Phylogenetic analysis of the Malvadendrina clade (Malvaceae s.l.) based on plastid DNA sequences

Phylogenetic relationships within Malvaceae s.l., a clade that includes the traditional families Bombacaceae, Malvaceae s.str., Sterculiaceae, and Tiliaceae, have become greatly clarified thanks to recent molecular systematic research. In this paper, we use DNA sequences of four plastid regions (atpB, matK, ndhF, and rbcL) to study relationships within Malvadendrina, one of the two major clades of Malvaceae s.l. The four data sets were generally in agreement, but five terminal taxa manifested highly unexpected affinities in the rbcL partition, and the non-coding sequences of the trnK intron were found to provide limited phylogenetic information for resolving relationships at the base of Malvadendrina. The remaining data strongly support the existence of six major clades within Malvadendrina: Brownlowioideae, Dombeyoideae, Helicteroideae, Malvatheca (comprising Bombacoideae and Malvoideae), Sterculioideae, and Tilioideae. These data also resolve the placement of two problematic taxa: Nesogordonia (in Dombeyoideae) and Mortoniodendron (in Tilioideae). The relationships among the six clades are not definitively resolved, but the best-supported topology has Dombeyoideae as sister to the remainder of Malvadendrina (posterior probability PP=80%) and Sterculioideae as sister to Malvatheca (PP=86%). This early branching position of Dombeyoideae is supported by similarities in floral characters between members of that clade and outgroup taxa in Byttnerioideae. Similarly, the sister-group relationship of Sterculioideae and Malvatheca receives support from androecial characteristics, like subsessile or sessile anthers and an absence of staminodes, shared by these two clades.     

Support for an expanded family concept of Malvaceae within a recircumscribed order Mai vales: a combined analysis of plastid atpB and rbcL DNA sequences

Sequence analyses of the plastid genes atpB and rbcL support an expanded order Malvales. Within this alliance, core Malvales are clearly supported and comprise most genera that have previously been included in Sterculiaceae, Tiliaceae, Bombacaceae, and Malvaceae. Additional well supported malvalean alliances include the bixalean clade (Bixaceae, Diego-dendraceae, and Cochlospermaceae), the cistalean clade (Cistaceae, Dipterocarpaceae, and Sarcolaenaceae) and Thymelaeaceae (including Gonystyloideae and Aquilarioideae). Our results indicate sister-group relationships between (1) Neuradaceae and the cistalean clade; (2) Sphaerosepalaceae and Thymelaeaceae; (3) these two clades (1 and 2); and (4) all these and an alliance comprising the bixalean clade and core Malvales, but this pattern is weakly supported by the bootstrap. The affinities of Muntingiaceae and Petenaea are especially ambiguous, although almost certainly they are Malvales s.l. The traditional delimitation of families within core Malvales is untenable. Instead, we propose to merge Sterculiaceae, Tiliaceae and Bombacaceae with Malvaceae and subdivide this enlarged family Malvaceae into nine subfamilies based on molecular, morphological, and biogeographical data: (1) Byttnerioideae, including tribes Byttnerieae, Lasiopetaleae and Theobromeae (all of which have cucullate petals) and Hermannieae; (2) Grewioideae, including most genera of former Tiliaceae; (3) Tilioideae, monogeneric in our analysis; (4) Helicteroideae, comprising most of the taxa previously included in Helictereae, plus Mansonia, Triplochiton (indicating that apocarpy evolved at least twice within Malvaceae) and possibly Durioneae; (5) Sterculioideae, defined by apetalous, apocarpous, usually unisexual flowers with androgynophores; (6) Brownlowioideae, circumscribed as in previous classifications; (7) Dombeyoideae, expanded to include Burretiodendron, Eriolaena, Pterospermum, and Schoutmia; (8) Bombacoideae, corresponding to former Bombacaceae (without Durioneae) but including Fremontodendreae     

Phylogeography of the endemic St. Lucia whiptail lizard Cnemidophorus vanzoi: Conservation genetics at the species boundary

