Some Examples of the Use of Molecular Markers for Needs of Basic Biology and Modern Society

Abstract

Application of molecular genetic markers appeared to be very fruitful in achieving many goals, including (i) proving the theoretic basements of general biology and (ii) assessment of worldwide biodiversity. Both are provided in the present meta-analysis and a review as the main signal. One of the basic current challenges in modern biology in the face of new demands in the 21st century is the validation of its paradigms such as the synthetic theory of evolution (STE) and biological species concept (BSC). Another of most valuable goals is the biodiversity assessment for a variety of social needs including free web-based information resources about any living being, renovation of museum collections, nature conservation that recognized as a global project, iBOL, as well as resolving global trading problems such as false labeling of species specimens used as food, drug components, entertainment, etc. The main issues of the review are focused on animals and combine four items. (1) A combination of nDNA and mtDNA markers best suits the identification of hybrids and estimation of genetic introgression. (2) The available facts on nDNA and mtDNA diversity seemingly make introgression among many taxa obvious, although it is evident, that introgression may be quite restricted or asymmetric, thus, leaving at least the “source” taxon (taxa) intact. (3) If we consider sexually reproducing species in marine and terrestrial realms introgressed, as it is still evident in many cases, then we should recognize that the BSC, in view of the complete lack of gene flow among species, is inadequate because many zoological species are not biological ones yet. However, vast modern molecular data have proven that sooner or later they definitely become biological species. (4) An investigation into the fish taxa divergence using the BOLD database shows that most gene trees are basically monophyletic and interspecies reticulations are quite rare.

Using Species Groups to Approach the Large and Taxonomically Unresolved Freshwater Fish Family Nemacheilidae (Teleostei: Cypriniformes)

“…Indeed, characters of external morphology still provide valuable information to identify species groups and are unreplaceable for fieldwork. However, molecular genetic markers are nowadays considered as standard tools for species delimitation and revealing phylogenetic relationships among taxa (e.g., [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]). In optimal cases, the phylogenetic topologies revealed by morphological and genetic markers are congruent [ 9 , 10 , 11 ], leading to strong reciprocal support.…”

Spatial Distribution and Genetic Diversity of The Fall Armyworm, <em>Spodoptera frugiperda</em> J.E. Smith (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in the Bali Province and Lesser Sunda, Indonesia

“…In the last three decades, mitochondrial DNA has been extensively studied and proved to be an important tool in species delimitation because it has biological properties and is ideal as a molecular marker of biodiversity [27,28]. This molecular approach is to use DNA Barcoding which allows rapid processing of the young instar phase, as well as the fragmented body parts of the cuticle [3].…”