Bayesian hierarchical models suggest oldest known plant-visiting bat was omnivorous

The earliest record of plant visiting in bats dates to the Middle Miocene of La Venta, the world''s most diverse tropical palaeocommunity. Palynephyllum antimaster is known from molars that indicate nectarivory. Skull length, an important indicator of key traits such as body size, bite force and trophic specialization, remains unknown. We developed Bayesian models to infer skull length based on dental measurements. These models account for variation within and between species, variation between clades, and phylogenetic error structure. Models relating skull length to trophic level for nectarivorous bats were then used to infer the diet of the fossil. The skull length estimate for Palynephyllum places it among the larger lonchophylline bats. The inferred diet suggests Palynephyllum fed on nectar and insects, similar to its living relatives. Omnivory has persisted since the mid-Miocene. This is the first study to corroborate with fossil data that highly specialized nectarivory in bats requires an omnivorous transition.     

Mitochondrial genome of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pteronotus personatus</Emphasis> (Chiroptera: Mormoopidae): comparison with selected bats and phylogenetic considerations

We described the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the Wagner’s mustached bat, Pteronotus personatus, a species belonging to the family Mormoopidae, and compared it with other published mitogenomes of bats (Chiroptera). The mitogenome of P. personatus was 16,570 bp long and contained a typically conserved structure including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and one control region (D-loop). Most of the genes were encoded on the H-strand, except for eight tRNA and the ND6 genes. The order of protein-coding and rRNA genes was highly conserved in all mitogenomes. All protein-coding genes started with an ATG codon, except for ND2, ND3, and ND5, which initiated with ATA, and terminated with the typical stop codon TAA/TAG or the codon AGA. Phylogenetic trees constructed using Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood, and Bayesian inference methods showed an identical topology and indicated the monophyly of different families of bats (Mormoopidae, Phyllostomidae, Vespertilionidae, Rhinolophidae, and Pteropopidae) and the existence of two major clades corresponding to the suborders Yangochiroptera and Yinpterochiroptera. The mitogenome sequence provided here will be useful for further phylogenetic analyses and population genetic studies in mormoopid bats.     

Psychrophilic and Psychrotolerant Fungi on Bats and the Presence of Geomyces spp. on Bat Wings Prior to the Arrival of White Nose Syndrome

Since 2006, Geomyces destructans, the causative agent of white nose syndrome (WNS), has killed over 5.7 million bats in North America. The current hypothesis suggests that this novel fungus is an invasive species from Europe, but little is known about the diversity within the genus Geomyces and its distribution on bats in the United States. We documented the psychrophilic and psychrotolerant fungal flora of hibernating bats prior to the arrival of WNS using culture-based techniques. A total of 149 cultures, which were obtained from 30 bats in five bat hibernacula located in four caves and one mine, were sequenced for the entire internal transcribed spacer (ITS) nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) region. Approximately 53 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at 97% similarity were recovered from bat wings, with the community dominated by fungi within the genera Cladosporium, Fusarium, Geomyces, Mortierella, Penicillium, and Trichosporon. Eleven Geomyces isolates were obtained and placed in at least seven distinct Geomyces clades based on maximum-likelihood phylogenetic analyses. Temperature experiments revealed that all Geomyces strains isolated are psychrotolerant, unlike G. destructans, which is a true psychrophile. Our results confirm that a large diversity of fungi, including several Geomyces isolates, occurs on bats prior to the arrival of WNS. Most of these isolates were obtained from damaged wings. Additional studies need to be conducted to determine potential ecological roles of these abundant Geomyces strains isolated from bats.     

