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Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the genus Gyrodactylus (Platyhelminthes: Monogenea) inferred from rDNA ITS region: subgenera versus species groups

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2003

I. MATEJUSOVÁ
Affiliation:
FRS Marine Laboratory, P.O. Box 101, Victoria Road, Aberdeen AB11 9DB, UK
M. GELNAR
Affiliation:
Faculty of Sciences, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, 61135 Brno, Czech Republic
O. VERNEAU
Affiliation:
UMR 5555 CNRS, Parasitologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CBETM, Université de Perpignan, A. Paul Alduy, 66860 Perpignan Cedex, France
C. O. CUNNINGHAM
Affiliation:
FRS Marine Laboratory, P.O. Box 101, Victoria Road, Aberdeen AB11 9DB, UK
D. T. J. LITTLEWOOD
Affiliation:
Parasitic Worms Division, Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
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Abstract

Analyses of small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequences of representatives of major taxa of Monopisthocotylea were performed to identify the sister group of Gyrodactylus. Nuclear ribosomal DNA sequencesNucleotide sequence data reported in this paper are available in the GenBank, DDBJ and EMBL databases under the accession numbers AJ566375-79, AJ566768, AJ567670-74, AJ581657. from the complete internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region were used to infer phylogeny of 37 Gyrodactylus species and Gyrodactyloides bychowskii, Macrogyrodactylus polypteri and Gyrdicotylus gallieni, using maximum likelihood, parsimony and Bayesian inference. The genus Gyrodactylus appeared to be a monophyletic group in all analyses, based on the present data set. Within the genus, there were 3 major groups recognized by high bootstrap values and posterior probabilities. None of the 6 subgenera appeared to be monophyletic, and the most basal subgenus G. (Gyrodactylus) was paraphyletic. Characteristics of the excretory system of Gyrodactylus do not seem to be conservative enough to reveal subgenera within Gyrodactylus and we suggest abandoning existing subgenera as indicators of phylogeny. The grouping of species based on the morphology of the ventral bar and marginal hooks seems to have sufficient power to infer relationships between the Gyrodactylus species.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2003 Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Table 1. Monopisthocotylean parasite sequences used for ML analysis of the SSU rRNA gene for outgroup comparison (Olson & Littlewood, 2002)

Figure 1

Table 2. Species used for phylogenetic analyses of the ITS

Figure 2

Fig. 1. Phylogeny of monopisthocotylean Monogenea based on SSU rDNA indicating the relative position of Gyrodactylus species and potential outgroup taxa. The tree topology is from a maximum likelihood analysis with nodal support indicated, from top to bottom, for maximum likelihood (bootstrap %, n=100), maximum parsimony (bootstrap %, n=1000) and Bayesian inference (posterior probabilities); see text for further details.

Figure 3

Fig. 2. Phylogeny of Gyrodactylus species based on ITS rDNA, rooted against Gyrodactyloides bychowskii. The tree topology is from a Bayesian analysis, modelling each data partition separately, with nodal support indicated, from top to bottom, for Bayesian inference (posterior probabilities) and maximum parsimony (bootstrap %, n=1000) where these values are >80% and 50% respectively. Subgenera, where known, are indicated in square brackets as: G. Gyro – G. Gyrodactylus; G. Limno – G. Limnonephrotus; G. Meso – G. Mesonephrotus; G. Meta – G. Metanephrotus; G. Neo – G. Neonephrotus; G. Para – G. Paranephrotus according to terms proposed by Malmberg (1956, 1970); see text for further details.