Vicariance and isolation leading to speciation of reptiles on islands is well exemplified in a number of taxa in the Caribbean. The St. Lucia whiptail (Cnemidophorus vanzoi), considered a single species, is found on two small islets (Maria Major and Maria Minor) off the main island of St. Lucia. From lizards collected from both localities, we gathered morphological measurements and analysed the genetic divergence between populations, using a molecular survey of ∼ ∼2800 mtDNA base pairs and 8 microsatellites. There are significant differences in body size and general form and fixed but small mtDNA differences between island populations. Microsatellites reveal low diversity within populations but very high differentiation between islands with non-overlapping allele size ranges at all except one microsatellite and two loci exhibiting single-base polymorphism, fixed between islands. Based on these results, we examine published criteria to determine whether the studied island forms could be considered true species. According to the phylogenetic species concept and Moritz’s evolutionary significant unit (ESU) criteria, the two lizard populations can be considered separate entities. Crandall et al.’s (2000, Trends Ecol. Evol., 15, 290–295) broader categorization of population distinctiveness, based on concepts of ecological and genetic exchangeability, produces conflicting results depending on the interpretation of the observed ecological data. Following Fraser and Bernatchez’s (2001, Mol. Ecol., 10, 2741–2752) framework for management decisions when ecological data are not sufficient we propose that the lizard populations on the Maria islands are on differing evolutionary trajectories and thus at the species boundary. The populations are of high priority to conservation, thus meriting separate management.     

The bicolor unit — homology and transformation of an inflorescence structure unique to coreMalvales

A broad comparative analysis reveals that the inflorescences of coreMalvales, familiesSterculiaceae, Tiliaceae, Bombacaceae andMalvaceae, include characteristic repeating units. The basic repeating unit is called bicolor unit (afterTheobroma bicolor, where it was first observed). It is determinate and bears three bracts, one of which is invariably sterile, whereas the others subtend lateral cymes or single flowers. Through the demonstration of intermediate steps in closely related taxa the triad of bracts within a bicolor unit and the trimerous malvalean epicalyx are shown to be homologous. Various possibilities for an origin of the bicolor unit are discussed. Bicolor units are variously arranged to form complete inflorescences. In many taxa they are terminal on modules that comprise two (or fewer) prophylls. These modules may be arranged in elongated anthocladia or condensed sympodia, which in turn may constitute components of higher order inflorescence structures. The presence of the bicolor unit or its derivatives linksSterculiaceae, Tiliaceae, Bombacaceae andMalvaceae. It is absent from all other families included in a broader defined orderMalvales and represents one of the rare morphological synapomorphies of coreMalvales. Furthermore, inflorescence morphology provides characters of systematic significance for various taxa within coreMalvales.     

Synonymy of two species of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Platycephalus</Emphasis> and validity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Platycephalus westraliae</Emphasis> (Teleostei: Platycephalidae)

The type specimens of platycephalid Platycephalus endrachtensis Quoy and Gaimard 1825 are regarded as being conspecific with Platycephalus arenarius Ramsay and Ogilby 1886, so the latter becomes a junior synonym. This species is characterized as having a caudal fin with four or more longitudinal dark bands and lacking a yellow blotch. It is also found that Platycephalus westraliae (Whitley 1938), which had been considered to be a junior synonym of Platycephalus bassensis Cuvier 1829, is a valid species. Specimens that recently had been mistakenly identified as “P. endrachtensis,” having the caudal fin with three or four longitudinal dark bands and a yellow blotch on the upper lobe, should be referred to P. westraliae.     

Phylogenetics of Chinese Dryopteris (Dryopteridaceae) based on the chloroplast rps4-trnS sequence data

Dryopteris is one of the largest and most taxonomically complex fern genera in the Dryopteridaceae, with 127 species occurring throughout temperate, sub-temperate, subtropical, and tropical China. Investigations of the evolutionary relationships of a subset of these Chinese Dryopteris species, using DNA sequence-based methods, specifically tested the monophyly of the genus and the validity of the previous subgeneric classifications. Sixty species of Dryopteris, four closely related non-Dryopteris and three species of Arachniodes, were used as outgroup taxa. The rps4-trnS region of the chloroplast genome was sequenced in these species for the first time. Both maximum parsimony (MP) and neighbor-joining (NJ) analyses identified six polyphyletic clades that contained Dryopteris species. These results were supported by a Bayesian analysis of the same data set. The phylogenetic patterns strongly suggest the polyphyletic status of Dryopteris; the monophyletic groupings of the species do not correspond with either Fraser-Jenkins [In: Bull Brit Mus (Nat Hist) Bot 14(3):183–218, 1986} or Wu (In: Flora Reipublica Popularis Sinicae Tomus 5 (1) pp 1–241, 2000] subgeneric classification of Dryopteris, except in a few specific cases. This work represents the first molecular systematic analyses of Chinese Dryopteris, and we propose the next steps necessary to recognize new subgenera of the genus.     

