Distribution and genetic diversity of bacterial thiopurine methyltransferases in soils emitting dimethyl selenide

Dimethyl selenide (DMSe) and dimethyl diselenide (DMDSe) emissions by soil samples spiked with selenite or (methyl)selenocysteine, with or without a supplement of nutrient broth and glucose were measured. DMSe was the main form of volatile Se produced, and was observed for both Se-substrates. DMDSe was only emitted from soils spiked with (methyl)selenocysteine. Two bacterial thiopurine methyltransferases (TPMTs), TPMT-I and TPMT-E, have been reported to be involved in DMSe and DMDSe emissions [J. Bacteriol. 184 (2002) 3146; Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69 (2003) 3784]. To establish if these TPMTs or other members of their gene family could have contributed to the DMSe emissions observed, the diversity of bTPMT gene (tpm) sequences among the soils of this study was investigated. Total DNAs from these soils were extracted and screened using the tpm PTCF2-PTCR2 consensus primers defined to PCR amplify this gene family. The PCR products obtained from two soils were cloned, analysed by PCR-RFLP, and sequenced. Their analysis showed an important diversity of tpm lineages (around 12) in soils. Phylogenetic analysis of the deduced TPMT sequences of these soils revealed lineages not previously recorded in the databases, sequences closely related or identical to freshwater TPMTs, or sequences encoding TPMTs closely related to those of Pseudomonas fragi TPMT-K, Pseudomonas Hsa.28 TPMT-I, or Colwellia psychrerythraea TPMT-Z. Nested PCRs, allowing detection of about 13 distinct tpm soil and freshwater lineages by PTCF2-PTCR2 PCR screenings, were performed on the soil total DNAs. These PCRs confirmed the sequencing data, and allowed to recover lineages not detected by the cloning strategy. These results indicate that soils, like the freshwater samples, harbour TPMT-I gene sequences but may also have distinct tpm lineages. This study further supports our hypothesis that TPMTs contribute to DMSe soil emissions.     

Freshwater gomphonemoid diatom phylogeny: preliminary results

A cladistic analysis of eleven freshwater gomphonemoid diatom taxa yielded three equally most parsimonious cladograms. The three cladograms suggest Gomphoneis Cleve is non-monophyletic as originally and recently circumscribed. Gomphoneis elegans and G. transsilvanica (Pant.) Krammer are more closely related to Gomphopleura Reichelt ex Tempère than to other members of the genus. Gomphoneis geitleri Kociolek & Stoermer appears to represent a monotypic lineage. Among the taxa with differentiated apical pore fields Gomphonema kaznakowi Mereschkowsky appears to be primitively astigmate.The three cladograms vary with regard to systematic affinities among the Gomphoneis herculeana (Ehrenberg) Cleve group, Miocene gomphonemoid species from Idaho (USA), gomphonemoid taxa from East Africa and Gomphonema sensu stricto. Despite variability in number of puncta rows per stria and presence of an axial plate in the Miocene species from North America, inclusion of these taxa in the analysis provided better resolution of relationships than if they were excluded.     

Freshwater bacteria can methylate selenium through the thiopurine methyltransferase pathway

