiders were larger and flatter than spiders associated with the surrounding dicots. At this scale, plant morphology sorted out close related spiders. Our results showed that spider flatness is phylogenetically clustered at the habitat scale, whereas it is phylogenetically overdispersed at the microhabitat scale, although phylogenic signal is present in both scales. Taken together, these results suggest that whereas at the habitat scale selective colonization affect spider body size and shape, at fine scales both selective colonization and adaptive evolution determine spider body shape. By partitioning the phylogenetic and ecological components of phenotypic variation, we were able to disentangle the evolutionary history of distinct spider traits and show that plant architecture plays a role in the evolution of spider body size and shape. We also discussed the relevance in considering multiple scales when studying phylogenetic community structure.

Depiction of residual emboli following pulmonary embolism with thrombotic scintigraphy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, Keiko; Ohnishi, Mamoru; Hiromoto, Kenji; Ueda, Atsunori; Ohyanagi, Mitsumasa; Naruse, Hitoshi

2005-01-01

In the treatment of pulmonary embolism (PE), the presence of residual emboli is known to seriously affect the recurrence and prognosis. We attempted to depict the residual emboli in the subacute stage of PE using indium-111-oxine labeled platelet scintigraphy (In-plt). In-plt was performed on 22 patients with PE who showed an improvement according to lung perfusion scintigraphy. Their accumulation was assessed along with the blood coagulation ability measured on the same day. In addition, radioisotope venography (RI-veno) was performed simultaneously with In-plt to measure the circulatory findings in the lower limb for comparison. All patients received systemic heparin during the acute stage and received warfarin at the time of testing. Accumulation of In-plt was observed in 7 patients (32%), and positive signals were found in the lower limbs or pelvic cavity in all cases. Two patients were suspected of having poor lower limb circulation from their RI-veno findings, and these findings were largely consistent with the areas of In-plt accumulation. Some emboli persist after extensive anti-coagulation therapy. The use of In-plt is effective in determining the therapeutic measures and assessing the prognosis as this method allows us to clearly depict the existence of such emboli. (author)

Phylogenetic system and zoogeography of the Plecoptera.

Science.gov (United States)

Zwick, P

2000-01-01

Information about the phylogenetic relationships of Plecoptera is summarized. The few characters supporting monophyly of the order are outlined. Several characters of possible significance for the search for the closest relatives of the stoneflies are discussed, but the sister-group of the order remains unknown. Numerous characters supporting the presently recognized phylogenetic system of Plecoptera are presented, alternative classifications are discussed, and suggestions for future studies are made. Notes on zoogeography are appended. The order as such is old (Permian fossils), but phylogenetic relationships and global distribution patterns suggest that evolution of the extant suborders started with the breakup of Pangaea. There is evidence of extensive recent speciation in all parts of the world.

Herbarium collection-based phylogenetics of the ragweeds (Ambrosia, Asteraceae).

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Michael D; Quiroz-Claros, Elva; Brush, Grace S; Zimmer, Elizabeth A

2018-03-01

Ambrosia (Asteraceae) is a taxonomically difficult genus of weedy, wind-pollinated plants with an apparent center of diversity in the Sonoran Desert of North America. Determining Ambrosia's evolutionary relationships has been the subject of much interest, with numerous studies using morphological characters, cytology, comparative phytochemistry, and chloroplast restriction site variation to produce conflicting accounts the relationships between Ambrosia species, as well as the classification of their close relatives in Franseria and Hymenoclea. To resolve undetermined intra-generic relationships within Ambrosia, we used DNA extracted from tissues obtained from seed banks and herbarium collections to generate multi-locus genetic data representing nearly all putative species, including four from South America. We performed Bayesian and Maximum-Likelihood phylogenetic analyses of six chloroplast-genome and two nuclear-genome markers, enabling us to infer monophyly for the genus, resolve major infra-generic species clusters, as well as to resolve open questions about the evolutionary relationships of several Ambrosia species and former members of Franseria. We also provide molecular data supporting the hypothesis that A. sandersonii formed through the hybridization of A. eriocentra and A. salsola. The topology of our chloroplast DNA phylogeny is almost entirely congruent with the most recent molecular work based on chloroplast restriction site variation of a much more limited sampling of 14 North American species of Ambrosia, although our improved sampling of global Ambrosia diversity enables us to draw additional conclusions. As our study is the first direct DNA sequence-based phylogenetic analyses of Ambrosia, we analyze the data in relation to previous taxonomic studies and discuss several instances of chloroplast/nuclear incongruence that leave the precise geographic center of origin of Ambrosia in question. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Functional and phylogenetic structure of island bird communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Si, Xingfeng; Cadotte, Marc W; Zeng, Di; Baselga, Andrés; Zhao, Yuhao; Li, Jiaqi; Wu, Yiru; Wang, Siyu; Ding, Ping

2017-05-01

Biodiversity change in anthropogenically transformed habitats is often nonrandom, yet the nature and importance of the different mechanisms shaping community structure are unclear. Here, we extend the classic Theory of Island Biogeography (TIB) to account for nonrandom processes by incorporating species traits and phylogenetic relationships into a study of faunal relaxation following habitat loss and fragmentation. Two possible mechanisms can create nonrandom community patterns on fragment islands. First, small and isolated islands might consist of similar or closely related species because they are environmentally homogeneous or select for certain shared traits, such as dispersal ability. Alternatively, communities on small islands might contain more dissimilar or distantly related species than on large islands because limited space and resource availability result in greater competitive exclusion among species with high niche overlap. Breeding birds were surveyed on 36 islands and two mainland sites annually from 2010 to 2014 in the Thousand Island Lake region, China. We assessed community structure of breeding birds on these subtropical land-bridge islands by integrating species' trait and evolutionary distances. We additionally analysed habitat heterogeneity and variance in size ratios to distinguish biotic and abiotic processes of community assembly. Results showed that functional-phylogenetic diversity increased with island area, and decreased with isolation. Bird communities on the mainland were more diverse and generally less clustered than island bird communities and not different than randomly assembled communities. Bird communities on islands tend to be functionally similar and phylogenetically clustered, especially on small and isolated islands. The nonrandom decline in species diversity and change in bird community structure with island area and isolation, along with the relatively homogeneous habitats on small islands, support the environmental

Cophenetic metrics for phylogenetic trees, after Sokal and Rohlf.

