Revised small subunit rRNA analysis provides further evidence that Foraminifera are related to Cercozoa

There is accumulating evidence that the general shape of the ribosomal DNA-based phylogeny of Eukaryotes is strongly biased by the long-branch attraction phenomenon, leading to an artifactual basal clustering of groups that are probably highly derived. Among these groups, Foraminifera are of particular interest, because their deep phylogenetic position in ribosomal trees contrasts with their Cambrian appearance in the fossil record. A recent actin-based phylogeny of Eukaryotes has proposed that Foraminifera might be closely related to Cercozoa and, thus, branch among the so-called crown of Eukaryotes. Here, we reanalyze the small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rDNA) phylogeny by removing all long-branching lineages that could artifactually attract foraminiferan sequences to the base of the tree. Our analyses reveal that Foraminifera branch together with the marine testate filosean Gromia oviformis as a sister group to Cercozoa, in agreement with actin phylogeny. Our study confirms the utility of SSU rDNA as a phylogenetic marker of megaevolutionary history, provided that the artifacts due to the heterogeneity of substitution rates in ribosomal genes are circumvented.     

Phylogenetic utility of protein (RPB2, β-tubulin) and ribosomal (LSU,SSU) gene sequences in the systematics of Sordariomycetes (Ascomycota,Fungi)

The Sordariomycetes is an important group of fungi whose taxonomic relationships and classification is obscure. There is presently no multi-gene molecular phylogeny that addresses evolutionary relationships among different classes and orders. In this study, phylogenetic analyses with a broad taxon sampling of the Sordariomycetes were conducted to evaluate the utility of four gene regions (LSU rDNA, SSU rDNA, beta-tubulin and RPB2) for inferring evolutionary relationships at different taxonomic ranks. Single and multi-gene genealogies inferred from Bayesian and Maximum Parsimony analyses were compared in individual and combined datasets. At the subclass level, SSU rDNA phylogenies demonstrate their utility as a marker to infer phylogenetic relationships at higher levels. All analyses with SSU rDNA alone, combined LSU rDNA and SSU rDNA, and the combined 28 S rDNA, SSU rDNA and RPB2 datasets resulted in three subclasses: Hypocreomycetidae, Sordariomycetidae and Xylariomycetidae, which correspond well to established morphological classification schemes. At the ordinal level, the best resolved phylogeny was obtained from the combined LSU rDNA and SSU rDNA datasets. Individually, the RPB2 gene dataset resulted in significantly higher number of parsimony informative characters. Our results supported the recent separation of Boliniaceae, Chaetosphaeriaceae and Coniochaetaceae from Sordariales and placement of Coronophorales in Hypocreomycetidae. Microascales was found to be paraphyletic and Ceratocystis is phylogenetically associated to Faurelina, while Microascus and Petriella formed another clade and basal to other members of Halosphaeriales. In addition, the order Lulworthiales does not appear to fit in any of the three subclasses. Congruence between morphological and molecular classification schemes is discussed.     

Polyubiquitin insertions and the phylogeny of Cercozoa and Rhizaria

A single or double amino acid insertion at the monomer-monomer junction of the universal eukaryotic protein polyubiquitin is unique to Cercozoa and Foraminifera, closely related 'core' phyla in the protozoan infrakingdom Rhizaria. We screened 11 other candidate rhizarians for this insertion: Radiozoa (polycystine and acantharean radiolaria), a 'microheliozoan', and Apusozoa; all lack it, supporting suggestions that Foraminifera are more closely related to Cercozoa than either is to other eukaryotes. The insertion's size was ascertained for 12 additional Cercozoa to help resolve their basal branching order. The earliest branching Cercozoa generally have a single amino acid insertion, like all Foraminifera, but a large derived clade consisting of all Monadofilosa except Metopion, Helk-esimastix, and Cercobodo agilis has two amino acids, suggesting one doubling event and no reversions to a single amino acid. Metromonas and Sainouron, cercozoans of uncertain position, have a double insertion, suggesting that they belong in Monadofilosa. An alternative interpretation, suggested by the higher positions for Metopion and Cercobodo on Bayesian trees compared with most distance trees, cannot be ruled out, i.e. that the second insertion took place earlier, in the ancestral filosan, and was followed by three independent reversions to a single amino acid in Chlorarachnea, Metopion and Cercobodo.     