Involvement of the bacterial thiopurine methyltransferase (bTPMT) in natural selenium methylation by freshwater was investigated. A freshwater environment that had no known selenium contamination but exhibited reproducible emission of dimethyl selenide (DMSe) or dimethyl diselenide (DMDSe) when it was supplemented with an organic form of selenium [(methyl)selenocysteine] or an inorganic form of selenium (sodium selenite) was used. The distribution of the bTPMT gene (tpm) in the microflora was studied. Freshwater bacteria growing on 10 micro M sodium selenite and 10 micro M sodium selenate were isolated, and 4.5 and 10% of the strains, respectively, were shown by colony blot hybridization to hybridize with a Pseudomonas syringae tpm DNA probe. Ribotyping showed that these strains are closely related. The complete rrs sequence of one of the strains, designated Hsa.28, was obtained and analyzed. Its closest phyletic neighbor was found to be the Pseudomonas anguilliseptica rrs sequence. The Hsa.28 strain grown with sodium selenite or (methyl)selenocysteine produced significant amounts of DMSe and DMDSe. The Hsa.28 tpm gene was isolated by genomic DNA library screening and sequencing. BLASTP comparisons of the deduced Hsa.28 bTPMT sequence with P. syringae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio cholerae, rat, and human thiopurine methyltransferase sequences revealed that the levels of similarity were 52 to 71%. PCR-generated Escherichia coli subclones containing the Hsa.28 tpm open reading frame were constructed. E. coli cells harboring the constructs and grown with sodium selenite or (methyl)selenocysteine produced significant levels of DMSe and DMDSe, confirming that the gene plays a role in selenium methylation. The effect of strain Hsa.28 population levels on freshwater DMSe and DMDSe emission was investigated. An increase in the size of the Hsa.28 population was found to enhance significantly the emission of methyl selenides by freshwater samples supplemented with sodium selenite or (methyl)selenocysteine. These data suggest that bTPMT can play a role in natural freshwater selenium methylation processes.     

Actinobase: Database on molecular diversity, phylogeny and biocatalytic potential of salt tolerant alkaliphilic actinomycetes

Actinobase is a relational database of molecular diversity, phylogeny and biocatalytic potential of haloalkaliphilic actinomycetes. The main objective of this data base is to provide easy access to range of information, data storage, comparison and analysis apart from reduced data redundancy, data entry, storage, retrieval costs and improve data security. Information related to habitat, cell morphology, Gram reaction, biochemical characterization and molecular features would allow researchers in understanding identification and stress adaptation of the existing and new candidates belonging to salt tolerant alkaliphilic actinomycetes. The PHP front end helps to add nucleotides and protein sequence of reported entries which directly help researchers to obtain the required details. Analysis of the genus wise status of the salt tolerant alkaliphilic actinomycetes indicated 6 different genera among the 40 classified entries of the salt tolerant alkaliphilic actinomycetes. The results represented wide spread occurrence of salt tolerant alkaliphilic actinomycetes belonging to diverse taxonomic positions. Entries and information related to actinomycetes in the database are publicly accessible at http://www.actinobase.in. On clustalW/X multiple sequence alignment of the alkaline protease gene sequences, different clusters emerged among the groups. The narrow search and limit options of the constructed database provided comparable information. The user friendly access to PHP front end facilitates would facilitate addition of sequences of reported entries. AVAILABILITY: The database is available for free at http://www.actinobase.in.     

Fish microsporidia: fine structural diversity and phylogeny

Structural diversity of fish microsporidian life cycle stages and of the host-parasite interface is reviewed. In the infected cell of the fish host, microsporidia may either cause serious degradation of the cytoplasm and demise of the cell, or they may elicit host cell hypertrophy, producing a parasite-hypertrophic host cell complex, the xenoma. The structure of the xenoma and of its cell wall may differ according to the genus of the parasite, and seems to express properties of the parasite rather than those of the host. In merogony, the parasite cell surface interacts with the host cell in diverse ways, the most conspicuous being the production of thick envelopes of different types. Sporogony stages reveal different types of walls or membranes encasing the sporoblasts and later the spores and these envelopes may be of host or parasite origin. Nucleospora differs from all other fish microsporidia by its unique process of sporogony. Except for the formation of conspicuous xenomas, there are no essentially different structures in fish-infecting microsporidia compared with microsporidia from other hosts. Although the structures associated with the development of fish microsporidia cannot be attributed importance in tracing the phylogeny, they are relevant for practical determination and assessing the relation to the host. The possibility of the existence of an intermediate host is discussed. Higher-level classification of Microsporidia is briefly discussed and structure and evolutionary rates in microsporidian rDNA are reviewed. Discussion of rDNA molecular phylogeny of fish-infecting microsporidia is followed by classification of these parasites. Most form a rather cohesive clade. Outside this clade is the genus Nucleospora, separated at least at the level of Order. Within the main clade, however, there are six species infecting hosts other than fish. Based on data available for analysis, a tentative classification of fish-infecting microsporidia into five groups is proposed. Morphologically defined groups represent families, others are referred to as clades. Group 1, represented by family Pleistophoridae, includes Pleistophora, Ovipleistophora and Heterosporis; Vavraia and Trachipleistophora infect non-fish hosts. Group 2, represented by family Glugeidae, is restricted to genus Glugea and Tuzetia weidneri from crustaceans. Group 3 comprises three clades: Loma and a hyperparasitic microsporidian from a myxosporean; Ichthyosporidium and Pseudoloma clade and the Loma acerinae clade. For the latter species a new genus has to be established. Group 4 contains two families, Spragueidae with the genus Spraguea and Tetramicridae with genera Microgemma and Tetramicra, and the Kabatana and Microsporidium seriolae clade. Group 5 is represented by the family Enterocytozoonidae with the genus Nucleospora and mammal-infecting genus Enterocytozoon.     