Science.gov (United States)

Cardona, Gabriel; Mir, Arnau; Rosselló, Francesc; Rotger, Lucía; Sánchez, David

2013-01-16

Phylogenetic tree comparison metrics are an important tool in the study of evolution, and hence the definition of such metrics is an interesting problem in phylogenetics. In a paper in Taxon fifty years ago, Sokal and Rohlf proposed to measure quantitatively the difference between a pair of phylogenetic trees by first encoding them by means of their half-matrices of cophenetic values, and then comparing these matrices. This idea has been used several times since then to define dissimilarity measures between phylogenetic trees but, to our knowledge, no proper metric on weighted phylogenetic trees with nested taxa based on this idea has been formally defined and studied yet. Actually, the cophenetic values of pairs of different taxa alone are not enough to single out phylogenetic trees with weighted arcs or nested taxa. For every (rooted) phylogenetic tree T, let its cophenetic vectorφ(T) consist of all pairs of cophenetic values between pairs of taxa in T and all depths of taxa in T. It turns out that these cophenetic vectors single out weighted phylogenetic trees with nested taxa. We then define a family of cophenetic metrics dφ,p by comparing these cophenetic vectors by means of Lp norms, and we study, either analytically or numerically, some of their basic properties: neighbors, diameter, distribution, and their rank correlation with each other and with other metrics. The cophenetic metrics can be safely used on weighted phylogenetic trees with nested taxa and no restriction on degrees, and they can be computed in O(n2) time, where n stands for the number of taxa. The metrics dφ,1 and dφ,2 have positive skewed distributions, and they show a low rank correlation with the Robinson-Foulds metric and the nodal metrics, and a very high correlation with each other and with the splitted nodal metrics. The diameter of dφ,p, for p⩾1 , is in O(n(p+2)/p), and thus for low p they are more discriminative, having a wider range of values.

Viewing Pornography Depicting Unprotected Anal Intercourse: Are There Implications for HIV Prevention among Men Who Have Sex with Men?

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, Dylan J; Silvera, Richard J; Hagerty, Robert; Marmor, Michael

2011-01-01

We used an Internet-based questionnaire to investigate whether viewing pornography depicting unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) was associated with engaging in UAI in a sample of 821 non-monogamous men who have sex with men (MSM). In the three months prior to interview, 77.2% viewed pornography depicting UAI, 42.6% engaged in insertive UAI, and 38.9% engaged in receptive UAI. Polytomous logistic regression of the 751 subjects who provided data on pornography viewing showed significantly elevated odds ratios for having engaged in receptive UAI, insertive UAI, and both receptive and insertive UAI associated with increasing percentage of pornography viewed that depicted UAI. We also found independently significant associations of engaging in UAI with age, use of inhalant nitrites, and HIV status. Although the data cannot establish causality, our findings indicate that viewing pornography depicting UAI and engaging in UAI are correlated. Further research is needed to determine if this observation may have utility for HIV prevention. PMID:21755381

Phylogenetic analysis of feline immunodeficiency virus in feral and companion domestic cats of New Zealand.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayward, Jessica J; Taylor, John; Rodrigo, Allen G

2007-03-01

Nested PCR was used to amplify envelope V3-V6 gene fragments of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) from New Zealand cats. Phylogenetic analyses established that subtypes A and C predominate among New Zealand cats, with clear evidence of intersubtype recombination. In addition, 17 sequences were identified that were distinct from all known FIV clades, and we tentatively suggest these belong to a novel subtype.

Phylogenetic relationships within and among Brassica species from ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Consequently, two potentially susceptible B. napus accessions were identified. The high polymorphic information content (PIC) and number of phylogenetically informative bands established RAPD as a useful tool for phylogenetic reconstruction, quantification of genetic diversity for conservation, cultivar classification and ...

Phylogenetic relationships and evolution of growth form in Cactaceae (Caryophyllales, Eudicotyledoneae).

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández-Hernández, Tania; Hernández, Héctor M; De-Nova, J Arturo; Puente, Raul; Eguiarte, Luis E; Magallón, Susana

2011-01-01

Cactaceae is one of the most charismatic plant families because of the extreme succulence and outstanding diversity of growth forms of its members. Although cacti are conspicuous elements of arid ecosystems in the New World and are model systems for ecological and anatomical studies, the high morphological convergence and scarcity of phenotypic synapomorphies make the evolutionary relationships and trends among lineages difficult to understand. We performed phylogenetic analyses implementing parsimony ratchet and likelihood methods, using a concatenated matrix with 6148 bp of plastid and nuclear markers (trnK/matK, matK, trnL-trnF, rpl16, and ppc). We included 224 species representing approximately 85% of the family's genera. Likelihood methods were used to perform an ancestral character reconstruction within Cactoideae, the richest subfamily in terms of morphological diversity and species number, to evaluate possible growth form evolutionary trends. Our phylogenetic results support previous studies showing the paraphyly of subfamily Pereskioideae and the monophyly of subfamilies Opuntioideae and Cactoideae. After the early divergence of Blossfeldia, Cactoideae splits into two clades: Cacteae, including North American globose and barrel-shaped members, and core Cactoideae, including the largest diversity of growth forms distributed throughout the American continent. Para- or polyphyly is persistent in different parts of the phylogeny. Main Cactoideae clades were found to have different ancestral growth forms, and convergence toward globose, arborescent, or columnar forms occurred in different lineages. Our study enabled us to provide a detailed hypothesis of relationships among cacti lineages and represents the most complete general phylogenetic framework available to understand evolutionary trends within Cactaceae.