Concatenated SSU and LSU rDNA data confirm the main evolutionary trends within myxosporeans (Myxozoa: Myxosporea) and provide an effective tool for their molecular phylogenetics

Views on myxosporean phylogeny and systematics have recently undergone substantial changes resulting from analyses of SSU rDNA. Here, we further investigate the evolutionary trends within myxosporean lineages by using 35 new sequences of the LSU rDNA. We show a good agreement between the two rRNA genes and confirm the main phylogenetic split between the freshwater and marine lineages. The informative superiority of the LSU data is shown by an increase of the resolution, nodal supports and tree indexes in the LSU rDNA and combined analyses. We determine the most suitable part of LSU for the myxosporean phylogeny by comparing informative content in various regions of the LSU sequences. Based on this comparison, we propose the D5–3′-end part of the LSU rRNA gene as the most informative region which provides in concatenation with the complete SSU a well resolved and robust tree. To allow for simple amplification of the marker, we design specific primer set for this part of LSU rDNA.     

Phylogeny of Choanozoa,Apusozoa, and Other Protozoa and Early Eukaryote Megaevolution

Abstract The primary diversification of eukaryotes involved protozoa, especially zooflagellates—flagellate protozoa without plastids. Understanding the origins of the higher eukaryotic kingdoms (two purely heterotrophic, Animalia and Fungi, and two primarily photosynthetic, Plantae and Chromista) depends on clarifying evolutionary relationships among the phyla of the ancestral kingdom Protozoa. We therefore sequenced 18S rRNA genes from 10 strains from the protozoan phyla Choanozoa and Apusozoa. Eukaryote diversity is encompassed by three early-radiating, arguably monophyletic groups: Amoebozoa, opisthokonts, and bikonts. Our taxon-rich rRNA phylogeny for eukaryotes allowing for intersite rate variation strongly supports the opisthokont clade (animals, Choanozoa, Fungi). It agrees with the view that Choanozoa are sisters of or ancestral to animals and reveals a novel nonflagellate choanozoan lineage, Ministeriida, sister either to choanoflagellates, traditionally considered animal ancestors, or to animals. Maximum likelihood trees suggest that within animals Placozoa are derived from medusozoan Cnidaria (we therefore place Placozoa as a class within subphylum Medusozoa of the Cnidaria) and hexactinellid sponges evolved from demosponges. The bikont and amoebozoan radiations are both very ill resolved. Bikonts comprise the kingdoms Plantae and Chromista and three major protozoan groups: alveolates, excavates, and Rhizaria. Our analysis weakly suggests that Apusozoa, represented by Ancyromonas and the apusomonads (Apusomonas and the highly diverse and much more ancient genus Amastigomonas, from which it evolved), are not closely related to other Rhizaria and may be the most divergent bikont lineages. Although Ancyromonas and apusomonads appear deeply divergent in 18S rRNA trees, the trees neither refute nor support the monophyly of Apusozoa. The bikont phylum Cercozoa weakly but consistently appears as sister to Retaria (Foraminifera; Radiolaria), together forming a hitherto largely unrecognized major protozoan assemblage (core Rhizaria) in the eukaryote tree. Both 18S rRNA sequence trees and a rare deletion show that nonciliate haplosporidian and paramyxid parasites of shellfish (together comprising the Ascetosporea) are not two separate phyla, as often thought, but part of the Cercozoa, and may be related to the plant-parasitic plasmodiophorids and phagomyxids, which were originally the only parasites included in the Cercozoa. We discuss rRNA trees in relation to other evidence concerning the basal diversification and root of the eukaryotic tree and argue that bikonts and opisthokonts, at least, are holophyletic. Amoebozoa and bikonts may be sisters—jointly called anterokonts, as they ancestrally had an anterior cilium, not a posterior one like opisthokonts; this contrasting ciliary orientation may reflect a primary divergence in feeding mode of the first eukaryotes. Anterokonts also differ from opisthokonts in sterol biosynthesis (cycloartenol versus lanosterol pathway), major exoskeletal polymers (cellulose versus chitin), and mitochondrial cristae (ancestrally tubular not flat), possibly also primary divergences.     