A molecular phylogeny of enteric bacteria and implications for a bacterial species concept

A molecular phylogeny for seven taxa of enteric bacteria (Citrobacter freundii, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Hafnia alvei, Klebsiella oxytoca, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Serratia plymuthica) was made from multiple isolates per taxa taken from a collection of environmental enteric bacteria. Sequences from five housekeeping genes (gapA, groEL, gyrA, ompA, and pgi) and the 16S rRNA gene were used to infer individual gene trees and were concatenated to infer a composite molecular phylogeny for the species. The isolates from each taxa formed tight species clusters in the individual gene trees, suggesting the existence of 'genotypic' clusters that correspond to traditional species designations. These sequence data and the resulting gene trees and consensus tree provide the first data set with which to assess the utility of the recently proposed core genome hypothesis (CGH). The CGH provides a genetically based approach to applying the biological species concept to bacteria.     

Ichthyosauria: their diversity, distribution, and phylogeny

The Ichthyosauria is the group of Mesozoic marine reptiles that was most highly adapted to the aquatic environment. The first ichthyosaurs from the upper Lower Triassic (Spathian) already show a suite of unique characters (very large eyes, elongate snout, deeply amphicoelous vertebrae, limb modified to fins) correlated with a fully aquatic existence and probably were unable to leave the water. The key evolutionary innovation was vivipary, giving birth to live young, which is documented by the fossil record since the end of the Anisian. Major evolutionary trends in the locomotor apparatus are the increasing modification of the fin skeleton to a mosaic of bones and the change from anguiliform swimming in the earliest forms to thunniform swimming in the Jurassic and later forms, as evidenced by the shortening of the body and the evolution of a semilunate tail fin. Almost from the beginning, ichthyosaurs had a cosmopolitan distribution which was retained until their extinction in the Cenomanian. Ichthyosaurian diversity is greatest in the Middle Triassic with piscivorous, heterodont, and durophagous forms. Jurassic diversity is greatest in the Liassic, declining to one genus (Platypterygius) in the Cretaceous. Although skull characters indicate that ichthyosaurs were diapsids, their exact position within Diapsida is unclear. A cladistic analysis of the well known genera clarifies relationships within the Ichthyosauria. Most basal areGrippia andUtatsusaurus, followed by the Mixosauridae (Mixosaurus andPhalarodon). The Shastasauridae (Cymbospondylus, Shonisaurus, Besanosaurus) are the most advanced Triassic forms and represent the sistergroup of all post-Triassic ichthyosaurs. These are clearly monophyletic and are termed here the Neoichthyosauria.     

