Phylogenetic Position of the Subgenus Lordiphosa of the Genus Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae) Inferred from Alcohol Dehydrogenase (Adh) Gene Sequences

Abstract

We analyzed the phylogenetic relationship between the species of Lordiphosa and other Drosophilidae using alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) gene sequences. The phylogenetic trees consistently show that the four species Drosophila kurokawai, D. collinella, D. stackelbergi, and D. clarofinis, which include three species groups of Lordiphosa, form a monophyletic clade. This clade is placed as a sister group to the willistoni and saltans groups of Sophophora. On the other hand, three species of Lordiphosa, D. tenuicauda, D. pseudotenuicauda, and D. acutissima, all of which belong to the tenuicauda group, are not shown to be related to the major Lordiphosa lineage. In the phylogenetic trees, these species are included into the clade comprised of Drosophila and Hirtodrosophila, although it remains uncertain whether the tenuicauda group is a monophyletic group or not. These results indicate that Lordiphosa is polyphyletic and that most of the members of the subgenus have a close relationship to the neotropical groups of Sophophora. The above conclusion is compatible with the hypothesis of Okada (Mushi [1963] 37:79-100) and Lastovka and Máca (Acta Ent Bohemoslov [1978] 75:404-420) that Lordiphosa is most closely related to Sophophora; in contrast, our results contradict the hypothesis of Grimaldi (Bull Am Mus Nat Hist [1990] 197:1-139) that Lordiphosa is a sister group to the genus Scaptomyza.

Phylogeny of the Subgenus Sophophora (Diptera: Drosophilidae) Based on Combined Analysis of Nuclear and Mitochondrial Sequences

“…5 and 6). Many relationships in this group are congruent with other phylogenetic analyses of the obscura species group (Beckenbach et al, 1993;Barrio et al, 1994;Barrio and Ayala, 1997;O'Grady, 1999;Katoh et al, 2000).…”

“…The relationships of species within the subgenus Sophophora have previously been studied using both morphological (Throckmorton, 1975) and molecular (Pelendakis et al, 1991;DeSalle, 1992;Pelendakis and Solignac, 1993;Thomas and Hunt, 1993;Russo et al, 1995;Katoh et al, 2000). The results of some of these studies are incongruent with one another, primarily concerning the monophyly of the subgenus Sophophora and the monophyly of some major lineages in Sophophora.…”

“…Using Adh gene sequences, Katoh et al (2000) have recently suggested that Sophophora is paraphyletic with respect to some members of the genus Lordiphosa. [Katoh et al (2000) consider Lordiphosa to be a subgenus of Drosophila, rather than a distinct genus, as suggested by the most recent taxonomic revision of Drosophilidae (Grimaldi, 1990).…”

“…[Katoh et al (2000) consider Lordiphosa to be a subgenus of Drosophila, rather than a distinct genus, as suggested by the most recent taxonomic revision of Drosophilidae (Grimaldi, 1990). We will refer to Lordiphosa as a genus.]…”

Phylogenetic Relationships among Species Groups of the virilis–repleta Radiation of Drosophila

“…The Hawaiian drosophilids consistently appear as the closest sister-group to the virilis-repleta radiation, although with low bootstrap support. The close relationship of the two lineages is also corroborated by previous studies using several genes (Russo et al, 1995;Tamura et al, 1995;Remsen and DeSalle, 1998;Katoh et al, 2000;Tatarenkov et al, 1999aTatarenkov et al, , 2001. Therefore, the Hawaiian drosophilids are used as outgroup in the analyses that follow.…”