Genetic Diversity of Microbial Eukaryotes in Anoxic Sediment of the Saline Meromictic Lake Namako-ike (Japan): On the Detection of Anaerobic or Anoxic-tolerant Lineages of Eukaryotes

Available sequence data on eukaryotic small-subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) directly retrieved from various environments have increased recently, and the diversity of microbial eukaryotes (protists) has been shown to be much greater than previously expected. However, the molecular information accumulated to date does still not thoroughly reveal ecological distribution patterns of microbial eukaryotes. In the ongoing challenge to detect anaerobic or anoxic-tolerant lineages of eukaryotes, we directly extracted DNA from the anoxic sediment of a saline meromictic lake, constructed genetic libraries of PCR-amplified SSU rDNA, and performed phylogenetic analyses with the cloned SSU rDNA sequences. Although a few sequences could not be confidently assigned to any major eukaryotic groups in the analyses and are debatable regarding their taxonomic positions, most sequences obtained have affiliations with known major lineages of eukaryotes (Cercozoa, Alveolata, Stramenopiles, and Opisthokonta). Among these sequences, some branched with lineages predominantly composed of uncultured environmental clones retrieved from other anoxic environments, while others were closely related to those of eukaryotic parasites (e.g. Phytomyxea of Cercozoa, Gregarinea of Alveolata, and Ichthyosporea of Opisthokonta).     

Higher-level phylogeny of Foraminifera inferred from the RNA polymerase II (RPB1) gene

Macroevolutionary relations among main lineages of Foraminifera have traditionally been inferred from the small subunit ribosomal genes (SSU rDNA). However, important discrepancies in the rates of SSU rDNA evolution between major lineages led to difficulties in accurate interpretation of SSU-based phylogenetic reconstructions. Recently, actin and beta-tubulin sequences have been used as alternative markers of foraminiferal phylogeny and their analyses globally confirm results obtained with SSU rDNA. In order to test new protein markers, we sequenced a fragment of the largest subunit of the RNA polymerase II (RPB1), a nuclear encoded single copy gene, for 8 foraminiferal species representing major orders of Foraminifera. Analyses of our data robustly confirm previous SSU rDNA and actin phylogenies and show (i) the paraphyly and ancestral position of monothalamid Foraminifera; (ii) the independent origin of miliolids; (iii) the monophyly of rotaliids, including buliminids and globigerinids; and (iv) the polyphyly of planktonic families Globigerinidae and Candeinidae. Additionally, the RPB1 phylogeny suggests Allogromiidae as the most ancestral foraminiferal lineage. In the light of our study, RPB1 appears as a valuable phylogenetic marker, particularly useful for groups of protists showing extreme variations of evolutionary rates in ribosomal genes.     

Independent terrestrial origins of the Halosphaeriales (marine Ascomycota)

