ABSTRACT
The genus Lepidochitona (Gray 1821) contains relatively small chitons with a distinctive girdle, dorsally clothed with non-overlapping calcareous corpuscles. In the Caribbean, it is represented by four species: L. liozonis (Dall, & Simpson, 1901), L. rosea Kaas, 1972, L. rufoi García-Ríos, 2010 and L. bullocki García-Ríos, 2011. A rutinary morphological inspection of 10 specimens of a Lepidochitona species from the Florida Keys was concordant with L. liozonis (the only species of the genus informed for Florida). They did not show many morphological differences that could justify its separation from the specimens from Puerto Rico (the type locality). However, the comparison of sequences of the mitochondrial gene coding for cytochrome oxidase I (COI) of L. liozonis from Puerto Rico and the Florida specimens showed a divergence of 14%. This divergence is incompatible with a reproductively connected species. In addition to their genetic differences, the new species differs from L. liozonis in having bigger size, longer marginal spicules and a postmucronal slope very concave. Rev. Biol. Trop. 63 (2): 369-384. Epub 2015 June 01.
El género Lepidochitona (Gray, 1821) agrupa a quitones relativamente pequeños con un cinturón distintivo, por estar cubierto dorsalmente por corpúsculos calcáreos no solapados. Esta representado en el Caribe por cuatro especies: L. liozonis (Dall, & Simpson, 1901), L. rosea Kaas, 1972, L. rufoi García-Ríos, 2010 y L. bullocki García-Ríos, 2011. La inspección de una muestra de ejemplares de los cayos de la Florida permite distinguir ejemplares de lepidoquitones que podrían clasificarse como L. liozonis (la única especie del género informada para la Florida) por no presentar grandes diferencias morfológicas que justifiquen su separación de los de Puerto Rico (localidad del tipo). Sin embargo, la comparación de secuencias del gen mitocondrial que codifica para el citocromo oxidasa I (COI) de los ejemplares de la Florida con ejemplares de L. liozonis de Puerto Rico evidencia una divergencia de 14%. Esta divergencia es incompatible con especies reproductivamente conectadas. Además de sus diferencias genéticas, la nueva especie se puede distinguir de su especie gemela por ser de mayor tamaño, tener espículas marginales más largas y una pendiente posmucronal muy cóncava.
Subject(s)
Polyplacophora/anatomy & histology , Polyplacophora/genetics , Mollusca/classification , Puerto RicoABSTRACT
Malaria epidemiology is complex due to multiplicity of disease vectors, sibling species complex and variations in bionomical characteristics, vast varied terrain, various ecological determinants. There are six major mosquito vector taxa in India, viz. Anopheles culicifacies, An. fluviatilis, An. stephensi, An. minimus, An. dirus and An. sundaicus. Among these, An. culicifacies is widely distributed and considered the most important vector throughout the plains and forests of India for generating bulk of malaria cases (>60% annually). Major malaria epidemics are caused by An. culicifaices. It is also the vector of tribal malaria except parts of Odisha and Northeastern states of India. An. culicifacies has been the cause of perennial malaria transmission in forests, and over the years penetrated the deforested areas of Northeast. An. culicifacies participates in malaria transmission either alone or along with An. stephensi or An. fluviatilis. The National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) spends about 80 per cent malaria control budget annually in the control of An. culicifacies, yet it remains one of the most formidable challenges in India. With recent advances in molecular biology there has been a significant added knowledge in understanding the biology, ecology, genetics and response to interventions, requiring stratification for cost-effective and sustainable malaria control. Research leading to newer interventions that are evidence-based, community oriented and sustainable would be useful in tackling the emerging challenges in malaria control. Current priority areas of research should include in-depth vector biology and control in problem pockets, preparation of malaria-risk maps for focused and selective interventions, monitoring insecticide resistance, cross-border initiative and data sharing, and coordinated control efforts for achieving transmission reduction, and control of drug-resistant malaria. The present review on An. culicifacies provides updated information on vector biology and control outlining thrust areas of research.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To establish the DNA barcode identification method of Uygur Medicine Dracocephalum mol-davica L. Methods: D. moldavica L. and its ten sibling species of twenty five samples was amplified by ITS2 se-quence, after sequencing and comparing the intraspecific and interspecific variation, we using K2P and NJ meth-ods to analysis the their relationship, then compare the secondary structure. Results: D. Moldavica (KF041160, KF041163, KF041168, KF041169) from Xinjiang without variation in intraspecies, but there are two 2 variation sites in D. moldavica (AY506659) from GenBank. By NJ method, D. moldavica can be distinguished with their sibling species. Also, D. nutans L., D. bipinnatum Rupr. and D. integrifolium Bge. can be distinguished with oth-er sibling species. Conclusion: ITS2 barcode sequence was able to identify D. moldavica and its sibling species, which provides an effective way for the molecular identification of Uygur Medicine D. moldavica.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To identify Persicae Semen and its sibling species, and to secure the quality and clinical safety of this medicinal material. Methods: The internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of nuclear ribosomal DNA of Persicae Semen and its sibling species were amplified and bidirectionally sequenced by DNA barcoding. Sequence assembly and consensus sequence generation were performed by the CodonCode Aligner 4.1. The genetic distances were computed by MEGA 5.0 in accordance with the Kimura 2-parameter (K2P) model, and the phylogenetic tree constructed by the neighbor-joining (NJ) method. Results: The length of ITS2 sequences of the two origin plants of Persicae Semen was between 212 bp to 213 bp. Their intraspecific genetic distance was much lower than the interspecific genetic distance with their sibling species. The ITS2 sequence possessed the character of good stability and low intra-specific sequence variation. In the NJ tree, both Prunus persica and P. davidiana were clustered into one large branch, and clearly separated with their sibling species. Conclusion: ITS2 can be used to effectively distinguish Persicae Semen from its sibling species, which can provide a reference for the iden-tification of other Chinese medicine and its sibling species.