Molecular phylogenetic studies of Lachnum and its allies based on the Japanese material

Molecular phylogenetic studies were carried out based on ITS-5.8S rDNA, the D1–D2 region of the large subunit rRNA gene, RPB2, and combined data of D1–D2 and RPB2 as well as these three genes on 36 species among 7 genera for Lachnum and allied genera in the family Hyaloscyphaceae. In the combined data of all three regions, seven strongly supported clades were obtained. The same clades were also recognized in most of the trees based on each gene, and the combined data of D1–D2 and RPB2, although some of them were not strongly supported. Four clades represented Albotricha, Brunnipila, Incrucipulum, and Lachnellula, respectively, whereas Lachnum was distributed to the remaining three clades. The molecular phylogenies strongly supported a group of species with granulate hairs, and we suggest the concept of Lachnaceae should be restricted to these species. Based on the molecular phylogenetic analysis, three new combinations—Incrucipulum longispineum, I. radiatum, and Lachnellula pulverulentum from Lachnum—are proposed.     

Ultrastructural and immunocytochemical investigation of acoel sperms with 9 + 1 axoneme structure: new sperm characters for unraveling phylogeny in Acoela

Acoel sperm characters proved useful in deciphering acoel taxonomy. The phylogenetic value of sperm characters in closely related sub-groups or in a monophyletic taxon has not yet been assessed. We have investigated sperm ultrastructure in seven members of the monophyletic taxon Childia sensu (Tekle et al. J Zool Sys Evol Res 43(1):72–90, 2005) and in their closest relatives, the Mecynostomidae (four taxa). All members of Childia examined show little variation in their sperm ultrastructure. The common characters of Childia taxa are: 9 + 1 axoneme structure, the presence of six distal cytoplasmic microtubules in the absence of axial or cortical ones, long nucleus and extensive nucleus–flagella overlap. We have identified a new set of cytoplasmic microtubules lying in the centriolar end of the sperm cell, distal microtubules. The origin and phylogenetic significance of this character is discussed. The types and arrangement of cytoplasmic granules could be used as phylogenetic characters at a low taxonomic level. A loose membrane amorphous core type of granule was found to be a synapomorphy for the following clade within the taxon Childia: C. crassum + C. groenlandica + C. vivipara + C. brachyposthium + C. macroposthium. Sausage shaped granules are plesiomorphic among the taxa examined. The rest of the granule characters were found to be homoplasious. Sperm ultrastructural characters have again proven their concordance with molecular phylogeny. The only morphological synapomorphies known for the sister taxa Childia–Mecynostomidae, in the molecular phylogeny, are characters derived from sperm ultrastructure: distal microtubules arranged in two groups of three microtubules each and a 9 + 1 axoneme structure. The spermatozoa of Childia and Mecynostomidae show 9 + 1 axoneme configuration, seemingly similar to the 9 + ‘1’ axoneme pattern of the Platyhelminthes—Trepaxonemata. Using electron-microscope immunocytochemistry, we have demonstrated that, unlike the central cylinder of trepaxonematans, the central cylinder of the 9 + 1 axonemal pattern in acoels is immunoreactive to tubulin and contains a single central microtubule. Therefore, the 9 + 1 patterns in acoels and trepaxonematans are homoplasious.     

Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans secretome containing a newly described lipoprotein Licanantase enhances chalcopyrite bioleaching rate

The nature of the mineral–bacteria interphase where electron and mass transfer processes occur is a key element of the bioleaching processes of sulfide minerals. This interphase is composed of proteins, metabolites, and other compounds embedded in extracellular polymeric substances mainly consisting of sugars and lipids (Gehrke et al., Appl Environ Microbiol 64(7):2743–2747, 1998). On this respect, despite Acidithiobacilli—a ubiquitous bacterial genera in bioleaching processes (Rawlings, Microb Cell Fact 4(1):13, 2005)—has long been recognized as secreting bacteria (Jones and Starkey, J Bacteriol 82:788–789, 1961; Schaeffer and Umbreit, J Bacteriol 85:492–493, 1963), few studies have been carried out in order to clarify the nature and the role of the secreted protein component: the secretome. This work characterizes for the first time the sulfur (meta)secretome of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans strain DSM 17318 in pure and mixed cultures with Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans DSM 16786, identifying the major component of these secreted fractions as a single lipoprotein named here as Licanantase. Bioleaching assays with the addition of Licanantase-enriched concentrated secretome fractions show that this newly found lipoprotein as an active protein additive exerts an increasing effect on chalcopyrite bioleaching rate.     