A phylogenetic study of marine ascomycetes was initiated to test and refine evolutionary hypotheses of marine-terrestrial transitions among ascomycetes. Taxon sampling focused on the Halosphaeriales, the largest order of marine ascomycetes. Approximately 1050 base pairs (bp) of the gene that codes for the nuclear small subunit (SSU) and 600 bp of the gene that codes for the nuclear large subunit (LSU) ribosomal RNAs (rDNA) were sequenced for 15 halosphaerialean taxa and integrated into a data set of homologous sequences from terrestrial ascomycetes. An initial set of phylogenetic analyses of the SSU rDNA from 38 taxa representing 15 major orders of the phylum Ascomycota confirmed a close phylogenetic relationship of the halosphaerialean species with several other orders of perithecial ascomycetes. A second set of analyses, which involved more intensive taxon sampling of perithecial ascomycetes, was performed using the SSU and LSU rDNA data in combined analyses. These second analyses included 15 halosphaerialean taxa, 26 terrestrial perithecial fungi from eight orders, and five outgroup taxa from the Pezizales. In these analyses the Halosphaeriales were polyphyletic and comprised two distinct lineages. One clade of Halosphaeriales comprised 12 taxa from 11 genera and was most closely related to terrestrial fungi of the Microascales. The second clade of halosphaerialean fungi comprised taxa from the genera Lulworthia and Lindra and was an isolated lineage among the perithecial fungi. Both the main clade of Halosphaeriales and the Lulworthia/Lindra clade are supported by the data as being independently derived from terrestrial ancestors.     

Evaluating hypotheses of deuterostome phylogeny and chordate evolution with new LSU and SSU ribosomal DNA data

We investigated evolutionary relationships among deuterostome subgroups by obtaining nearly complete large-subunit ribosomal RNA (LSU rRNA)-gene sequences for 14 deuterostomes and 3 protostomes and complete small-subunit (SSU) rRNA-gene sequences for five of these animals. With the addition of previously published sequences, we compared 28 taxa using three different data sets (LSU only, SSU only, and combined LSU + SSU) under minimum evolution (with LogDet distances), maximum likelihood, and maximum parsimony optimality criteria. Additionally, we analyzed the combined LSU + SSU sequences with spectral analysis of LogDet distances, a technique that measures the amount of support and conflict within the data for every possible grouping of taxa. Overall, we found that (1) the LSU genes produced a tree very similar to the SSU gene tree, (2) adding LSU to SSU sequences strengthened the bootstrap support for many groups above the SSU-only values (e.g., hemichordates plus echinoderms as Ambulacraria; lancelets as the sister group to vertebrates), (3) LSU sequences did not support SSU-based hypotheses of pterobranchs evolving from enteropneusts and thaliaceans evolving from ascidians, and (4) the combined LSU + SSU data are ambiguous about the monophyly of chordates. No tree-building algorithm united urochordates conclusively with other chordates, although spectral analysis did so, providing our only evidence for chordate monophyly. With spectral analysis, we also evaluated several major hypotheses of deuterostome phylogeny that were constructed from morphological, embryological, and paleontological evidence. Our rRNA-gene analysis refutes most of these hypotheses and thus advocates a rethinking of chordate and vertebrate origins.     

New taxa refresh the phylogeny and classification of pleurostomatid ciliates (Ciliophora,Litostomatea)

A high diversity of pleurostomatid ciliates has been discovered in the last decade, and their systematics needs to be improved in the light of new findings concerning their morphology and molecular phylogeny. In this work, a new genus, Protolitonotus gen. n., and two new species, Protolitonotus magnus sp. n. and Protolitonotus longus sp. n., were studied. Furthermore, 19 novel nucleotide sequences of SSU rDNA, LSU rDNA and ITS1‐5.8S‐ITS2 were collected to determine the phylogenetic relationships and systematic positions of the pleurostomatid ciliates in this study. Based on both molecular and morphological data, the results demonstrated that: (i) as disclosed by the sequence analysis of SSU rDNA, LSU rDNA and ITS1‐5.8S‐ITS2, Protolitonotus gen. n. is sister to all other pleurostomatids and thus represents an independent lineage and a separate family, Protolitonotidae fam. n., which is defined by the presence of a semi‐suture formed by the right somatic kineties near the dorsal margin of the body; (ii) the families Litonotidae and Kentrophyllidae are both monophyletic based on both SSU rDNA and LSU rDNA sequences, whereas Amphileptidae are non‐monophyletic in trees inferred from SSU rDNA sequences; and (iii) the genera Loxophyllum and Kentrophyllum are both monophyletic, whereas Litonotus is non‐monophyletic based on SSU rDNA analyses. ITS1‐5.8S‐ITS2 sequence data were used for the phylogenetic analyses of pleurostomatids for the first time; however, species relationships were less well resolved than in the SSU rDNA and LSU rDNA trees. In addition, a major revision to the classification of the order Pleurostomatida is suggested and a key to its families and genera is provided.     