Distinct reactions catalyzed by bacterial and yeast trans-aconitate methyltransferases

The trans-aconitate methyltransferase from the bacterium Escherichia coli catalyzes the monomethyl esterification of trans-aconitate and related compounds. Using two-dimensional (1)H/(13)C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we show that the methylation is specific to one of the three carboxyl groups and further demonstrate that the product is the 6-methyl ester of trans-aconitate (E-3-carboxy-2-pentenedioate 6-methyl ester). A similar enzymatic activity is present in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although we find that yeast trans-aconitate methyltransferase also catalyzes the monomethyl esterification of trans-aconitate, we identify that the methylation product of yeast is the 5-methyl ester (E-3-carboxyl-2-pentenedioate 5-methyl ester). The difference in the reaction catalyzed by the two enzymes may explain why a close homologue of the E. coli methyltransferase gene is not found in the yeast genome and furthermore suggests that these two enzymes may play distinct roles. However, we demonstrate here that the conversion of trans-aconitate to each of these products can mitigate its inhibitory effect on aconitase, a key enzyme of the citric acid cycle, suggesting that these methyltransferases may achieve the same physiological function with distinct chemistries.     

Critical issues in bacterial phylogeny

To understand bacterial phylogeny, it is essential that the following two critical issues be resolved: (i) development of well-defined (molecular) criteria for identifying the main groups within Bacteria, and (ii) to understand how the different main groups are related to each other and how they branched off from a common ancestor. These issues are not resolved at present. We have recently described a new approach, based on shared conserved inserts and deletions (indels or signature sequences) found in various proteins, that provides a reliable means for understanding these issues. A large number of conserved indels that are shared by different groups of bacteria have been identified. Using these indels, and based simply on their presence or absence, all of the main groups within Bacteria can be defined in clear molecular terms and new species could be assigned to them with minimal ambiguity. The analysis of these indels also permits one to logically deduce that the various main bacterial groups have branched off from a common ancestor in the following order: Low G+C Gram-positive ==> High G+C Gram-positive ==> Clostridium-Fusobacteria-Thermotoga ==> Deinococcus-Thermus-Green nonsulfur bacteria ==> Cyanobacteria ==> Spirochetes ==> Chlamydia-Cytophaga-Bacteroides-Green sulfur bacteria ==> Aquifex ==> Proteobacteria 1 (epsilon and delta) ==> Proteobacteria-2. (alpha) ==> Proteobacteria-3 (beta) and ==> Proteobacteria-4 (gamma). The validity of this approach was tested using sequence data from bacterial genomes. By making use of 18 conserved indels, species from all 60 completed bacterial genomes were assigned to different groups. The observed distribution of these indels in different species was then compared with that predicted by the model. Of the 936 observations concerning the placement of these indels in various species, all except one were in accordance with the model. The placement of bacteria into different groups using this approach also showed excellent correlation with the 16S rRNA phylogenies with nearly all of the species assigned to the same groups by both methods. These results provide strong evidence that the genes containing these indels have not been affected by factors such as lateral gene transfers. However, such events are readily detected by this means and some examples are provided. The approach described here thus provides a reliable and internally consistent means for understanding various critical and long outstanding issues in bacterial phylogeny.     

Mammalian phylogeny: comparison of morphological and molecular results

In an attempt to resolve the "bushy" part at the root of the eutherian tree, 182 nondental morphological characters from 100 species (79 extant and 21 extinct; 98 mammalian and 2 nonmammalian) were analyzed using two maximum-parsimony tree-building algorithms. Parallel analyses of 2,258 pairwise immunodiffusion comparisons with chicken antisera on 101 mammalian species and of amino acid sequence data of alpha and beta hemoglobins and other published protein sequences were also carried out. The morphological and molecular phylogenies agree in depicting the infraclass Eutheria as consisting of five major clades (thus resolving part of the "bush"). Rates of evolution were also found to be similar in the two types of phylogenies.     

Expression of exogenous DNA methyltransferases: Application in molecular and cell biology

DNA methyltransferases might be used as powerful tools for studies in molecular and cell biology due to their ability to recognize and modify nitrogen bases in specific sequences of the genome. Methylation of the eukaryotic genome using exogenous DNA methyltransferases appears to be a promising approach for studies on chromatin structure. Currently, the development of new methods for targeted methylation of specific genetic loci using DNA methyltransferases fused with DNA-binding proteins is especially interesting. In the present review, expression of exogenous DNA methyltransferase for purposes of in vivo analysis of the functional chromatin structure along with investigation of the functional role of DNA methylation in cell processes are discussed, as well as future prospects for application of DNA methyltransferases in epigenetic therapy and in plant selection.     