Four New Bat Species (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii Complex) Reflect Plio-Pleistocene Divergence of Dwarfs and Giants across an Afromontane Archipelago

Gigantism and dwarfism evolve in vertebrates restricted to islands. We describe four new species in the Rhinolophus hildebrandtii species-complex of horseshoe bats, whose evolution has entailed adaptive shifts in body size. We postulate that vicissitudes of palaeoenvironments resulted in gigantism and dwarfism in habitat islands fragmented across eastern and southern Africa. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences recovered two clades of R. hildebrandtii senso lato which are paraphyletic with respect to a third lineage (R. eloquens). Lineages differ by 7.7 to 9.0% in cytochrome b sequences. Clade 1 includes R. hildebrandtii sensu stricto from the east African highlands and three additional vicariants that speciated across an Afromontane archipelago through the Plio-Pleistocene, extending from the Kenyan Highlands through the Eastern Arc, northern Mozambique and the Zambezi Escarpment to the eastern Great Escarpment of South Africa. Clade 2 comprises one species confined to lowland savanna habitats (Mozambique and Zimbabwe). A third clade comprises R. eloquens from East Africa. Speciation within Clade 1 is associated with fixed differences in echolocation call frequency, and cranial shape and size in populations isolated since the late Pliocene (ca 3.74 Mya). Relative to the intermediate-sized savanna population (Clade 2), these island-populations within Clade 1 are characterised by either gigantism (South African eastern Great Escarpment and Mts Mabu and Inago in Mozambique) or dwarfism (Lutope-Ngolangola Gorge, Zimbabwe and Soutpansberg Mountains, South Africa). Sympatry between divergent clades (Clade 1 and Clade 2) at Lutope-Ngolangola Gorge (NW Zimbabwe) is attributed to recent range expansions. We propose an “Allometric Speciation Hypothesis”, which attributes the evolution of this species complex of bats to divergence in constant frequency (CF) sonar calls. The origin of species-specific peak frequencies (overall range = 32 to 46 kHz) represents the allometric effect of adaptive divergence in skull size, represented in the evolution of gigantism and dwarfism in habitat islands.     

Phylogenetic Classification at Generic Level in the Absence of Distinct Phylogenetic Patterns of Phenotypical Variation: A Case Study in Graphidaceae (Ascomycota)

Molecular phylogenies often reveal that taxa circumscribed by phenotypical characters are not monophyletic. While re-examination of phenotypical characters often identifies the presence of characters characterizing clades, there is a growing number of studies that fail to identify diagnostic characters, especially in organismal groups lacking complex morphologies. Taxonomists then can either merge the groups or split taxa into smaller entities. Due to the nature of binomial nomenclature, this decision is of special importance at the generic level. Here we propose a new approach to choose among classification alternatives using a combination of morphology-based phylogenetic binning and a multiresponse permutation procedure to test for morphological differences among clades. We illustrate the use of this method in the tribe Thelotremateae focusing on the genus Chapsa, a group of lichenized fungi in which our phylogenetic estimate is in conflict with traditional classification and the morphological and chemical characters do not show a clear phylogenetic pattern. We generated 75 new DNA sequences of mitochondrial SSU rDNA, nuclear LSU rDNA and the protein-coding RPB2. This data set was used to infer phylogenetic estimates using maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches. The genus Chapsa was found to be polyphyletic, forming four well-supported clades, three of which clustering into one unsupported clade, and the other, supported clade forming two supported subclades. While these clades cannot be readily separated morphologically, the combined binning/multiresponse permutation procedure showed that accepting the four clades as different genera each reflects the phenotypical pattern significantly better than accepting two genera (or five genera if splitting the first clade). Another species within the Thelotremateae, Thelotrema petractoides, a unique taxon with carbonized excipulum resembling Schizotrema, was shown to fall outside Thelotrema. Consequently, the new genera Astrochapsa, Crutarndina, Pseudochapsa, and Pseudotopeliopsis are described here and 39 new combinations are proposed.     

57 Systematics of hydropuntia montagne (gracilariaceae,gracilariales, rhodophyta) based on comparative morphology and rbcL sequence analysis

The taxonomic validity of the genus Hydropuntia Montagne (1843) (including Polycavernosa) within the Gracilariaceae (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta) is controversial. Morphological characters that define species of Hydropuntia are said to be variable and to overlap with those of Gracilaria. Here we present a global phylogenetic study of the family based on a Bayesian analysis of a large rbcL DNA sequence dataset indicating that the genus Hydropuntia forms a well supported monophyletic clade within the family, and recognize Hydropuntia as a genus distinct from Gracilaria. We also conducted smaller phylogenetic analyses in which thirty four Hydropuntia rbcL sequences resulted in two major clades within the genus, comprising a Caribbean clade and an Indo‐Pacific clade. Diagnostic reproductive stages that separate these two clades will be illustrated.     