Ultrastructure and molecular phylogenetic position of a new marine sand-dwelling dinoflagellate from British Columbia,Canada: Pseudadenoides polypyrenoides sp. nov. (Dinophyceae)

Two monospecific genera of marine benthic dinoflagellates, Adenoides and Pseudadenoides, have unusual thecal tabulation patterns (lack of cingular plates in the former; and no precingular plates and a complete posterior intercalary plate series in the latter) and are thus difficult to place within a phylogenetic framework. Although both genera share morphological similarities, they have not formed sister taxa in previous molecular phylogenetic analyses. We discovered and characterized a new species of Pseudadenoides, P. polypyrenoides sp. nov., at both the ultrastructural and molecular phylogenetic levels. Molecular phylogenetic analyses of SSU and LSU rDNA sequences demonstrated a close relationship between P. polypyrenoides sp. nov. and Pseudadenoides kofoidii, and Adenoides and Pseudadenoides formed sister taxa in phylogenetic trees inferred from LSU rDNA sequences. Comparisons of morphological traits, such as the apical pore complex (APC), demonstrated similarities between Adenoides, Pseudadenoides and several planktonic genera (e.g. Heterocapsa, Azadinium and Amphidoma). Molecular phylogenetic analyses of SSU and LSU rDNA sequences also demonstrated an undescribed species within Adenoides.     

Concatenated data and dense taxon sampling clarify phylogeny and ecological transitions within Hypotricha

Ciliates are single‐cell eukaryotes playing important roles in various ecosystems. Phylogenetic relationships within Hypotricha, one of the most polymorphic and highly derived ciliate groups, remain uncertain. Previous studies suggested that low genetic divergence might be the reason for poorly supported SSU rDNA tree topologies, despite the high morphological diversity of this group. In this study, we substantially increase the number of available hypotrich LSU rDNA gene sequences by the addition of 857 environmental sequences, and we investigate whether a more divergent gene and dense taxon sampling could better resolve the phylogeny of Hypotricha and shed light on the patterns of ecological transitions in the evolutionary history of the group. Pairwise distances of LSU rDNA sequences are generally higher than those for SSU rDNA within each order of Hypotricha, and both concatenated rDNA and LSU rDNA trees provide more resolution for hypotrich phylogenetics. Three traditional (morphology based) hypotrich orders, Stichotrichida, Sporadotrichida and Urostylida, are polyphyletic, but a monophyletic core Urostylida are found in our trees. A brackish/marine environment is inferred as ancestral within Hypotricha, with subsequent ecological diversification into freshwater, soil environments before the origin of major clades and some transitions back to the marine. However, inferred ecological transitions in Hypotricha are influenced by genes, methods and taxa.     

Genetic diversity of microbial eukaryotes in anoxic sediment around fumaroles on a submarine caldera floor based on the small-subunit rDNA phylogeny

Recent culture-independent molecular analyses have shown the diversity and ecological importance of microbial eukaryotes (protists) in various marine environments. In the present study we directly extracted DNA from anoxic sediment near active fumaroles on a submarine caldera floor at a depth of 200 m and constructed genetic libraries of PCR-amplified eukaryotic small-subunit (SSU) rDNA. By sequencing cloned SSU rDNA of the libraries and their phylogenetic analyses, it was shown that most sequences have affiliations with known major lineages of eukaryotes (Cercozoa, Alveolata, stramenopiles and Opisthokonta). In particular, some sequences were closely related to those of representatives of eukaryotic parasites, such as Phagomyxa and Cryothecomonas of Cercozoa, Pirsonia of stramenopiles and Ichthyosporea of Opisthokonta, although it is not clear whether the organisms occur in free-living or parasitic forms. In addition, other sequences did not seem to be related to any described eukaryotic lineages suggesting the existence of novel eukaryotes at a high-taxonomic level in the sediment. The community composition of microbial eukaryotes in the sediment we surveyed was different overall from those of other anoxic marine environments previously investigated.     