Discrimination of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oribotritia</Emphasis> species by oil gland chemistry (Acari,Oribatida)

The chemical composition of secretions from opisthonotal (oil) glands in four species of the oribatid mite genus Oribotritia (Mixonomata, Euphthiracaroidea, Oribotritiidae) was compared by means of gas chromatography—mass spectrometry. The secretions of all, O. banksi (from North America) and three Austrian oribotritiids (O. berlesei, O. hermanni, O. storkani), are shown to be based on certain unusual compounds, the iridoid monoterpenes chrysomelidial and epi-chrysomelidial and the diterpene β-springene. These components probably represent general chemical characteristics of oribotriid oil glands. Their relative abundance in the secretions along with further components (mainly saturated and unsaturated C₁₃-, C₁₅-, C₁₇-hydrocarbons, and the tentatively identified octadecadienal) led to well-distinguishable, species-specific oil gland secretions profiles. In addition a reduced set of “Astigmata compounds” (sensu Sakata and Norton in Int J Acarol 27:281–291, 2001)—namely the two monoterpenes neral and geranial—could be detected in extracts of O. banksi nevertheless indicating the classification of euphthiracaroids within the (monophyletic) group of “Astigmata compounds-bearing”-Oribatida. These compounds are considered to be apomorphically reduced in all Austrian species. Our findings emphasize the potential of chemosystematics using oil gland secretion profiles in the discrimination of morphologically very similar, syntopically living or even cryptic oribatid species.     

Validity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Scolecenchelys aoki</Emphasis>, with a redescription of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Scolecenchelys gymnota</Emphasis> (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae)

The myrophine ophichthid fishes (worm eels) Muraenichthys aoki Jordan and Snyder 1901 and Muraenichthys gymnotus Bleeker 1857 are redescribed as valid species of Scolecenchelys based on the types and non-type specimens collected from the Indo-Pacific. Because both species are similar to each other in having acute snouts, the posterior margin of the eye before the rictus, and their dorsal-fin origins located slightly posterior to a vertical line through the anus, Scolecenchelys aoki has usually been regarded as a junior synonym of Scolecenchelys gymnota. However, S. aoki is clearly distinguishable from S. gymnota by having a median groove on the ventral side of snout (absent in S. gymnota), uniserial maxillary teeth in smaller specimens (<200 mm TL; vs. biserial), three infraorbital sensory pores at postorbital area (vs. two), and more numerous vertebrae (56–65 in predorsal vs. 51–57; 53–58 in preanal vs. 47–52). Scolecenchelys aoki is restricted to Japanese waters and regarded as a senior synonym of Muraenichthys borealis Machida and Shiogaki 1990. Scolecenchelys gymnota is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific, from South Africa and the Red Sea to Samoa, north to Okinawa, Japan. Sphagebranchus huysmani Weber 1913 and Muraenichthys fowleri Schultz 1943 are synonymized under S. gymnota.     