Recognition of two major clades and early diverged groups within the subfamily Cyperoideae (Cyperaceae) including Korean sedges

We aim to present phylogenetic major groups within the subfamily Cyperoideae (Cyperaceae) on the basis of three molecular data sets; nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer and 5.8S ribosomal RNA region, the ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit gene, and trnL intron and trnL-F intergenic spacer. Three molecular data and two combined data sets were used to obtain robust and detailed phylogenetic trees by using maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference, respectively. We analyzed 81 genera and 426 species of Cyperaceae, including Korean species. We suggest one early diverged group (EDGs), and two major clades (FAEC and SDC) within the subfamily Cyperoideae. And the clade EDGs comprises six tribes (Schoeneae, Bisboeckelereae, Sclerieae, Cryptangieae, Trilepideae, and Rhynchosporeae) at the basal nodes of Cyperoideae. The FAEC clade (posterior probability [PP]/bootstrap value [BS] = 1.00/85) comprises four tribes (Fuireneae, Abildgaardieae, Eleocharideae, Cypereae), and the SDC clade (PP/BS = 1.00/86) comprises three tribes (Scirpeae, Dulichieae, Cariceae). These three clades used for phylogenetic groups in our study will be useful for establishing the major lineage of the sedge family. The phylogeny of Korean sedges was also investigated within the whole phylogeny of Cyperaceae. The 20 genera of Korean sedges were placed in 10 tribes forming 14 clades.     

基于部分线粒体细胞色素氧化酶亚基Ⅰ(mtCOI)DNA 序列的6种蝙蝠(翼手目:蝙蝠科)的分子系统进化关系

对贵州5种蝙蝠科蝙蝠的部分线粒体细胞色素氧化酶亚基ⅠDNA序列进行了测定,并结合从Genbank获得的爪哇伏翼的相应序列,以Pteropus dasymallus,P.scapulatus,Rousettus aegyptiacus为外群,运用贝叶斯法(Bayes-ian),最大似然法(Maximum Likelihood,ML)分析了这6种蝙蝠科蝙蝠的分子系统进化关系。结果表明:在贝叶斯,ML树中,这6种蝙蝠科的蝙蝠可分为3个分支:亚洲长翼蝠是第1个独立出来的分支;白腹管鼻蝠是继亚洲长翼蝠之后第2个分离出来的分支;第3个分支又分为两支,一支由大鼠耳蝠和小鼠耳蝠组成,另一支由南蝠和爪哇伏翼组成,支持将这4种蝙蝠同归于蝙蝠亚科的结论,从一定程度上否定了鼠耳蝠属和管鼻蝠亚科之间的姐妹类群关系,也不支持将鼠耳属提升为亚科。     

Multigene Molecular Phylogeny and Biogeographic Diversification of the Earth Tongue Fungi in the Genera Cudonia and Spathularia (Rhytismatales,Ascomycota)

The family Cudoniaceae (Rhytismatales, Ascomycota) was erected to accommodate the “earth tongue fungi” in the genera Cudonia and Spathularia. There have been no recent taxonomic studies of these genera, and the evolutionary relationships within and among these fungi are largely unknown. Here we explore the molecular phylogenetic relationships within Cudonia and Spathularia using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses based on 111 collections from across the Northern Hemisphere. Phylogenies based on the combined data from ITS, nrLSU, rpb2 and tef-1α sequences support the monophyly of three main clades, the /flavida, /velutipes, and /cudonia clades. The genus Cudonia and the family Cudoniaceae are supported as monophyletic groups, while the genus Spathularia is not monophyletic. Although Cudoniaceae is monophyletic, our analyses agree with previous studies that this family is nested within the Rhytismataceae. Our phylogenetic analyses circumscribes 32 species-level clades, including the putative recognition of 23 undescribed phylogenetic species. Our molecular phylogeny also revealed an unexpectedly high species diversity of Cudonia and Spathularia in eastern Asia, with 16 (out of 21) species-level clades of Cudonia and 8 (out of 11) species-level clades of Spathularia. We estimate that the divergence time of the Cudoniaceae was in the Paleogene approximately 28 Million years ago (Mya) and that the ancestral area for this group of fungi was in Eastern Asia based on the current data. We hypothesize that the large-scale geological and climatic events in Oligocene (e.g. the global cooling and the uplift of the Tibetan plateau) may have triggered evolutionary radiations in this group of fungi in East Asia. This work provides a foundation for future studies on the phylogeny, diversity, and evolution of Cudonia and Spathularia and highlights the need for more molecular studies on collections from Europe and North America.     