A molecular phylogeny of annelids

We present parsimony analyses of annelids based on the largest taxon sample and most extensive molecular data set yet assembled, with two nuclear ribosomal genes (18S rDNA and the D1 region of 28S rDNA), one nuclear protein coding‐gene (Histone H3) and one mitochondrial ribosomal gene (16S rDNA) from 217 terminal taxa. Of these, 267 sequences are newly sequenced, and the remaining were obtained from GenBank. The included taxa are based on the criteria that the taxon must have 18S rDNA or at least two other loci. Our analyses show that 68% of annelid family ranked taxa represented by more than one taxon in our study are supported by a jackknife value > 50%. In spite of the size of our data set, the phylogenetic signal in the deepest part of the tree remains weak and the majority of the currently recognized major polychaete clades (except Amphinomida and Aphroditiformia) could not be recovered. Terbelliformia is monophyletic (with the exclusion of Pectinariidae, for which only 18S data were available), whereas members of taxa such as Phyllodocida, Cirratuliformia, Sabellida and Scolecida are scattered over the trees. Clitellata is monophyletic, although Dinophilidae should possibly be included, and Clitellata has a sister group within the polychaetes. One major problem is the current lack of knowledge on the closest relatives to annelids and the position of the annelid root. We suggest that the poor resolution in the basal parts of the trees presented here may be due to lack of signal connected to incomplete data sets both in terms of terminal and gene sampling, rapid radiation events and/or uneven evolutionary rates and long‐branch attraction. © The Willi Hennig Society 2006.     

A molecular phylogeny of bryozoans

We present the most comprehensive molecular phylogeny of bryozoans to date. Our concatenated alignment of two nuclear ribosomal and five mitochondrial genes includes 95 taxa and 13,292 nucleotide sites, of which 8297 were included. The number of new sequences generated during this project are for each gene:ssrDNA (32), lsrDNA (22), rrnL (38), rrnS (35), cox1 (37), cox3 (34), and cytb (44). Our multi-gene analysis provides a largely stable topology across the phylum. The major groups were unambiguously resolved as (Phylactolaemata (Cyclostomata (Ctenostomata, Cheilostomata))), with Ctenostomata paraphyletic. Within Phylactolaemata, (Stephanellidae, Lophopodidae) form the earliest divergent clade. Fredericellidae is not resolved as a monophyletic family and forms a clade together with Plumatellidae, Cristatellidae and Pectinatellidae, with the latter two as sister taxa. Hyalinella and Gelatinella nest within the genus Plumatella. Cyclostome taxa fall into three major clades: i. (Favosipora (Plagioecia, Rectangulata)); ii. (Entalophoroecia ((Diplosolen, Cardioecia) (Frondipora, Cancellata))); and iii. (Articulata ((Annectocyma, Heteroporidae) (Tubulipora (Tennysonia, Idmidronea)))), with suborders Tubuliporina and Cerioporina, and family Plagioeciidae each being polyphyletic. Ctenostomata is composed of three paraphyletic clades to the inclusion of Cheilostomata: ((Alcyonidium, Flustrellidra) (Paludicella (Anguinella, Triticella)) (Hislopia (Bowerbankia, Amathia)) Cheilostomata); Flustrellidra nests within the genus Alcyonidium, and Amathia nests within the genus Bowerbankia. Suborders Carnosa and Stolonifera are not monophyletic. Within the cheilostomes, Malacostega is paraphyletic to the inclusion of all other cheilostomes. Conopeum is the most early divergent cheilostome, forming the sister group to ((Malacostega, Scrupariina, Inovicellina) ((Hippothoomorpha, Flustrina) (Lepraliomorpha, Umbonulomorpha))); Flustrina is paraphyletic to the inclusion of the hippothoomorphs; neither Lepraliomorpha nor Umbonulomorpha is monophyletic. Ascophorans are polyphyletic, with hippothoomorphs grouping separately from lepraliomorphs and umbonulomorphs; no cribrimorphs were included in the analysis. Results are discussed in the light of molecular and morphological evidence. Ancestral state reconstruction of larval strategy in Gymnolaemata revealed planktotrophy and lecithotrophy as equally parsimonious solutions for the ancestral condition. More comprehensive taxon sampling is expected to clarify this result. We discuss the extent of non-bryozoan contaminant sequences deposited in GenBank and their impact on the reconstruction of metazoan phylogenies and those of bryozoan interrelationships.     