Phylogenetic Inference of HIV Transmission Clusters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vlad Novitsky

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Better understanding the structure and dynamics of HIV transmission networks is essential for designing the most efficient interventions to prevent new HIV transmissions, and ultimately for gaining control of the HIV epidemic. The inference of phylogenetic relationships and the interpretation of results rely on the definition of the HIV transmission cluster. The definition of the HIV cluster is complex and dependent on multiple factors, including the design of sampling, accuracy of sequencing, precision of sequence alignment, evolutionary models, the phylogenetic method of inference, and specified thresholds for cluster support. While the majority of studies focus on clusters, non-clustered cases could also be highly informative. A new dimension in the analysis of the global and local HIV epidemics is the concept of phylogenetically distinct HIV sub-epidemics. The identification of active HIV sub-epidemics reveals spreading viral lineages and may help in the design of targeted interventions.HIVclustering can also be affected by sampling density. Obtaining a proper sampling density may increase statistical power and reduce sampling bias, so sampling density should be taken into account in study design and in interpretation of phylogenetic results. Finally, recent advances in long-range genotyping may enable more accurate inference of HIV transmission networks. If performed in real time, it could both inform public-health strategies and be clinically relevant (e.g., drug-resistance testing.

Ecological and phylogenetic variability in the spinalis muscle of snakes.

Science.gov (United States)

Tingle, J L; Gartner, G E A; Jayne, B C; Garland, T

2017-11-01

Understanding the origin and maintenance of functionally important subordinate traits is a major goal of evolutionary physiologists and ecomorphologists. Within the confines of a limbless body plan, snakes are diverse in terms of body size and ecology, but we know little about the functional traits that underlie this diversity. We used a phylogenetically diverse group of 131 snake species to examine associations between habitat use, sidewinding locomotion and constriction behaviour with the number of body vertebrae spanned by a single segment of the spinalis muscle, with total numbers of body vertebrae used as a covariate in statistical analyses. We compared models with combinations of these predictors to determine which best fit the data among all species and for the advanced snakes only (N = 114). We used both ordinary least-squares models and phylogenetic models in which the residuals were modelled as evolving by the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. Snakes with greater numbers of vertebrae tended to have spinalis muscles that spanned more vertebrae. Habitat effects dominated models for analyses of all species and advanced snakes only, with the spinalis length spanning more vertebrae in arboreal species and fewer vertebrae in aquatic and burrowing species. Sidewinding specialists had shorter muscle lengths than nonspecialists. The relationship between prey constriction and spinalis length was less clear. Differences among clades were also strong when considering all species, but not for advanced snakes alone. Overall, these results suggest that muscle morphology may have played a key role in the adaptive radiation of snakes. © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Visualising very large phylogenetic trees in three dimensional hyperbolic space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liberles David A

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Common existing phylogenetic tree visualisation tools are not able to display readable trees with more than a few thousand nodes. These existing methodologies are based in two dimensional space. Results We introduce the idea of visualising phylogenetic trees in three dimensional hyperbolic space with the Walrus graph visualisation tool and have developed a conversion tool that enables the conversion of standard phylogenetic tree formats to Walrus' format. With Walrus, it becomes possible to visualise and navigate phylogenetic trees with more than 100,000 nodes. Conclusion Walrus enables desktop visualisation of very large phylogenetic trees in 3 dimensional hyperbolic space. This application is potentially useful for visualisation of the tree of life and for functional genomics derivatives, like The Adaptive Evolution Database (TAED.

Climate-driven extinctions shape the phylogenetic structure of temperate tree floras.

Science.gov (United States)

Eiserhardt, Wolf L; Borchsenius, Finn; Plum, Christoffer M; Ordonez, Alejandro; Svenning, Jens-Christian

2015-03-01

When taxa go extinct, unique evolutionary history is lost. If extinction is selective, and the intrinsic vulnerabilities of taxa show phylogenetic signal, more evolutionary history may be lost than expected under random extinction. Under what conditions this occurs is insufficiently known. We show that late Cenozoic climate change induced phylogenetically selective regional extinction of northern temperate trees because of phylogenetic signal in cold tolerance, leading to significantly and substantially larger than random losses of phylogenetic diversity (PD). The surviving floras in regions that experienced stronger extinction are phylogenetically more clustered, indicating that non-random losses of PD are of increasing concern with increasing extinction severity. Using simulations, we show that a simple threshold model of survival given a physiological trait with phylogenetic signal reproduces our findings. Our results send a strong warning that we may expect future assemblages to be phylogenetically and possibly functionally depauperate if anthropogenic climate change affects taxa similarly. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Phylogenetic relationships of African sunbird-like warblers: Moho ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Phylogenetic relationships of African sunbird-like warblers: Moho ( Hypergerus atriceps ), Green Hylia ( Hylia prasina ) and Tit-hylia ( Pholidornis rushiae ) ... different points in avian evolution reduces the phylogenetic signal in molecular sequence data, making difficult the reconstruction of relationships among taxa resulting ...

