Animal mitochondrial genes continue to provide an efficient and inexpensive assessment of genetic diversity. However, which mitochondrial genes should be selected to best estimate species phylogeny and population genealogy remains uncertain for most under-sampled taxa. We analysed four complete mitochondrial genomes of sibling species of Euphaea damselflies, E. decorata, E. ornata, E. formosa and E. yayeyamana (Insecta, Odonata, Euphaeidae), to examine the patterns of selection and to evaluate the phylogenetic utility of the mitochondrial genes compared with nuclear genes. The results indicated that mitochondrial protein-coding nad2 (NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2) and noncoding A + T-rich (control region) genes have the highest mutation rates and more phylogenetic utility [higher parsimony-informative sites; higher (the shape parameter of gamma distribution); lower rates of heterogeneity among sites; and higher relative substitution rates] than all the other mitochondrial and nuclear genes analysed. In contrast, the animal DNA barcoding gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) had average values for all estimated parameters of phylogenetic performance and was sometimes outperformed by other mitochondrial genes. The majority of the mitochondrial and nuclear genes in Euphaea damselflies have experienced frequent purifying selection, except for two cases of potential positive selection in NADH dehydrogenase subunit 3 (nad3) and elongation factor 1 (EF1 ), and all mitochondrial genes had experienced stronger purifying selection than nuclear genes. Our findings indicated that mitochondrial nad2 and the A + T-rich region should be selected to provide efficient and high-resolution phylogenetic markers for damselflies at the species and population level.
Aim We investigated the biogeographical history of an endemic Philippine treehopper, Pyrgonota bifoliata (Membracidae), to test the effect of Neogene geological events and Pleistocene climate change in generating speciation within the Philippines.Location The Philippine archipelago.Methods Phylogenies were reconstructed based on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I subunit (cox1) and nuclear wingless (wg) genes using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian criteria. Divergence times were estimated in beast based on a range of mutation rates. Ancestral ranges were reconstructed using rasp (Reconstruct Ancestral State in Phylogenies) and Bayesian stochastic search variable selection (BSSVS). Species boundaries were tested using the Bayesian general mixed Yule coalescent (bGMYC) and Bayesian phylogenetic and phylogeography (BPP) methods.Results Pyrgonota bifoliata showed one of the lowest levels of between-Pleistocene island genetic variation among all the taxa examined. Most Pleistocene aggregate island complex (PAIC) lineages and extant P. bifoliata originated before the onset of the first extensive Pleistocene glacial cycle. Ancestral P. bifoliata originated in the late Miocene from Mindanao, followed by a sequential northwards colonization of the Visayan Islands and Luzon in the Pliocene-early Pleistocene, which coincided with the spatial reorganization of the Philippines. The statistically delimited nine provisional species of what we now view as the P. bifoliata species complex correspond to current island boundaries and specialized host plants. Main conclusionsThe temporally calibrated phylogeny of P. bifoliata represents the first invertebrate study to support the hypothesis that Miocene-Pliocene geological events and consequent cross-island dispersal were pivotal promoters of species diversity in the Philippines. We hypothesize that ecological adaptation to specialized host plants, together with either local selection or genetic drift through within-island allopatric isolation, present a plausible in situ speciation mechanism for the origin of these herbivorous insects.
This study determined the first complete mitochondrial genome of a demoiselle, Vestalis melania (Odonata, Zygoptera, Calopterygidae) using long-range PCR and a primer walking approach. This mitogenome is 16,685 bp long and contains the entire set of 37 genes and an A + T-rich control region typically found in insects. Presently, this mitogenome is the largest mitogenome of all available odonates, mainly because of its long A + T-rich region (2036 bp). The gene arrangement of the V. melania mitogenome is identical to that of other known odonates. The inter-genic spacer s5 shared by the Anisoptera is absent in V. melania, which supports the view that the absence of the s5 spacer is a synapomorphy of the Zygoptera.
This study reported the 15,435 bp-long complete mitochondrial genome of the relict Epiophlebia superstes (Odonata, Epiophlebiidae), an enigmatic dragonfly of the paraphyletic 'Anisozygoptera' possessing characteristics similar to members of both extant odonate suborders, the Zygoptera and the Anisoptera. This mitogenome comprises the common set of 37 genes and an A + T-rich control region, and has a gene arrangement identical to those of all available odonates. The genome contains three non-coding inter-genic spacers (s1-s3), which occurs in all of other known odonates, but it lacks the inter-genic spacer s5 typically found in the Anisoptera. This result suggests that E. superstes possesses a mitogenmic organization more closely related to that of the Zygoptera than that of the Anizoptera.
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