A phylogenetic investigation of Carthamus combining sequence and microsatellite data

Carthamus (Asteraceae) includes both crop (Carthamus tinctorius, safflower) and weedy species. Despite previous studies, many outstanding questions remain regarding the phylogenetic surroundings of safflower, especially in relation to weedy species. Here we investigated relationships within Carthamus using a tiered approach examining sequence and microsatellite data. First, nuclear and chloroplast sequences were analyzed from 37 accessions of 16 species. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference confirm two well supported clades, corresponding to sect. Atractlyis and sect. Carthamus, the latter of which includes safflower. Because sequence data provided limited resolution within the clades, microsatellite markers were used to investigate relationships within sect. Carthamus. Both sequence and microsatellite data reveal that most traditionally recognized species are not monophyletic. Microsatellite data indicate that Carthamus palaestinus is the closest relative of cultivated safflower.     

Molecular phylogeny of the harvestmen genus Sabacon (Arachnida: Opiliones: Dyspnoi) reveals multiple Eocene–Oligocene intercontinental dispersal events in the Holarctic

We investigated the phylogeny and biogeographic history of the Holarctic harvestmen genus Sabacon, which shows an intercontinental disjunct distribution and is presumed to be a relatively old taxon. Molecular phylogenetic relationships of Sabacon were estimated using multiple gene regions and Bayesian inference for a comprehensive Sabacon sample. Molecular clock analyses, using relaxed clock models implemented in BEAST, are applied to date divergence events. Biogeographic scenarios utilizing S-DIVA and Lagrange C++ are reconstructed over sets of Bayesian trees, allowing for the incorporation of phylogenetic uncertainty and quantification of alternative reconstructions over time. Four primary well-supported subclades are recovered within Sabacon: (1) restricted to western North America; (2) eastern North American S. mitchelli and sampled Japanese taxa; (3) a second western North American group and taxa from Nepal and China; and (4) eastern North American S. cavicolens with sampled European Sabacon species. Three of four regional faunas (wNA, eNA, East Asia) are thereby non-monophyletic, and three clades include intercontinental disjuncts. Molecular clock analyses and biogeographic reconstructions support nearly simultaneous intercontinental dispersal coincident with the Eocene–Oligocene transition. We hypothesize that biogeographic exchange in the mid-Tertiary is likely correlated with the onset of global cooling, allowing cryophilic Sabacon taxa to disperse within and among continents. Morphological variation supports the divergent genetic clades observed in Sabacon, and suggests that a taxonomic revision (e.g., splitting Sabacon into multiple genera) may be warranted.     

Integrated Fossil and Molecular Data Reveal the Biogeographic Diversification of the Eastern Asian-Eastern North American Disjunct Hickory Genus (Carya Nutt.)