Exploring the Genomic Roadmap and Molecular Phylogenetics Associated with MODY Cascades Using Computational Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Chakraborty, Chiranjib; Bandyopadhyay, Sanghamitra; Doss, C George Priya; Agoramoorthy, Govindasamy

2015-04-01

Maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is a metabolic and genetic disorder. It is different from type 1 and type 2 diabetes with low occurrence level (1-2%) among all diabetes. This disorder is a consequence of β-cell dysfunction. Till date, 11 subtypes of MODY have been identified, and all of them can cause gene mutations. However, very little is known about the gene mapping, molecular phylogenetics, and co-expression among MODY genes and networking between cascades. This study has used latest servers and software such as VarioWatch, ClustalW, MUSCLE, G Blocks, Phylogeny.fr, iTOL, WebLogo, STRING, and KEGG PATHWAY to perform comprehensive analyses of gene mapping, multiple sequences alignment, molecular phylogenetics, protein-protein network design, co-expression analysis of MODY genes, and pathway development. The MODY genes are located in chromosomes-2, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 17, and 20. Highly aligned block shows Pro, Gly, Leu, Arg, and Pro residues are highly aligned in the positions of 296, 386, 437, 455, 456 and 598, respectively. Alignment scores inform us that HNF1A and HNF1B proteins have shown high sequence similarity among MODY proteins. Protein-protein network design shows that HNF1A, HNF1B, HNF4A, NEUROD1, PDX1, PAX4, INS, and GCK are strongly connected, and the co-expression analyses between MODY genes also show distinct association between HNF1A and HNF4A genes. This study has used latest tools of bioinformatics to develop a rapid method to assess the evolutionary relationship, the network development, and the associations among eleven MODY genes and cascades. The prediction of sequence conservation, molecular phylogenetics, protein-protein network and the association between the MODY cascades enhances opportunities to get more insights into the less-known MODY disease.

Interpreting the universal phylogenetic tree

Science.gov (United States)

Woese, C. R.

2000-01-01

The universal phylogenetic tree not only spans all extant life, but its root and earliest branchings represent stages in the evolutionary process before modern cell types had come into being. The evolution of the cell is an interplay between vertically derived and horizontally acquired variation. Primitive cellular entities were necessarily simpler and more modular in design than are modern cells. Consequently, horizontal gene transfer early on was pervasive, dominating the evolutionary dynamic. The root of the universal phylogenetic tree represents the first stage in cellular evolution when the evolving cell became sufficiently integrated and stable to the erosive effects of horizontal gene transfer that true organismal lineages could exist.

Phylogenetic relatedness limits co-occurrence at fine spatial scales: evidence from the schoenoid sedges (Cyperaceae: Schoeneae) of the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Slingsby, Jasper A; Verboom, G Anthony

2006-07-01

Species co-occurrence at fine spatial scales is expected to be nonrandom with respect to phylogeny because of the joint effects of evolutionary (trait convergence and conservatism) and ecological (competitive exclusion and habitat filtering) processes. We use data from 11 existing vegetation surveys to test whether co-occurrence in schoenoid sedge assemblages in the Cape Floristic Region shows significant phylogenetic structuring and to examine whether this changes with the phylogenetic scale of the analysis. We provide evidence for phylogenetic overdispersion in an alliance of closely related species (the reticulate-sheathed Tetraria clade) using both quantile regression analysis and a comparison between the mean observed and expected phylogenetic distances between co-occurring species. Similar patterns are not evident when the analyses are performed at a broader phylogenetic scale. Examination of six functional traits suggests a general pattern of trait conservatism within the reticulate-sheathed Tetraria clade, suggesting a potential role for interspecific competition in structuring co-occurrence within this group. We suggest that phylogenetic overdispersion of communities may be common throughout many of the Cape lineages, since interspecific interactions are likely intensified in lineages with large numbers of species restricted to a small geographic area, and we discuss the potential implications for patterns of diversity in the Cape.

Let's jump in: A phylogenetic study of the great basin springfishes and poolfishes, Crenichthys and Empetrichthys (Cyprinodontiformes: Goodeidae.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D Cooper Campbell

Full Text Available North America's Great Basin has long been of interest to biologists due to its high level of organismal endemicity throughout its endorheic watersheds. One example of such a group is the subfamily Empetricthyinae. In this paper, we analyzed the relationships of the Empetrichtyinae and assessed the validity of the subspecies designations given by Williams and Wilde within the group using concatenated phylogenetic tree estimation and species tree estimation. Samples from 19 populations were included covering the entire distribution of the three extant species of Empetricthyinae-Crenichthys nevadae, Crenichthys baileyi and Empetricthys latos. Three nuclear introns (S8 intron 4, S7 intron 1, and P0 intron 1 and one mitochondrial gene (Cytb were sequenced for phylogenetic analysis. Using these sequences, we generated two separate hypotheses of the evolutionary relationships of Empetrichtyinae- one based on the mitochondrial data and one based on the nuclear data using Bayesian phylogenetics. Haplotype networks were also generated to look at the relationships of the populations within Empetrichthyinae. After comparing the two phylogenetic hypotheses, species trees were generated using *BEAST with the nuclear data to further test the validity of the subspecies within Empetrichthyinae. The mitochondrial analyses supported four lineages within C. baileyi and 2 within C. nevadae. The concatenated nuclear tree was more conserved, supporting one clade and an unresolved polytomy in both species. The species tree analysis supported the presence of two species within both C. baileyi and C. nevadae. Based on the results of these analyses, the subspecies designations of Williams and Wilde are not valid, rather a conservative approach suggests there are two species within C. nevadae and two species within C. baileyi. No structure was found for E. latos or the populations of Empetricthyinae. This study represents one of many demonstrating the invalidity of

Fast and accurate phylogenetic reconstruction from high-resolution whole-genome data and a novel robustness estimator.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Y; Rajan, V; Moret, B M E

