Extreme differences in rates of molecular evolution of foraminifera revealed by comparison of ribosomal DNA sequences and the fossil record |
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Authors: | Pawlowski J; Bolivar I; Fahrni JF; de Vargas C; Gouy M; Zaninetti L |
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Institution: | Departement de Zoologie et Biologie Animale, Universite de Geneve, Switzerland. pawlow@sc2a.unige.ch |
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Abstract: | Foraminifera have one of the best known fossil records among the
unicellular eukaryotes. However, the origin and phylogenetic relationships
of the extant foraminiferal lineages are poorly understood. To test the
current paleontological hypotheses on evolution of foraminifera, we
sequenced about 1,000 base pairs from the 3' end of the small subunit rRNA
gene (SSU rDNA) in 22 species representing all major taxonomic groups.
Phylogenies were derived using neighbor- joining, maximum-parsimony, and
maximum-likelihood methods. All analyses confirm the monophyletic origin of
foraminifera. Evolutionary relationships within foraminifera inferred from
rDNA sequences, however, depend on the method of tree building and on the
choice of analyzed sites. In particular, the position of planktonic
foraminifera shows important variations. We have shown that these changes
result from the extremely high rate of rDNA evolution in this group. By
comparing the number of substitutions with the divergence times inferred
from the fossil record, we have estimated that the rate of rDNA evolution
in planktonic foraminifera is 50 to 100 times faster than in some benthic
foraminifera. The use of the maximum-likelihood method and limitation of
analyzed sites to the most conserved parts of the SSU rRNA molecule render
molecular and paleontological data generally congruent.
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