Phylogeny of the core Malvales: evidence from ndhF sequence data

The monophyly of the group comprising the core malvalean families, Bombacaceae, Malvaceae, Sterculiaceae, and Tiliaceae, was recently confirmed by molecular studies, but the internal structure of this clade is poorly understood. In this study, we examined sequences of the chloroplast ndhF gene (aligned length 2226 bp) from 70 exemplars representing 35 of the 39 putative tribes of core Malvales. The monophyly of one traditional family, the Malvaceae, was supported in the trees resulting from these data, but the other three families, as traditionally circumscribed, are nonmonophyletic. In addition, the following relationships were well supported: (1) a clade, /Malvatheca, consisting of traditional Malvaceae and Bombacaceae (except some members of tribe Durioneae), plus Fremontodendron and Chiranthodendron, which are usually treated as Sterculiaceae; (2) a clade, /Malvadendrina, supported by a unique 21-bp (base pair) deletion and consisting of /Malvatheca, plus five additional subclades, including representatives of Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae, and Durionieae; (3) a clade, /Byttneriina, with genera traditionally assigned to several tribes of Tiliaceae, plus exemplars of tribes Byttnerieae, Hermannieae, and Lasiopetaleae of Sterculiaceae. The most striking departures from traditional classifications are the following: Durio and relatives appear to be more closely related to Helicteres and Reevesia (Sterculiaceae) than to Bombacaceae; several genera traditionally considered as Bombacaceae (Camptostemon, Matisia, Phragmotheca, and Quararibea) or Sterculiaceae (Chiranthodendron and Fremontodendron) appear as sister lineages to the traditional Malvaceae; the traditional tribe Helictereae (Sterculiaceae) is polyphyletic; and Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae, as traditionally circumscribed, represent polyphyletic groups that cannot sensibly be maintained with their traditional limits for purposes of classification. We discuss morphological characters and conclude that there has been extensive homoplasy in characters previously used to delineate major taxonomic groups in core Malvales. The topologies here also suggest that /Malvatheca do not have as a synapormophy monothecate anthers, as has been previously supposed but, instead, may be united by dithecate, transversely septate (polysporangiate) anthers, as found in basal members of both /Bombacoideae and /Malvoideae. Thus, “monothecate” anthers may have been derived at least twice, independently, within the /Bombacoideae (core Bombacaceae) and /Malvoideae (traditional Malvaceae).     

Four new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aloe</Emphasis> (Aloaceae) from Ethiopia,with notes on the ethics of describing new taxa from foreign countries

Subsequent to the treatment of the Aloaceae, with 38 species of Aloe, in the Flora of Ethiopia (Sebsebe Demissew & Gilbert 1997), four more species, Aloe bertemariae Sebsebe & Dioli (2000), A. friisii Sebsebe & M. G. Gilbert (2000), A. clarkei L. E. Newton (2002) and A. elkerriana Dioli & T. A. McCoy (2007) have been described from that country. Here four additional new species are described: Aloe benishangulana Sebsebe & Tesfaye from near Assosa, Benishangul-Gumuz in Welega floristic region; A. ghibensis Sebsebe & Friis from the Ghibe Gorge, Kefa floristic region; A. weloensis Sebsebe from near Dessie in Welo floristic region and A. welmelensis Sebsebe & Nordal along the Welmel River in Bale floristic region. The phytogeographical positions of the new species are assessed by comparison with the previously known species. Complications with the deposition of type material of A. clarkei and A. elkerriana is used to raise various issues regarding the ethics of describing new taxa from foreign countries.     

Brocchi,Darwin, and Transmutation: Phylogenetics and Paleontology at the Dawn of Evolutionary Biology

Giambattista Brocchi’s (1814) monograph (see Dominici, Evo Edu Outreach, this issue, 2010) on the Tertiary fossils of the Subappenines in Italy—and their relation to the living molluscan fauna—contains a theoretical, transmutational perspective (“Brocchian transmutation”). Unlike Lamarck (1809), Brocchi saw species as discrete and fundamentally stable entities. Explicitly analogizing the births and deaths of species with those of individual organisms (“Brocchi’s analogy”), Brocchi proposed that species have inherent longevities, eventually dying of old age unless driven to extinction by external forces. As for individuals, births and deaths of species are understood to have natural causes; sequences of births and deaths of species produce genealogical lineages of descent, and faunas become increasingly modernized through time. Brocchi calculated that over 50% of his fossil species are still alive in the modern fauna. Brocchi’s work was reviewed by Horner (1816) in Edinburgh. Brocchi’s influence as a transmutational thinker is clear in Jameson’s (1827) “geological illustrations” in his fifth edition of his translation of Cuvier’s Theory of the Earth (read by his student Charles Darwin) and in the anonymous essays of 1826 and 1827 published in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal—which also carried a notice of Brocchi’s death in 1827. The notion that new species replace older, extinct ones—in what today would be called an explicitly phylogenetic context—permeates these essays. Herschel’s (1830) discussion of temporal replacement of species and the modernization of faunas closely mirrors these prior discussions. His book, dedicated to the search for natural causes of natural phenomena, was read by Charles Darwin while a student at Cambridge. Darwin’s work on HMS Beagle was in large measure an exploration of replacement patterns of “allied forms” of endemic species in time and in space. His earliest discussions of transmutation, in his essay February 1835, as well as the Red Notebook and the early pages of Notebook B (the latter two written in 1837 back in England), contain Brocchi’s analogy, including the idea of inherent species longevities. Darwin’s first theory of the origin of species was explicitly saltational, invoking geographic isolation as the main cause of the abrupt appearance of new species. We conclude that Darwin was testing the predicted patterns of both Brocchian and Lamarckian transmutation as early as 1832 at the outset of his work on the Beagle.     