2011-09-01

The rapid accumulation of whole-genome data has renewed interest in the study of genomic rearrangements. Comparative genomics, evolutionary biology, and cancer research all require models and algorithms to elucidate the mechanisms, history, and consequences of these rearrangements. However, even simple models lead to NP-hard problems, particularly in the area of phylogenetic analysis. Current approaches are limited to small collections of genomes and low-resolution data (typically a few hundred syntenic blocks). Moreover, whereas phylogenetic analyses from sequence data are deemed incomplete unless bootstrapping scores (a measure of confidence) are given for each tree edge, no equivalent to bootstrapping exists for rearrangement-based phylogenetic analysis. We describe a fast and accurate algorithm for rearrangement analysis that scales up, in both time and accuracy, to modern high-resolution genomic data. We also describe a novel approach to estimate the robustness of results-an equivalent to the bootstrapping analysis used in sequence-based phylogenetic reconstruction. We present the results of extensive testing on both simulated and real data showing that our algorithm returns very accurate results, while scaling linearly with the size of the genomes and cubically with their number. We also present extensive experimental results showing that our approach to robustness testing provides excellent estimates of confidence, which, moreover, can be tuned to trade off thresholds between false positives and false negatives. Together, these two novel approaches enable us to attack heretofore intractable problems, such as phylogenetic inference for high-resolution vertebrate genomes, as we demonstrate on a set of six vertebrate genomes with 8,380 syntenic blocks. A copy of the software is available on demand.

Phylogenetic characterization of two echinoid species of the southeastern Mediterranean, off Egypt

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taha Soliman

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this study we investigated the phylogenetics of two sea urchin species, Arbacia lixula and Paracentrotus lividus from the Mediterranean Sea. Specimens were collected from the east coast of Alexandria City, Egypt. Pigmentation examination showed four sympatric color morphotypes (black, purple, reddish brown, and olive green. Mitochondrial DNA was extracted from specimens and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI and 16S ribosomal RNA (16S were sequenced. The results showed that all black specimens constituted the species A. lixula. All other colors belonged to P. lividus, with no apparent differentiation between color morphotypes. Moreover, P. lividus showed high haplotype diversity (COI; H = 0.9500 and 16S; H = 0.8580 and low values of nucleotide diversity (COI; π = 0.0075 and 16S; π = 0.0049, indicating a high degree of polymorphism within this species. This study represents the first attempt at DNA barcoding of echinoid species in the southeast Mediterranean off the Egyptian coast, and will provide a base for future phylogenetic analyses.

Utilization of complete chloroplast genomes for phylogenetic studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ramlee, Shairul Izan Binti

2016-01-01

Chloroplast DNA sequence polymorphisms are a primary source of data in many plant phylogenetic studies. The chloroplast genome is relatively conserved in its evolution making it an ideal molecule to retain phylogenetic signals. The chloroplast genome is also largely, but not completely, free from

Interactional Quality Depicted in Infant and Toddler Videos: Where Are the Interactions?

Science.gov (United States)

Fenstermacher, Susan K.; Barr, Rachel; Brey, Elizabeth; Pempek, Tiffany A.; Ryan, Maureen; Calvert, Sandra L.; Shwery, Clay E.; Linebarger, Deborah

2010-01-01

This study examined the social-emotional content and the quality of social interactions depicted in a sample of 58 DVDs marketed towards infants and toddlers. Infant-directed videos rarely used social interactions between caregiver and child or between peers to present content. Even when videos explicitly targeted social-emotional content,…

Evaluating Sketchiness as a Visual Variable for the Depiction of Qualitative Uncertainty

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boukhelifa, Nadia; Bezerianos, Anastasia; Isenberg, Tobias; Fekete, Jean-Daniel

2012-01-01

We report on results of a series of user studies on the perception of four visual variables that are commonly used in the literature to depict uncertainty. To the best of our knowledge, we provide the first formal evaluation of the use of these variables to facilitate an easier reading of

New weighting methods for phylogenetic tree reconstruction using multiple loci.

Science.gov (United States)

Misawa, Kazuharu; Tajima, Fumio

2012-08-01

Efficient determination of evolutionary distances is important for the correct reconstruction of phylogenetic trees. The performance of the pooled distance required for reconstructing a phylogenetic tree can be improved by applying large weights to appropriate distances for reconstructing phylogenetic trees and small weights to inappropriate distances. We developed two weighting methods, the modified Tajima-Takezaki method and the modified least-squares method, for reconstructing phylogenetic trees from multiple loci. By computer simulations, we found that both of the new methods were more efficient in reconstructing correct topologies than the no-weight method. Hence, we reconstructed hominoid phylogenetic trees from mitochondrial DNA using our new methods, and found that the levels of bootstrap support were significantly increased by the modified Tajima-Takezaki and by the modified least-squares method.