The hickory genus (Carya) contains ca. 17 species distributed in subtropical and tropical regions of eastern Asia and subtropical to temperate regions of eastern North America. Previously, the phylogenetic relationships between eastern Asian and eastern North American species of Carya were not fully confirmed even with an extensive sampling, biogeographic and diversification patterns had thus never been investigated in a phylogenetic context. We sampled 17 species of Carya and 15 species representing all other genera of the Juglandaceae as outgroups, with eight nuclear and plastid loci to reconstruct the phylogeny of Carya. The phylogenetic positions of seven extinct genera of the Juglandaceae were inferred using morphological characters and the molecular phylogeny as a backbone constraint. Divergence times within Carya were estimated with relaxed Bayesian dating. Biogeographic analyses were performed in DIVA and LAGRANGE. Diversification rates were inferred by LASER and APE packages. Our results support two major clades within Carya, corresponding to the lineages of eastern Asia and eastern North America. The split between the two disjunct clades is estimated to be 21.58 (95% HPD 11.07-35.51) Ma. Genus-level DIVA and LAGRANGE analyses incorporating both extant and extinct genera of the Juglandaceae suggested that Carya originated in North America, and migrated to Eurasia during the early Tertiary via the North Atlantic land bridge. Fragmentation of the distribution caused by global cooling in the late Tertiary resulted in the current disjunction. The diversification rate of hickories in eastern North America appeared to be higher than that in eastern Asia, which is ascribed to greater ecological opportunities, key morphological innovations, and polyploidy.     

Phylogeny and classification of Ranunculales: Evidence from four molecular loci and morphological data

Previous phylogenetic analyses of Ranunculales, which have mostly been focused on an individual family and were based on molecular data alone, have recovered three main clades within the order. However, support for relationships among these three clades was weak. Earlier hypotheses were often hampered by limited taxon sampling; to date less than one-tenth of the genera in the order have been sampled. In this study, we used a greatly enlarged taxon sampling (105 species, representing 99 genera of all seven families in the order). Our study is, furthermore, the first to employ morphology (65 characters) in combination with sequence data from four genomic regions, including plastid rbcL, matK and trnL-F, and nuclear ribosomal 26S rDNA to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships within Ranunculales. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference were performed on the individual and combined data sets. Our analyses concur with those of previous studies, but in most cases provide stronger support and better resolution for relationships among the three main clades retrieved. The first, comprised solely of the monogeneric family Eupteleaceae, is the earliest-diverging lineage. The second clade is composed exclusively of taxa of Papaveraceae, which is sister to the third clade, the core Ranunculales, comprising the other five families of the order. Circaeasteraceae and Lardizabalaceae form a strongly supported clade. Pteridophyllum is supported as sister to Hypecoum, contradicting the viewpoint that the former is the earliest-diverging genus in Papaveraceae. Glaucidium is basalmost in Ranunculaceae. Within this phylogenetic framework, the evolution of selected characters is inferred and diagnostic morphological characters at different taxonomic levels are identified and discussed. Based on both morphological and molecular evidence, a classification outline for Ranunculales is presented, including the proposal of two new subfamilies, Menispermoideae and Tinosporoideae in Menispermaceae and a new tribe, Callianthemeae, for the genus Callianthemum (Ranunculaceae).     

The First Comprehensive Phylogeny of Coptis (Ranunculaceae) and Its Implications for Character Evolution and Classification

Coptis (Ranunculaceae) contains 15 species and is one of the pharmaceutically most important plant genera in eastern Asia. Understanding of the evolution of morphological characters and phylogenetic relationships within the genus is very limited. Here, we present the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the genus based on two plastid and one nuclear markers. The phylogeny was reconstructed using Bayesian inference, as well as maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods. The Swofford-Olsen-Waddell-Hillis and Bayesian tests were used to assess the strength of the conflicts between traditional taxonomic units and those suggested by the phylogenetic inferences. Evolution of morphological characters was inferred using Bayesian method to identify synapomorphies for the infrageneric lineages. Our data recognize two strongly supported clades within Coptis. The first clade contains subgenus Coptis and section Japonocoptis of subgenus Metacoptis, supported by morphological characters, such as traits of the central leaflet base, petal color, and petal shape. The second clade consists of section Japonocoptis of subgenus Metacoptis. Coptis morii is not united with C. quinquefolia, in contrast with the view that C. morii is a synonym of C. quinquefolia. Two varieties of C. chinensis do not cluster together. Coptis groenlandica and C. lutescens are reduced to C. trifolia and C. japonica, respectively. Central leaflet base, sepal shape, and petal blade carry a strong phylogenetic signal in Coptis, while leaf type, sepal and petal color, and petal shape exhibit relatively higher levels of evolutionary flexibility.     