利用叶绿体基因组数据解析锦葵科梧桐亚科的系统位置和属间关系

分子系统学研究将传统梧桐科与锦葵科、木棉科和椴树科合并为广义锦葵科,并进一步分为9个亚科.然而,9个亚科之间的关系尚未完全明确,且梧桐亚科内的属间关系也未得到解决.为了明确梧桐亚科在锦葵科中的系统发育位置,厘清梧桐亚科内部属间系统发育关系,该研究对锦葵科8个亚科进行取样,共选取55个样本,基于叶绿体基因组数据,采用最大...     

Molecular evidence for the taxonomic status of three species of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sphyraena obtusata</Emphasis> group (Perciformes: Sphyraenidae) from East Asia

Genetic differences among the three species of Sphyraena with two gill rakers from East Asia (S. iburiensis, S. obtusata, and S. pinguis, defined recently as the S. obtusata group), were investigated using 799-bp sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Pairwise sequence differences within each of the three species were 0.0–0.4% (S. iburiensis), 0.0–0.4% (S. obtusata), and 0.0–0.6% (S. pinguis), respectively, pairwise sequence differences among the three species being 18.3–18.6% (S. iburiensis vs. S. obtusata), 14.9–15.4% (S. iburiensis vs. S. pinguis), and 17.6–18.3% (S. obtusata vs. S. pinguis), respectively. The extent of the latter were comparable to those among four other congeneric species, S. africana, S. forsteri, S. helleri, and S. japonica (16.0–24.5%). Phylogenetic analysis using the maximum-likelihood method indicated reciprocal monophyly of the three species, each clade being supported by a bootstrap value of 100%. These findings fully supported the taxonomic status of these species, recently elucidated by detailed morphological comparisons. In addition, the S. obtusata group formed a strongly supported clade against the four other congeneric species.     

Progress in erigonine spider phylogeny—the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Savignia</Emphasis>-group is not monophyletic (Araneae: Linyphiidae)

We present the most inclusive study on the higher-level phylogeny of erigonine spiders, including about 30% of all erigonine genera. By expanding the previously most comprehensive analysis (Miller and Hormiga Cladistics 20:385–442, 2004) we tested the robustness of its results to the addition of closely related taxa, and also the monophyly of the Savignia-group defined by Millidge (Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 4:1–60, 1977). The character matrix was expanded by adding 18 newly scored species in 15 genera, and also includes all species scored by other authors. This adds up to 98 species in 91 erigonine genera plus 13 outgroup taxa. The parsimony analysis led to eight fully resolved most parsimonious trees (L=1084). The topology concerning the taxa basal to the ‘distal erigonines’ remained unchanged, and the latter clade still shares 67% of all nodes with the original analysis. The Savignia-group is not monophyletic at genus level with respect to Saloca diceros and Alioranus pastoralis, and the same applies at species level in Diplocephalus and Erigonella. From the Savignia-group, Glyphesis servulus, Diplocephalus cristatus, Savignia frontata, and two representatives each of Erigonella, Dicymbium and Araeoncus combine to form a monophyletic clade.     

Reappraisal of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Macaca speciosa subfossilis</Emphasis> from the Late Pleistocene of Northern Vietnam Based on the Analysis of Cranial Anatomy

Jouffroy (Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Série 2 31:209–216, 1959) described Macaca speciosa subfossilis on the basis of her study of the external anatomy of a nearly complete cranium (PV F1; Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris) found in the Late Pleistocene cave deposits, Thung-Lang, northern Vietnam. Whereas Jouffroy (Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Série 2 31:209–216, 1959) considered it to belong to an ancestor of Macaca arctoides or M. thibetana, Fooden (Journal of Human Evolution 19:607–686, 1990) reexamined the facial anatomy and assigned it to the extant species M. arctoides. We used computed tomography images to reevaluate the phylogenetic position of Macaca speciosa subfossilis by comparing the external and internal features of PV F1 with those of the crania of the extant macaque species. PV F1 shows a lower degree of preorbital concavity than Macaca arctoides, M. assamensis, and M. thibetana, but shares an anteriorly directed malar as seen in the crania of the two former species. The size of the molars of PV F1 falls within a range such that the cranium may be assigned to any of the five species of Macaca arctoides, M. assamensis, M. thibetana, M. mulatta, and M. nemestrina. An analysis of the internal structure of the cranium reveals that only PV F1 and the cranium of Macaca arctoides have a pear-shaped nasal cavity expanding laterally at both the anterior and posterior regions. Such a feature is probably a derived condition in the macaque lineage, suggesting a close relationship between Macaca speciosa subfossilis and M. arctoides. This finding supports the paleobiological scenario that the members of the lineage of Macaca arctoides diverged from the other members of Asian macaques and became distributed in northern Vietnam as early as the Late Pleistocene.     