Phylogenetic relationships of Gomphillaceae and Asterothyriaceae: evidence from a combined Bayesian analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial sequences

The phylogeny and systematic position of Gomphillaceae was reconstructed using a combined Bayesian analysis of nuclear LSU rDNA and mitochondrial SSU rDNA sequences. Twenty-four partial sequences of 12 taxa (11 Gomphillaceae and one Asterothyriaceae) plus two new sequences of Stictis radiata (Ostropales outgroup) were generated and aligned with the corresponding sequences retrieved from GenBank, resulting in an alignment of 82 taxa that was analyzed using a Bayesian approach with Markov chain Monte Carlo (B/MCMC) methods. Our results confirm Gomphillaceae sensu Vezda and Poelt plus Asterothyriaceae to be a monophyletic group, with an unresolved relationship between the two families. Placement of Gomphillaceae and Asterothyriaceae within Ostropales sensu Kauff and Lutzoni, as sister of Thelotremataceae, also is strongly supported. Alternative hypotheses placing Gomphillaceae in Lecanorales (Cladoniaceae), Agyriales (Baeomycetaceae) or within bitunicate Ascomycota (Arthoniomycetes, Chaetothyriomycetes, Dothideomycetes) were rejected with our dataset. After recent synonymization of Dimerella with Coenogonium (Ostropales: Coenogoniaceae), we propose the new combination Coenogonium pineti (one of our Ostropales outgroup taxa in this analysis).     

Phylogenetic analysis of ribosomal RNA operons from uncultivated coastal marine bacterioplankton

Analyses of small subunit ribosomal RNA genes (SSU rDNAs) have significantly influenced our understanding of the composition of aquatic microbial assemblages. Unfortunately, SSU rDNA sequences often do not have sufficient resolving power to differentiate closely related species. To address this general problem for uncultivated bacterioplankton taxa, we analysed and compared sequences of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-generated and bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)-derived clones that contained most of the SSU rDNAs, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene (LSU rDNA). The phylogenetic representation in the rRNA operon PCR library was similar to that reported previously in coastal bacterioplankton SSU rDNA libraries. We observed good concordance between the phylogenetic relationships among coastal bacterioplankton inferred from SSU or LSU rDNA sequences. ITS sequences confirmed the close intragroup relationships among members of the SAR11, SAR116 and SAR86 clades that were predicted by SSU and LSU rDNA sequence analyses. We also found strong support for homologous recombination between the ITS regions of operons from the SAR11 clade.     

Actin and ubiquitin protein sequences support a cercozoan/foraminiferan ancestry for the plasmodiophorid plant pathogens

The plasmodiophorids are a group of eukaryotic intracellular parasites that cause disease in a variety of economically significant crops. Plasmodiophorids have traditionally been considered fungi but have more recently been suggested to be members of the Cercozoa, a morphologically diverse group of amoeboid, flagellate, and amoeboflagellate protists. The recognition that Cercozoa constitute a monophyletic lineage has come from phylogenetic analyses of small subunit ribosomal RNA genes. Protein sequence data have suggested that the closest relatives of Cercozoa are the Foraminifera. To further test a cercozoan origin for the plasmodiophorids, we isolated actin genes from Plasmodiophora brassicae, Sorosphaera veronicae, and Spongospora subterranea, and polyubiquitin gene fragments from P. brassicae and S. subterranea. We also isolated actin genes from the chlorarachniophyte Lotharella globosa. In protein phylogenies of actin, the plasmodiophorid sequences consistently branch with Cercozoa and Foraminifera, and weakly branch as the sister group to the foraminiferans. The plasmodiophorid polyubiquitin sequences contain a single amino acid residue insertion at the functionally important processing point between ubiquitin monomers, the same place in which an otherwise unique insertion exists in the cercozoan and foraminiferan proteins. Taken together, these results indicate that plasmodiophorids are indeed related to Cercozoa and Foraminifera, although the relationships amongst these groups remain unresolved.     

