[Investigation of causes of the conflict between taxonomy and molecular phylogeny of trypanosomatids by the example of Leptomonas nabiculae podlipaev, 1987].

Results of study of Leptomonas nabiculae using various molecular markers and different material (cultures D2 et Nfm2) contradicted each other and taxonomic position of this species. We investigated morphology of the cells in these cultures as well as in hapantotype of L. nabiculae and those of L. peterhoffi and L. occidentalis that had been described from the same host species. We also reconstructed 18S rRNA gene phylogeny using sequences from both cultures. The D2 culture according to its morphology and phylogenetic position revealed to be a Crithidia that had accompanied L. nabiculae in a mixed infection. We named it Crithidia dedva. The cells in the hapantotypes of the three Leptomonas species and those of the Nfm2 culture represent a single species that is a Herpetomonas (H. nabiculae) judging by morphology and molecular phylogeny. We also showed that the sequence of 18S rRNA gene that had been formerly determined represents a chimaera. This had resulted in the wrong position of this species on the phylogenetic tree that had contradicted results of the analysis of 5s rRNA gene.

[Genetic variation and phylogeography of the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus, Arvicolinae, Rodentia) in Russia with special reference to the introgression of the mtDNA of a closely related species, red-backed vole (C. rutilus)].

Totally, 294 bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) and 18 red-backed voles (C. rutilus) from 62 sites of European Russia were studied. Incomplete sequences (967 bp) of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene were determined for 93 C. glareolus individuals from 56 sites and 18 C. rutilus individuals from the same habitats. Analysis of the cytochrome b gene variation has demonstrated that practically the entire European part of Russia, Ural, and a considerable part of Western Europe are inhabited by bank voles of the same phylogroup, displaying an extremely low genetic differentiation. Our data suggest that C. glareolus very rapidly colonized over the presently occupied territory in the post-Pleistocene period from no more than two (central European and western European) refugia for ancestral populations with a small efficient size. PCR typing of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene allowed us to assess the scale of mtDNA introgression from a closely related species, C. rutilus, and to outline the geographical zone of this introgression. Comparison with the red-backed vole haplotypes in the habitats shared by both species favors the hypothesis of an ancient hybridization event (mid-Holocene) and a subsequent introgression. These results suggest that the hybridization took place in the southern and middle Pre-Ural region.

[Leptomonas jaculum (Leger, 1902) Woodcock 1914: a leptomonas or a blastocrithidia?].

Flagellates Leptomonas jaculum, inhabiting the intestine of the water scorpion Nepa cinerea posses promastigote organization, typical of the genus Leptomonas. Nevertheless phylogenetic analysis of the 18S rRNA gene revealed that these trypanosomatids form a common phylogenetic clade with cyst-forming representatives of the genus Blastocrithidia. Morphological characters supporting the unity of the group Blastocrithidia + L. jaculum and the probability of including L. oncopelti in it are discussed.

[The morphology of the macrogametes and oocysts of Alveocystis intestinalis (Sporozoa: Coccidia)]. / Morfologiia makrogamet i ootsist Alveocystis intestinalis (Sporozoa: Coccidia).

Macrogametes and oocysts of the coccidium Alveocystis intestinalis parasitizing in priapulids have been examined. It is shown, that the macrogametes of this species have small granules of glycoproteinaceous nature. These granules are wall-forming bodies. It was considered these bodies are absent in A. intestinalis. The oocysts in the investigated material contained mainly 4 sporozoites. The oocysts with 8 sporozoites, which were observed to be most frequent in the materials used for the original description of A. intestinalis, is not a standard for this species. Therefore the joining of A. intestinalis and Pfeifferinella gugleri into one genus based on a similarity of their oocyst structure is incorrect. This conclusion is also supported by the long evolutionary and ecological distances between hosts of these species.