Phylogenetic,Inter, and Intraspecific Sequence Analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">spo0A</Emphasis> Gene of the Genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Geobacillus</Emphasis>

In this work, the variability of spo0A gene in the genus Geobacillus and applicability of this gene for the taxonomy within this genus were evaluated. The protein Spo0A is the master regulator of the endospore-forming process in the all endospore-forming bacteria. Geobacillus genus-specific primers GEOSPO were designed based on the sequences of Geobacillus spo0A gene available through the public databases. Inter and intraspecific variability of Geobacillus spo0A gene was determined after sequencing of the GEOSPO-PCR products. Geobacillus spo0A sequence analysis showed that three species—Geobacillus thermodenitrificans, G. stearothermophilus, and G. jurassicus—could be easily identified. Similarity between the sequences of these species and the other species were in the range of 83.3%–92.0%. In contrast, intraspecific similarity of G. thermodenitrificans and G. stearothermophilus was high—above 99.0%. Similarity of spo0A sequences of G. subterraneus–G. uzenensis species cluster also matched this interval. Intercluster similarity between G. lituanicus–G. thermoleovorans–G. kaustophilus–G. vulcani and G. thermocatenulatus–G. gargensis–G. caldoxylosilyticus–G. toebii–G. thermoglucosidasius species clusters, as well as interspecific similarity within these two clusters was in the range of the intraspecific similarity determined for G. thermodenitrificans and G. stearothermophilus. It was also determined that spo0A cannot be used as the phylogenetic marker for the genus Geobacillus.     

The taxonomy and phylogeny of the cyprinid genus Opsariichthys Bleeker (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from Taiwan, with description of a new species

The morphological and mitochondrial genetic differentiation in the cyprinid genus, Opsariichthys Bleeker (Nederlandsch Tijdschrift voor de Dierkunde 1:187–218, 1863) have been surveyed in Taiwan. Among them, there are three valid species can be recognized in Taiwan including Opsariichthys pachycephalus Günther (1868) distributed in northern and western Taiwan, Opsariichthys evolans (Jordan and Evermann Proc US Nat Mus 25:315–368, 1902) in northern Taiwan and an unnamed species from southern Taiwan described herein as Opsariichthys kaopingensis Chen and Wu, new species which can be well distinguished from the related O. pachycaphalus by their body proportions, scale counts, and specific coloration patterns. We utilized mitochondrial complete D-loop sequence data to infer phylogenetic relationships within a subset of related genera of opsariichthines, and to examine evidence for genetic differentiation in these two sibling species formerly assigned to “Zacco” pachycephalus and their genetic relationship with other congeneric species around nearby regions. The clade of O. pachycephalus and O. kaopingensis in genetically were recovered as more closely related to Opsariichthys uncirostris (Temminck and Schlegel 1846) species complex including both O. uncirostris and O. bidens Günther (1868) from Japan and mainland China than to typical Zacco from Japan. This molecular phylogenetic insight strongly supports the assignment for both so-called “Zacco” pachycephalus and this new species described herein as the typical monophyletic members of Opsariichthys and the type species of Zacco as Zacco platypus (Temminck and Schlegel 1846) from Japan is sister clade for all species groups in Opsariichthys. Opsariichthys pachycephalus and O. kaopingensis were strongly differentiated by large mitogenetic distances and phylogenetic support from distance and discrete method and Bayesian inference based on complete mtDNA D-loop sequences, with an average mitogenetic divergence of 3.3%, which may suggest that the separation of the two species happened much earlier than the last glacial period. Opsariichthys evolans seems to share the close genetic relationship with O. acutipinnis (Bleeker Nederlandsch Tijdschrift voor de Dierkunde 1:187–218, 1863) from the Yangtsi River basin.