Transcriptional and phylogenetic analysis of five complete ambystomatid salamander mitochondrial genomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Samuels, Amy K; Weisrock, David W; Smith, Jeramiah J; France, Katherine J; Walker, John A; Putta, Srikrishna; Voss, S Randal

2005-04-11

We report on a study that extended mitochondrial transcript information from a recent EST project to obtain complete mitochondrial genome sequence for 5 tiger salamander complex species (Ambystoma mexicanum, A. t. tigrinum, A. andersoni, A. californiense, and A. dumerilii). We describe, for the first time, aspects of mitochondrial transcription in a representative amphibian, and then use complete mitochondrial sequence data to examine salamander phylogeny at both deep and shallow levels of evolutionary divergence. The available mitochondrial ESTs for A. mexicanum (N=2481) and A. t. tigrinum (N=1205) provided 92% and 87% coverage of the mitochondrial genome, respectively. Complete mitochondrial sequences for all species were rapidly obtained by using long distance PCR and DNA sequencing. A number of genome structural characteristics (base pair length, base composition, gene number, gene boundaries, codon usage) were highly similar among all species and to other distantly related salamanders. Overall, mitochondrial transcription in Ambystoma approximated the pattern observed in other vertebrates. We inferred from the mapping of ESTs onto mtDNA that transcription occurs from both heavy and light strand promoters and continues around the entire length of the mtDNA, followed by post-transcriptional processing. However, the observation of many short transcripts corresponding to rRNA genes indicates that transcription may often terminate prematurely to bias transcription of rRNA genes; indeed an rRNA transcription termination signal sequence was observed immediately following the 16S rRNA gene. Phylogenetic analyses of salamander family relationships consistently grouped Ambystomatidae in a clade containing Cryptobranchidae and Hynobiidae, to the exclusion of Salamandridae. This robust result suggests a novel alternative hypothesis because previous studies have consistently identified Ambystomatidae and Salamandridae as closely related taxa. Phylogenetic analyses of tiger

DendroPy: a Python library for phylogenetic computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Sukumaran, Jeet; Holder, Mark T

2010-06-15

DendroPy is a cross-platform library for the Python programming language that provides for object-oriented reading, writing, simulation and manipulation of phylogenetic data, with an emphasis on phylogenetic tree operations. DendroPy uses a splits-hash mapping to perform rapid calculations of tree distances, similarities and shape under various metrics. It contains rich simulation routines to generate trees under a number of different phylogenetic and coalescent models. DendroPy's data simulation and manipulation facilities, in conjunction with its support of a broad range of phylogenetic data formats (NEXUS, Newick, PHYLIP, FASTA, NeXML, etc.), allow it to serve a useful role in various phyloinformatics and phylogeographic pipelines. The stable release of the library is available for download and automated installation through the Python Package Index site (http://pypi.python.org/pypi/DendroPy), while the active development source code repository is available to the public from GitHub (http://github.com/jeetsukumaran/DendroPy).

On the quirks of maximum parsimony and likelihood on phylogenetic networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Bryant, Christopher; Fischer, Mareike; Linz, Simone; Semple, Charles

2017-03-21

Maximum parsimony is one of the most frequently-discussed tree reconstruction methods in phylogenetic estimation. However, in recent years it has become more and more apparent that phylogenetic trees are often not sufficient to describe evolution accurately. For instance, processes like hybridization or lateral gene transfer that are commonplace in many groups of organisms and result in mosaic patterns of relationships cannot be represented by a single phylogenetic tree. This is why phylogenetic networks, which can display such events, are becoming of more and more interest in phylogenetic research. It is therefore necessary to extend concepts like maximum parsimony from phylogenetic trees to networks. Several suggestions for possible extensions can be found in recent literature, for instance the softwired and the hardwired parsimony concepts. In this paper, we analyze the so-called big parsimony problem under these two concepts, i.e. we investigate maximum parsimonious networks and analyze their properties. In particular, we show that finding a softwired maximum parsimony network is possible in polynomial time. We also show that the set of maximum parsimony networks for the hardwired definition always contains at least one phylogenetic tree. Lastly, we investigate some parallels of parsimony to different likelihood concepts on phylogenetic networks. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inclusion of chloroplast genes that have undergone expansion misleads phylogenetic reconstruction in the Chlorophyta.

Science.gov (United States)

Novis, Phil M; Smissen, Rob; Buckley, Thomas R; Gopalakrishnan, Kishore; Visnovsky, Gabriel

2013-11-01

Chlorophytes comprise a substantial proportion of green plant diversity. However, sister-group relationships and circumscription of the classes Chlorophyceae, Trebouxiophyceae, and Ulvophyceae have been problematic to resolve. Some analyses support a sister relationship between the trebouxiophycean Leptosira and chlorophyceans, potentially altering the circumscription of two classes, also supported by a shared fragmentation in the chloroplast gene rpoB. We sought to determine whether the latter is a synapomorphy or whether the supporting analyses are vulnerable to systematic bias. We sequenced a portion of rpoB spanning the fragmented region in strains for which it had not previously been sampled: four Chlorophyceae, six counterclockwise (CCW) group (ulvophyceans and trebouxiophyceans) and one streptophyte. We then explored the effect of subsampling proteins and taxa on phylogenetic reconstruction from a data set of 41 chloroplast proteins. None of the CCW or streptophyte strains possessed the split in rpoB, including inferred near relatives of Leptosira, but it was found in all chlorophycean strains. We reconstructed alternative phylogenies (Leptosira + Chlorophyceae and Leptosira + Chlorellales) using two different protein groups (Rpo and Rps), both subject to coding-region expansion. A conserved region of RpoB remained suitable for analysis of more recent divergences. The Rps sequences can explain earlier findings linking Leptosira with the Chlorophyceae and should be excluded from phylogenetic analyses attempting to resolve deep nodes because their expansion violates the assumptions of substitution models. We reaffirm that Leptosira is a trebouxiophycean and that fragmentation of rpoB has occurred at least twice in chlorophyte evolution.

Phylogenetic analysis at deep timescales: unreliable gene trees, bypassed hidden support, and the coalescence/concatalescence conundrum.