Plant cytosine-5 DNA methyltransferases: structure, function, and molecular evolution

A detailed analysis of the structure and function, along with evolutionary aspects, of the main plant cytosine-5 DNA methyltransferases (C5-MTases) is presented. The evolutionary relationships between the already known and four candidate plant C5-MTases identified in this work were investigated using the distance, maximum-parsimony, and maximum-likelihood approaches. The topologies of the trees were overall congruent: four monophyletic groups corresponding to the four plant C5-MTase families were clearly distinguished. In addition, sequence analyses of the plant C5-MTase target recognition domain sequences were performed and phylogenetic trees were reconstructed showing that there is good conservation among but not within the plant C5-MTase families. Furthermore, a conserved dipeptide that plays an important role in flipping the target base into the catalytic site of the C5-MTases was identified in all plant C5-MTases under study.     

Deciphering deuterostome phylogeny: molecular, morphological and palaeontological perspectives

Deuterostomes are a monophyletic group of animals that include the vertebrates, invertebrate chordates, ambulacrarians and xenoturbellids. Fossil representatives from most major deuterostome groups, including some phylum-level crown groups, are found in the Lower Cambrian, suggesting that evolutionary divergence occurred in the Late Precambrian, in agreement with some molecular clock estimates. Molecular phylogenies, larval morphology and the adult heart/kidney complex all support echinoderms and hemichordates as a sister grouping (Ambulacraria). Xenoturbellids are a relatively newly discovered phylum of worm-like deuterostomes that lacks a fossil record, but molecular evidence suggests that these animals are a sister group to the Ambulacraria. Within the chordates, cephalochordates share large stretches of chromosomal synteny with the vertebrates, have a complete Hox complex and are sister group to the vertebrates based on ribosomal and mitochondrial gene evidence. In contrast, tunicates have a highly derived adult body plan and are sister group to the vertebrates based on the analyses of concatenated genomic sequences. Cephalochordates and hemichordates share gill slits and an acellular cartilage, suggesting that the ancestral deuterostome also shared these features. Gene network data suggest that the deuterostome ancestor had an anterior-posterior body axis specified by Hox and Wnt genes, a dorsoventral axis specified by a BMP/chordin gradient, and was bilaterally symmetrical with left-right asymmetry determined by expression of nodal.     

The ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 sequence region in the Musaceae: structure, diversity and use in molecular phylogeny

Genes coding for 45S ribosomal RNA are organized in tandem arrays of up to several thousand copies and contain 18S, 5.8S and 26S rRNA units separated by internal transcribed spacers ITS1 and ITS2. While the rRNA units are evolutionary conserved, ITS show high level of interspecific divergence and have been used frequently in genetic diversity and phylogenetic studies. In this work we report on the structure and diversity of the ITS region in 87 representatives of the family Musaceae. We provide the first detailed information on ITS sequence diversity in the genus Musa and describe the presence of more than one type of ITS sequence within individual species. Both Sanger sequencing of amplified ITS regions and whole genome 454 sequencing lead to similar phylogenetic inferences. We show that it is necessary to identify putative pseudogenic ITS sequences, which may have negative effect on phylogenetic reconstruction at lower taxonomic levels. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on ITS sequence showed that the genus Musa is divided into two distinct clades--Callimusa and Australimusa and Eumusa and Rhodochlamys. Most of the intraspecific banana hybrids analyzed contain conserved parental ITS sequences, indicating incomplete concerted evolution of rDNA loci. Independent evolution of parental rDNA in hybrids enables determination of genomic constitution of hybrids using ITS. The observation of only one type of ITS sequence in some of the presumed interspecific hybrid clones warrants further study to confirm their hybrid origin and to unravel processes leading to evolution of their genomes.     

