Molecular studies on two variant repeat types of the common cetacean DNA satellite of the sperm whale, and the relationship between Physeteridae (sperm whales) and Ziphiidae (beaked whales) |
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Authors: | Gretarsdottir S; Arnason U |
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Institution: | Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Lund, Sweden. |
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Abstract: | In the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) two different repeat types (A
and B) of the common cetacean DNA satellite were identified. The evolution
of each group of repeats appears to be independent from that of the other.
The sequence similarity between the two groups is less than the similarity
between group A and repeats of the satellite in related whale species. The
systematic relationship within and between the families Physeteridae (sperm
whales) and Ziphiidae (beaked whales) was addressed by both sequence
analysis of the satellite and comparisons with the families Delphinidae and
Phocoenidae. The mysticete blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) was used as
an outgroup in the comparisons. The molecular phylogeny, when
maximum-parsimony analysis and the neighbor-joining method were used,
grouped together species of each family. At the family level the ziphiids
grouped closet to the families Phocoenidae and Delphinidae. The
similarities between the common cetacean satellite of the blue whale and
the sperm whale were greater than those between the blue whale and the
other odontocetes included, suggesting that the evolution of the satellite
is slower in the sperm whale than in the other odontocetes.
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