Science.gov (United States)

Gatesy, John; Springer, Mark S

2014-11-01

Large datasets are required to solve difficult phylogenetic problems that are deep in the Tree of Life. Currently, two divergent systematic methods are commonly applied to such datasets: the traditional supermatrix approach (= concatenation) and "shortcut" coalescence (= coalescence methods wherein gene trees and the species tree are not co-estimated). When applied to ancient clades, these contrasting frameworks often produce congruent results, but in recent phylogenetic analyses of Placentalia (placental mammals), this is not the case. A recent series of papers has alternatively disputed and defended the utility of shortcut coalescence methods at deep phylogenetic scales. Here, we examine this exchange in the context of published phylogenomic data from Mammalia; in particular we explore two critical issues - the delimitation of data partitions ("genes") in coalescence analysis and hidden support that emerges with the combination of such partitions in phylogenetic studies. Hidden support - increased support for a clade in combined analysis of all data partitions relative to the support evident in separate analyses of the various data partitions, is a hallmark of the supermatrix approach and a primary rationale for concatenating all characters into a single matrix. In the most extreme cases of hidden support, relationships that are contradicted by all gene trees are supported when all of the genes are analyzed together. A valid fear is that shortcut coalescence methods might bypass or distort character support that is hidden in individual loci because small gene fragments are analyzed in isolation. Given the extensive systematic database for Mammalia, the assumptions and applicability of shortcut coalescence methods can be assessed with rigor to complement a small but growing body of simulation work that has directly compared these methods to concatenation. We document several remarkable cases of hidden support in both supermatrix and coalescence paradigms and argue

Community Phylogenetics: Assessing Tree Reconstruction Methods and the Utility of DNA Barcodes

Science.gov (United States)

Boyle, Elizabeth E.; Adamowicz, Sarah J.

2015-01-01

Studies examining phylogenetic community structure have become increasingly prevalent, yet little attention has been given to the influence of the input phylogeny on metrics that describe phylogenetic patterns of co-occurrence. Here, we examine the influence of branch length, tree reconstruction method, and amount of sequence data on measures of phylogenetic community structure, as well as the phylogenetic signal (Pagel’s λ) in morphological traits, using Trichoptera larval communities from Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. We find that model-based tree reconstruction methods and the use of a backbone family-level phylogeny improve estimations of phylogenetic community structure. In addition, trees built using the barcode region of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) alone accurately predict metrics of phylogenetic community structure obtained from a multi-gene phylogeny. Input tree did not alter overall conclusions drawn for phylogenetic signal, as significant phylogenetic structure was detected in two body size traits across input trees. As the discipline of community phylogenetics continues to expand, it is important to investigate the best approaches to accurately estimate patterns. Our results suggest that emerging large datasets of DNA barcode sequences provide a vast resource for studying the structure of biological communities. PMID:26110886

Type I STS markers are more informative than cytochrome B in phylogenetic reconstruction of the Mustelidae (Mammalia: Carnivora).

Science.gov (United States)

Koepfli, Klaus-Peter; Wayne, Robert K

2003-10-01

We compared the utility of five nuclear gene segments amplified with type I sequence-tagged site (STS) primers versus the complete mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) gene in resolving phylogenetic relationships within the Mustelidae, a large and ecomorphologically diverse family of mammalian carnivores. Maximum parsimony and likelihood analyses of separate and combined data sets were used to address questions regarding the levels of homoplasy, incongruence, and information content within and among loci. All loci showed limited resolution in the separate analyses because of either a low amount of informative variation (nuclear genes) or high levels of homoplasy (cyt b). Individually or combined, the nuclear gene sequences had less homoplasy, retained more signal, and were more decisive, even though cyt b contained more potentially informative variation than all the nuclear sequences combined. We obtained a well-resolved and supported phylogeny when the nuclear sequences were combined. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of the total combined data (nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences) were able to better accommodate the high levels of homoplasy in the cyt b data than was an equally weighted maximum parsimony analysis. Furthermore, partition Bremer support analyses of the total combined tree showed that the relative support of the nuclear and mitochondrial genes differed according to whether or not the homoplasy in the cyt b gene was downweighted. Although the cyt b gene contributed phylogenetic signal for most major groupings, the nuclear gene sequences were more effective in reconstructing the deeper nodes of the combined tree in the equally weighted parsimony analysis, as judged by the variable-length bootstrap method. The total combined data supported the monophyly of the Lutrinae (otters), whereas the Melinae (badgers) and Mustelinae (weasels, martens) were both paraphyletic. The American badger, Taxidea taxus (Taxidiinae), was the most

Heterotachy and long-branch attraction in phylogenetics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodrigue Nicolas

2005-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Probabilistic methods have progressively supplanted the Maximum Parsimony (MP method for inferring phylogenetic trees. One of the major reasons for this shift was that MP is much more sensitive to the Long Branch Attraction (LBA artefact than is Maximum Likelihood (ML. However, recent work by Kolaczkowski and Thornton suggested, on the basis of simulations, that MP is less sensitive than ML to tree reconstruction artefacts generated by heterotachy, a phenomenon that corresponds to shifts in site-specific evolutionary rates over time. These results led these authors to recommend that the results of ML and MP analyses should be both reported and interpreted with the same caution. This specific conclusion revived the debate on the choice of the most accurate phylogenetic method for analysing real data in which various types of heterogeneities occur. However, variation of evolutionary rates across species was not explicitly incorporated in the original study of Kolaczkowski and Thornton, and in most of the subsequent heterotachous simulations published to date, where all terminal branch lengths were kept equal, an assumption that is biologically unrealistic. Results In this report, we performed more realistic simulations to evaluate the relative performance of MP and ML methods when two kinds of heterogeneities are considered: (i within-site rate variation (heterotachy, and (ii rate variation across lineages. Using a similar protocol as Kolaczkowski and Thornton to generate heterotachous datasets, we found that heterotachy, which constitutes a serious violation of existing models, decreases the accuracy of ML whatever the level of rate variation across lineages. In contrast, the accuracy of MP can either increase or decrease when the level of heterotachy increases, depending on the relative branch lengths. This result demonstrates that MP is not insensitive to heterotachy, contrary to the report of Kolaczkowski and Thornton