Growth of horseshoe bats (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) in temperate continental conditions and the influence of climate

Growth characteristics of three species of horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, R. euryale and R. mehelyi) were studied in northern Bulgaria, and measurements of cohorts born there in different years were compared interannually. Bulgarian horseshoe bats are usually born in the first 3 weeks of June and start to leave the roost at an age of about 3 weeks. Young horseshoe bats of all three species had attained more than 95% of the adult dimensions at the time when they started to regularly leave the cave to forage on their own in mid of July. Individually marked juvenile R. ferrumequinum reached adult dimensions in most external wing measurements in the first half of August. Accordingly the pooled measurements of all juveniles did not differ anymore from those of adult bats in the second half of August. The same pattern was found in R. mehelyi and R. euryale.We found a clear relationship between the climatic conditions prevailing in each year and the final size of individuals born respectively in those years. Whereas previous studies have addressed climatic effects only on several bat species along their northern limits of distribution, these data provide the first evidence for an influence of climate on the growth of individuals in the centre of the species’ distributions.     

Phylogeny of Molossidae Gervais (Mammalia: Chiroptera) inferred by morphological data

Molossidae is a large (roughly 100 species) pantropically distributed clade of swift aerially insectivorous bats for which the phylogeny remains relatively unknown and little studied compared with other speciose groups of bats. We investigated phylogenetic relationships among 62 species, representing all extant molossid genera and most of the subgenera, using 102 morphological characters from the skull, dentition, postcrania, external morphology, tongue, and penis, based on direct observation and literature reports. Both parsimony and Bayesian analyses were used in phylogenetic reconstruction. Our analysis supports two main clades of molossids, both of which mingle Old World and New World taxa. One clade is comprised of Mormopterus,Platymops, Sauromys, Neoplatymops, Molossops, Cynomops, Cheiromeles, Molossus, and Promops. The other clade includes Tadarida, Otomops, Nyctinomops, Eumops, Chaerephon, and Mops. The position of Myopterus with respect to these two groups is unclear. As in other recent analyses, we find that several genera do not appear to be monophyletic (e.g. Tadarida, Chaerephon, and Molossops sensu lato). We recommend that the subgenera of Molossops sensu lato and Austronomus be recognized at the generic level. We conclude that much more data are needed to investigate lower level problems (generic monophyly and relationships within genera) and to resolve the higher‐level branching pattern of the family.     

Phylogenetic relationships of Ansonia from Southeast Asia inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences: Systematic and biogeographic implications (Anura: Bufonidae)

We investigated the phylogenetic relationships and estimated the history of species diversification and biogeography in the bufonid genus Ansonia from Southeast Asia, a unique organism with tadpoles adapted to life in strong currents chiefly in montane regions and also in lowland rainforests. We estimated phylogenetic relationships among 32 named and unnamed taxa using 2461 bp sequences of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA, tRNA^val, and 16S rRNA genes with equally-weighted parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods of inference. Monophyletic clades of Southeast Asian members of the genus Ansonia are well-supported, allowing for the interpretation of general biogeographic conclusions. The genus is divided into two major clades. One of these contains two reciprocally monophyletic subclades, one from the Malay Peninsula and Thailand and the other from Borneo. The other major clade primarily consists of Bornean taxa but also includes a monophyletic group of two Philippine species and a single peninsular Malaysian species. We estimated absolute divergence times using Bayesian methods with external calibration points to reconstruct the relative timing of faunal exchange between the major landmasses of Southeast Asia.     

Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda and Tachypleus tridentatus (Xiphosura,Arthropoda) and Implications for Chelicerate Phylogenetic Studies