Testing the new animal phylogeny: first use of combined large-subunit and small-subunit rRNA gene sequences to classify the protostomes

Although the small-subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene is widely used in the molecular systematics, few large-subunit (LSU) rRNA gene sequences are known from protostome animals, and the value of the LSU gene for invertebrate systematics has not been explored. The goal of this study is to test whether combined LSU and SSU rRNA gene sequences support the division of protostomes into Ecdysozoa (molting forms) and Lophotrochozoa, as was proposed by Aguinaldo et al. (1997) (Nature 387:489) based on SSU rRNA sequences alone. Nearly complete LSU gene sequences were obtained, and combined LSU + SSU sequences were assembled, for 15 distantly related protostome taxa plus five deuterostome outgroups. When the aligned LSU + SSU sequences were analyzed by tree-building methods (minimum evolution analysis of LogDet-transformed distances, maximum likelihood, and maximum parsimony) and by spectral analysis of LogDet distances, both Ecdysozoa and Lophotrochozoa were indeed strongly supported (e.g., bootstrap values >90%), with higher support than from the SSU sequences alone. Furthermore, with the LogDet-based methods, the LSU + SSU sequences resolved some accepted subgroups within Ecdysozoa and Lophotrochozoa (e.g., the polychaete sequence grouped with the echiuran, and the annelid sequences grouped with the mollusc and lophophorates)-subgroups that SSU-based studies do not reveal. Also, the mollusc sequence grouped with the sequences from lophophorates (brachiopod and phoronid). Like SSU sequences, our LSU + SSU sequences contradict older hypotheses that grouped annelids with arthropods as Articulata, that said flatworms and nematodes were basal bilateralians, and considered lophophorates, nemerteans, and chaetognaths to be deuterostomes. The position of chaetognaths within protostomes remains uncertain: our chaetognath sequence associated with that of an onychophoran, but this was unstable and probably artifactual. Finally, the benefits of combining LSU with SSU sequences for phylogenetic analyses are discussed: LSU adds signal, it can be used at lower taxonomic levels, and its core region is easy to align across distant taxa-but its base frequencies tend to be nonstationary across such taxa. We conclude that molecular systematists should use combined LSU + SSU rRNA genes rather than SSU alone.     

Lineage-specific variations of congruent evolution among DNA sequences from three genomes,and relaxed selective constraints on <Emphasis Type="Italic">rbc</Emphasis>L in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cryptomonas</Emphasis> (Cryptophyceae)

Background  

Plastid-bearing cryptophytes like Cryptomonas contain four genomes in a cell, the nucleus, the nucleomorph, the plastid genome and the mitochondrial genome. Comparative phylogenetic analyses encompassing DNA sequences from three different genomes were performed on nineteen photosynthetic and four colorless Cryptomonas strains. Twenty-three rbc L genes and fourteen nuclear SSU rDNA sequences were newly sequenced to examine the impact of photosynthesis loss on codon usage in the rbc L genes, and to compare the rbc L gene phylogeny in terms of tree topology and evolutionary rates with phylogenies inferred from nuclear ribosomal DNA (concatenated SSU rDNA, ITS2 and partial LSU rDNA), and nucleomorph SSU rDNA.     

Confirmation of the paraphyletic relationship between families Opisthorchiidae and Heterophyidae using small and large subunit ribosomal DNA sequences

Opisthorchiidae and Heterophyidae are classified into different families based on morphological identification. However, recent molecular phylogenetic studies suggested the possible paraphyletic relationship between these two families. In this study, the paraphyletic relationship between these two families was confirmed further by maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses using the combined sequences of SSU and LSU rDNA.