Consequences of recombination on traditional phylogenetic analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schierup, M H; Hein, J

2000-01-01

We investigate the shape of a phylogenetic tree reconstructed from sequences evolving under the coalescent with recombination. The motivation is that evolutionary inferences are often made from phylogenetic trees reconstructed from population data even though recombination may well occur (mt......DNA or viral sequences) or does occur (nuclear sequences). We investigate the size and direction of biases when a single tree is reconstructed ignoring recombination. Standard software (PHYLIP) was used to construct the best phylogenetic tree from sequences simulated under the coalescent with recombination....... With recombination present, the length of terminal branches and the total branch length are larger, and the time to the most recent common ancestor smaller, than for a tree reconstructed from sequences evolving with no recombination. The effects are pronounced even for small levels of recombination that may...

Phylogenetic relationships of the lancelets of the genus ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

phylogenetic relationships of the Branchiostoma lancelets from South (Xiamen) and North (Qingdao and Rizhao) China, and phylogenetic trees constructed also included the existing data from Japanese waters. The genetic distances of the lancelets between South and North China averaged 0.19, 0.21, and 0.17 based on ...

Molecular cytogenetic characterisation and phylogenetic analysis of the seven cultivated Vigna species (Fabaceae).

Science.gov (United States)

She, C-W; Jiang, X-H; Ou, L-J; Liu, J; Long, K-L; Zhang, L-H; Duan, W-T; Zhao, W; Hu, J-C

2015-01-01

The genomic organisation of the seven cultivated Vigna species, V. unguiculata, V. subterranea, V. angularis, V. umbellata, V. radiata, V. mungo and V. aconitifolia, was determined using sequential combined PI and DAPI (CPD) staining and dual-colour fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) with 5S and 45S rDNA probes. For phylogenetic analyses, comparative genomic in situ hybridisation (cGISH) onto somatic chromosomes and sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of 45S rDNA were used. Quantitative karyotypes were established using chromosome measurements, fluorochrome bands and rDNA FISH signals. All species had symmetrical karyotypes composed of only metacentric or metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes. Distinct heterochromatin differentiation was revealed by CPD staining and DAPI counterstaining after FISH. The rDNA sites among all species differed in their number, location and size. cGISH of V. umbellata genomic DNA to the chromosomes of all species produced strong signals in all centromeric regions of V. umbellata and V. angularis, weak signals in all pericentromeric regions of V. aconitifolia, and CPD-banded proximal regions of V. mungo var. mungo. Molecular phylogenetic trees showed that V. angularis and V. umbellata were the closest relatives, and V. mungo and V. aconitifolia were relatively closely related; these species formed a group that was separated from another group comprising V. radiata, V. unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis and V. subterranea. This result was consistent with the phylogenetic relationships inferred from the heterochromatin and cGISH patterns; thus, fluorochrome banding and cGISH are efficient tools for the phylogenetic analysis of Vigna species. © 2014 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

Agent of whirling disease meets orphan worm: phylogenomic analyses firmly place Myxozoa in Cnidaria.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maximilian P Nesnidal

Full Text Available Myxozoa are microscopic obligate endoparasites with complex live cycles. Representatives are Myxobolus cerebralis, the causative agent of whirling disease in salmonids, and the enigmatic "orphan worm" Buddenbrockia plumatellae parasitizing in Bryozoa. Originally, Myxozoa were classified as protists, but later several metazoan characteristics were reported. However, their phylogenetic relationships remained doubtful. Some molecular phylogenetic analyses placed them as sister group to or even within Bilateria, whereas the possession of polar capsules that are similar to nematocysts of Cnidaria and of minicollagen genes suggest a close relationship between Myxozoa and Cnidaria. EST data of Buddenbrockia also indicated a cnidarian origin of Myxozoa, but were not sufficient to reject a closer relationship to bilaterians. Phylogenomic analyses of new genomic sequences of Myxobolus cerebralis firmly place Myxozoa as sister group to Medusozoa within Cnidaria. Based on the new dataset, the alternative hypothesis that Myxozoa form a clade with Bilateria can be rejected using topology tests. Sensitivity analyses indicate that this result is not affected by long branch attraction artifacts or compositional bias.

Enumerating all maximal frequent subtrees in collections of phylogenetic trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Deepak, Akshay; Fernández-Baca, David

2014-01-01

A common problem in phylogenetic analysis is to identify frequent patterns in a collection of phylogenetic trees. The goal is, roughly, to find a subset of the species (taxa) on which all or some significant subset of the trees agree. One popular method to do so is through maximum agreement subtrees (MASTs). MASTs are also used, among other things, as a metric for comparing phylogenetic trees, computing congruence indices and to identify horizontal gene transfer events. We give algorithms and experimental results for two approaches to identify common patterns in a collection of phylogenetic trees, one based on agreement subtrees, called maximal agreement subtrees, the other on frequent subtrees, called maximal frequent subtrees. These approaches can return subtrees on larger sets of taxa than MASTs, and can reveal new common phylogenetic relationships not present in either MASTs or the majority rule tree (a popular consensus method). Our current implementation is available on the web at https://code.google.com/p/mfst-miner/. Our computational results confirm that maximal agreement subtrees and all maximal frequent subtrees can reveal a more complete phylogenetic picture of the common patterns in collections of phylogenetic trees than maximum agreement subtrees; they are also often more resolved than the majority rule tree. Further, our experiments show that enumerating maximal frequent subtrees is considerably more practical than enumerating ordinary (not necessarily maximal) frequent subtrees.