Horseshoe crabs (order Xiphosura) are often referred to as an ancient order of marine chelicerates and have been considered as keystone taxa for the understanding of chelicerate evolution. However, the mitochondrial genome of this order is only available from a single species, Limulus polyphemus. In the present study, we analyzed the complete mitochondrial genomes from two Asian horseshoe crabs, Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda and Tachypleus tridentatus to offer novel data for the evolutionary relationship within Xiphosura and their position in the chelicerate phylogeny. The mitochondrial genomes of C. rotundicauda (15,033 bp) and T. tridentatus (15,006 bp) encode 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes. Overall sequences and genome structure of two Asian species were highly similar to that of Limulus polyphemus, though clear differences among three were found in the stem-loop structure of the putative control region. In the phylogenetic analysis with complete mitochondrial genomes of 43 chelicerate species, C. rotundicauda and T. tridentatus were recovered as a monophyly, while L. polyphemus solely formed an independent clade. Xiphosuran species were placed at the basal root of the tree, and major other chelicerate taxa were clustered in a single monophyly, clearly confirming that horseshoe crabs composed an ancestral taxon among chelicerates. By contrast, the phylogenetic tree without the information of Asian horseshoe crabs did not support monophyletic clustering of other chelicerates. In conclusion, our analyses may provide more robust and reliable perspective on the study of evolutionary history for chelicerates than earlier analyses with a single Atlantic species.     

Trypanosoma rangeli is phylogenetically closer to Old World trypanosomes than to Trypanosoma cruzi

Trypanosoma rangeli and Trypanosoma cruzi are generalist trypanosomes sharing a wide range of mammalian hosts; they are transmitted by triatomine bugs, and are the only trypanosomes infecting humans in the Neotropics. Their origins, phylogenetic relationships, and emergence as human parasites have long been subjects of interest. In the present study, taxon-rich analyses (20 trypanosome species from bats and terrestrial mammals) using ssrRNA, glycosomal glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH), heat shock protein-70 (HSP70) and Spliced Leader RNA sequences, and multilocus phylogenetic analyses using 11 single copy genes from 15 selected trypanosomes, provide increased resolution of relationships between species and clades, strongly supporting two main sister lineages: lineage Schizotrypanum, comprising T. cruzi and bat-restricted trypanosomes, and Tra[Tve-Tco] formed by T. rangeli, Trypanosoma vespertilionis and Trypanosoma conorhini clades. Tve comprises European T. vespertilionis and African T. vespertilionis-like of bats and bat cimicids characterised in the present study and Trypanosoma sp. Hoch reported in monkeys and herein detected in bats. Tco included the triatomine-transmitted tropicopolitan T. conorhini from rats and the African NanDoum1 trypanosome of civet (carnivore). Consistent with their very close relationships, Tra[Tve-Tco] species shared highly similar Spliced Leader RNA structures that were highly divergent from those of Schizotrypanum. In a plausible evolutionary scenario, a bat trypanosome transmitted by cimicids gave origin to the deeply rooted Tra[Tve-Tco] and Schizotrypanum lineages, and bat trypanosomes of diverse genetic backgrounds jumped to new hosts. A long and independent evolutionary history of T. rangeli more related to Old World trypanosomes from bats, rats, monkeys and civets than to Schizotrypanum spp., and the adaptation of these distantly related trypanosomes to different niches of shared mammals and vectors, is consistent with the marked differences in transmission routes, life-cycles and host-parasite interactions, resulting in T. cruzi (but not T. rangeli) being pathogenic to humans.     

Molecular phylogenetics and morphological evolution of St. John’s wort (Hypericum; Hypericaceae)

Phylogenetic hypotheses for the large cosmopolitan genus Hypericum (St. John’s wort) have previously been based on morphology, and molecular studies have thus far included only a few species. In this study, we used 360 sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) for 206 species representing Hypericum (incl. Triadenum and Thornea) and three other genera of Hypericaceae to generate an explicit phylogenetic hypothesis for the genus using parsimony and model-based methods. The results indicate that the small genus Triadenum is nested in a clade within Hypericum containing most of the New World species. Sister to Hypericum is Thornea from Central America. Within Hypericum, three large clades and two smaller grades were found; these are based on their general morphology, especially characters used previously in taxonomy of the genus. Relative to the most recent classification, around 60% of the sections of Hypericum were monophyletic. We used a Bayesian approach to reconstruct ancestral states of selected morphological characters, which resulted in recognition of characters that support major clades within the genus and a revised interpretation of morphological evolution in Hypericum. The shrubby habit represents the plesiomorphic state from which herbs evolved several times. Arborescent species have radiated convergently in high-elevation habitats in tropical Africa and South America.