A molecular phylogeny and classification of Bignoniaceae

Bignoniaceae are woody, trees, shrubs, and lianas found in all tropical floras of the world with lesser representation in temperate regions. Phylogenetic analyses of chloroplast sequences (rbcL, ndhF, trnL-F) were undertaken to infer evolutionary relationships in Bignoniaceae and to revise its classification. Eight clades are recognized as tribes (Bignonieae, Catalpeae, Coleeae, Crescentieae, Jacarandeae, Oroxyleae, Tecomeae, Tourrettieae); additional inclusive clades are named informally. Jacarandeae and Catalpeae are resurrected; the former is sister to the rest of the family, and the latter occupies an unresolved position within the "core" Bignoniaceae. Tribe Eccremocarpeae is included in Tourrettieae. Past classifications recognized a large Tecomeae, but this tribe is paraphyletic with respect to all other tribes. Here Tecomeae are reduced to a clade of approximately 12 genera with a worldwide distribution in both temperate and tropical ecosystems. Two large clades, Bignonieae and Crescentiina, account for over 80% of the species in the family. Coleeae and Crescentieae are each included in larger clades, the Paleotropical alliance and Tabebuia alliance, respectively; each alliance includes a grade of taxa assigned to the traditional Tecomeae. Parsimony inference suggests that the family originated in the neotropics, with at least five dispersal events leading to the Old World representatives.     

Sequence permutations in the molecular evolution of DNA methyltransferases

Background  

DNA methyltransferases (MTases), unlike MTases acting on other substrates, exhibit sequence permutation. Based on the sequential order of the cofactor-binding subdomain, the catalytic subdomain, and the target recognition domain (TRD), several classes of permutants have been proposed. The majority of known DNA MTases fall into the α, β, and γ classes. There is only one member of the ζ class known and no members of the δ and ε classes have been identified to date. Two mechanisms of permutation have been proposed: one involving gene duplication and in-frame fusion, and the other involving inter- and intragenic shuffling of gene segments.     

Hymenochaetales: a molecular phylogeny for the hymenochaetoid clade

The hymenochaetoid clade is dominated by wood-decaying species previously classified in the artificial families Corticiaceae, Polyporaceae and Stereaceae. The majority of these species cause a white rot. The polypore Bridgeoporus and several corticicoid species with inconspicuous basidiomata live in association with brown-rotted wood, but their nutritional strategy is not known. Mycorrhizal habit is reported for Coltricia perennis but needs confirmttion. A surprising element in the hymenochaetoid clade is a group of small white to brightly pigmented agarics earlier classified in Omphalina. They form a subclade together with some similarly colored stipitate stereoid and corticioid species. Several are associated with living mosses or one-celled green algae. Hyphoderma pratermissum and some related corticioid species have specialized organs for trapping and killing nematodes as a source of nitrogen. There are no unequivocal morphological synapomorphies known for the hymenochaetoid clade. However almost all species examined ultrastructurally have dolipore septa with continuous parenthesomes while perforate parenthesomes is the normal condition for other homobasidiomycete clades. The agaricoid Hymenochaetales have not been examined. Within Hymenochaetales the Hymenochaetaceae forms a distinct clade but unfortunately all morphological characters supporting Hymenochaetaceae also are found in species outside the clade. Other subclades recovered by the molecular phylogenetic analyses are less uniform, and the overall resolution within the nuclear LSU tree presented here is still unsatisfactory.