ABSTRACT
The study was undertaken in eight endemic districts of Orissa, India, to find the members of the species complexes of Anopheles culicifacies and Anopheles fluviatilis and their distribution patterns. The study area included six forested districts (Keonjhar, Angul, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Nayagarh and Khurda) and two non-forested coastal districts (Puri and Jagatsingpur) studied over a period of two years (June 2007-May 2009). An. culicifacies A, B, C and D and An. fluviatilis S and T sibling species were reported. The prevalence of An. culicifacies A ranged from 4.2-8.41 percent, B from 54.96-76.92 percent, C from 23.08-33.62 percent and D from 1.85-5.94 percent (D was reported for the first time in Orissa, except for occurrences in the Khurda and Nayagarh districts). The anthropophilic indices (AI) were 3.2-4.8 percent, 0.5-1.7 percent, 0.7-1.37 percent and 0.91-1.35 percent for A, B, C and D, respectively, whereas the sporozoite rates (SR) were 0.49-0.54 percent, 0 percent, 0.28-0.37 percent and 0.41-0.46 percent for A, B, C and D, respectively. An. fluviatilis showed a similarly varied distribution pattern in which S was predominant (84.3 percent overall); its AI and SR values ranged from 60.7-90.4 percent and 1.2-2.32 percent, respectively. The study observed that the co-existence of potential vector sibling species of An. culicifacies (A, C and D) and An. fluviatilis S (> 50 percent) was responsible for the high endemicity of malaria in forested districts such as Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Angul, Ganjam, Nayagarh and Khurda (> 5 percent slide positivity rate). Thus, the epidemiological scenario for malaria is dependent on the distribution of the vector sibling species and their vectorial capacity.
Subject(s)
Animals , Humans , Anopheles , Insect Vectors , Endemic Diseases , Incidence , India , Malaria , Malaria/transmissionABSTRACT
Anopheles fluviatilis James (Diptera: Culicidae) is one of the known malaria vectors in south and southeastern Iran. Earlier ITS2 sequences analysis of specimens from Iran demonstrated only a single genotype that was identical to species Y in India, which is also the same as species T. We identified 2 haplotypes in the An. fluviatilis populations of Iran based on differences in nucleotide sequences of D3 domain of the 28S locus of ribosomal DNA (rDNA). Comparison of sequence data from 44 Iranian specimens with those publicly available in the Genbank database showed that all of the 28S-D3 sequences from Kazeroun and Khesht regions in Fars Province were identical to the database entry representing species U in India. In other regions, all the individuals showed heterozygosity at the single nucleotide position, which identifies species U and T. It is argued that the 2 species may co-occur in some regions and hybridize; however, the heterozygosity in the 28S-D3 locus was not reflected in ITS2 sequences and this locus for all individuals was identical to species T. This study shows that in a newly diverged species, like members of An. fluviatilis complex, a single molecular marker may not be sufficiently discriminatory to identify all the taxa over a vast geographical area. In addition, other molecular markers may provide more reliable information for species discrimination.
Subject(s)
Animals , Anopheles/classification , Base Sequence , DNA, Ribosomal Spacer/genetics , Genetic Variation , Insect Vectors/classification , Iran , Molecular Sequence Data , Phylogeny , RNA, Ribosomal, 28S/genetics , Sequence Alignment , Sequence Analysis, DNAABSTRACT
Monocelis lineata consists of a complex of sibling species, widespread in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean. Previous genetic analysis placed in evidence at least four sibling species. Nevertheless, this research was not conclusive enough to fully resolve the complex or to infer the phylogeny/phylogeography of the group. We designed specific primers aiming at obtaining partial sequences of the mtDNA gene Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit I (COI) of M. lineata, and have identified 25 different haplotypes in 32 analyzed individuals. The dendrogram generated by Neighbor-Joining analysis confirmed the differentiation between Atlantic and Mediterranean siblings, as well as the occurrence of at least two Mediterranean sibling species. Thus validated, the method here presented appears as a valuable tool in population genetics and biodiversity surveys on the Monocelis lineata complex.
ABSTRACT
Aplatophis zorro n. sp., the first known eastern Pacific species of this New World genus, is described from a shallow water trawl-caught specimen from the Golfo de San Miguel, Pacific Panama. It is similar to its only known congener, A. chauliodus from the tropical western Atlantic, but differs in its vertebral number, dentition, coloration, and other characters. Comments concerning the distribution of New World ophichthids are provided.
Subject(s)
Animals , Male , Eels/classification , Eels/anatomy & histology , Pacific Ocean , PanamaABSTRACT
Mitotic chromosomal karyotypes and their heterochromatin banding of thirteen anopheline mosquitoes in China were observed. Five species belonging to subgenus Cellia were Anopheles maculatus, An. dints, An. kochi, An. splendidus and An. minimus. Eight species belonging to subgenus Anopheles were An. barbirostris, An. messeae, An. crawfordi, An. kunmingensis, An. kweiyangensis, An, hyrcanus, An. sinensis and An. anthropophagus. The results show that the interspecific differences of sex chromosomes and heterochromatin differences in autosomes are useful in anopheline sibling species identification. Two types of completely different chromosomal karyotypes of An. maculatus were found from Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces, and two types of obviously different heterochromatin banding of An. dims were found from Hainan and Yunnan Provinces. Thus, An. maculatus and An. dirus are respectively sibling species complex in China. The salivary gland polytene chromosomes of An. hyrcanus, An. sinensis and An. anthropophagus were also studied. The authors find that the main differ ences of polytene chromosomes of the three species are fixed paracentric inversions in arm 2L.