Quantification and Evolution of Mitochondrial Genome

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Quantification and Evolution of Mitochondrial Genome Zhang et al. BMC Ecol Evo (2021) 21:19 BMC Ecology and Evolution https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-021-01755-3 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Quantifcation and evolution of mitochondrial genome rearrangement in Amphibians Jifeng Zhang1,2,3,4,5* , Guopen Miao1, Shunjie Hu1, Qi Sun1, Hengwu Ding2, Zhicheng Ji6, Pen Guo7, Shoubao Yan1, Chengrun Wang1, Xianzhao Kan2* and Liuwang Nie2* Abstract Background: Rearrangement is an important topic in the research of amphibian mitochondrial genomes ("mitog- enomes" hereafter), whose causes and mechanisms remain enigmatic. Globally examining mitogenome rearrange- ments and uncovering their characteristics can contribute to a better understanding of mitogenome evolution. Results: Here we systematically investigated mitogenome arrangements of 232 amphibians including four newly sequenced Dicroglossidae mitogenomes. The results showed that our new sequenced mitogenomes all possessed a trnM tandem duplication, which was not exclusive to Dicroglossidae. By merging the same arrangements, the mitogenomes of ~ 80% species belonged to the four major patterns, the major two of which were typical vertebrate arrangement and typical neobatrachian arrangement. Using qMGR for calculating rearrangement frequency (RF) (%), we found that the control region (CR) (RF 45.04) and trnL2 (RF 38.79) were the two most frequently rearranged components. Forty-seven point eight percentage= of amphibians= possessed rearranged mitogenomes including all neobatrachians and their distribution was signifcantly clustered in the phylogenetic trees (p < 0.001). In addition, we argued that the typical neobatrachian arrangement may have appeared in the Late Jurassic according to possible occurrence time estimation. Conclusion: It was the frst global census of amphibian mitogenome arrangements from the perspective of quantity statistics, which helped us to systematically understand the type, distribution, frequency and phylogenetic character- istics of these rearrangements. Keywords: Mitogenomics, Amphibians, qMGR, Rearrangement score, Rearrangement frequency, Phylogenetic characteristics Background transduction and intermediary metabolism. Te content As semi-autonomous organelles, mitochondria retain of vertebrate mitogenomes is conservative, including 13 their own genomes and participate in many essential protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes (trns), 2 biological processes in eukaryotic cells such as energy rRNA genes (rrns) and a control region (CR) with repli- cation and gene transcriptional regulatory signals [1, 2]. Because of the moderate evolutionary rate of the mitoge- *Correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] nome, it has been an excellent molecular marker for phy- 1 School of Biological Engineering, Huainan Normal University, Huainan, logenetic studies [3–6]. Anhui 232001, People’s Republic of China Te gene order of vertebrate mitogenomes is as con- 2 College of Life Science, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui 241000, People’s Republic of China servative as its content, such that human, mouse, clawed Full list of author information is available at the end of the article frog and zebrafsh all share the same gene arrangement © The Author(s) 2021. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creat iveco mmons .org/licen ses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creat iveco mmons .org/publi cdoma in/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. Zhang et al. BMC Ecol Evo (2021) 21:19 Page 2 of 14 in their mitogenomes [7–10]. However, with an increas- in mitogenome rearrangements has been reported [34]. ing number of diferent species’ mitogenomes completely Tese fndings inspire us to further explore the landscape sequenced, gene rearrangements have been reported in of mitogenome rearrangements in amphibians. many diferent taxa. Generally, these rearrangements are Except for earlier studies on a few species of amphib- inferred to the results from events such as gene transpo- ians, most studies have focused only on a few lineages sition, gene inversion, gene duplication, and gene loss. rather than a more global and systematic analysis. Also, Summaries and comparisons of animal mitogenome rear- previous studies have paid little attention to the role of rangements have been reported [3, 11]. An initial impor- individual genes in rearrangement. Recently we proposed tant study undertaken by Boore summarized all gene a method, qMGR, for quantifying mitogenome rear- arrangements known for Metazoa, based on no more rangement and developed a web service (http://qmgr. than 100 mitogenomes available at that time [1]. Further hnnu.edu.cn/) that provides large-scale and accurate comparative studies of mitogenome arrangement have analysis of mitogenome rearrangement information [35]. subsequently been published (e.g., [12–15]). In addition, In this study, we newly determined mitogenomes for several possible rearrangement models were proposed four frogs in the neobatrachian frog family Dicroglossi- to explain mechanisms, including tandem duplication– dae, and found that they all had a tandem duplication of random loss (TDRL) [16, 17], tandem duplication and trnM (IQMM trn cluster), which was not a feature exclu- non-random loss (TDNL) [18, 19], intramitochondrial sive to this family [36, 37]. To identify common charac- recombination [20, 21], etc. Using the CREx and TreeREx teristics of mitogenome rearrangement in amphibians, programs, based on four rearrangement models, other we then focused on the study of gene rearrangement studies have tried to fnd common intermediate steps patterns of all known amphibian mitogenomes, quanti- (common intervals) in two or more gene orders being fed the rearrangement frequency (RF) for each single investigated to elucidate the evolution of mitogenome gene and the rearrangement score (RS) for each mitog- rearrangements in diferent lineages such as insects and emome by qMGR, detected phylogenetic characteristics crabs [22–25]. of species with identical mitogenome arrangements, and In general, most animals retain the conserved rather estimated possible time for rearrangement patterns. Our than rearranged mitogenome components and order. Te fndings contribute to understanding characteristics and conservative arrangement is called the “typical vertebrate evolution of mitogenome rearrangement in amphibians. (mitogenome) arrangement” in vertebrates and the “typi- cal invertebrate (mitogenome) arrangement” in inverte- Results brates [1, 26]. To date, the number of vertebrate species trnM tandem duplication of amphibian mitogenomes with typical vertebrate arrangement accounts for more Lengths of the four newly sequenced mitogenomes are than half of all species for which mitogenomes have been 18,520 bp (Quasipaa robertingeri), 16,640 bp (Limnon- determined. Among the amphibians, neobatrachians are ectes fragilis), 18,154 bp (Limnonectes fujianensis (Tai- the majority of frogs, accounting for ~ 92% of the total, wan)) and 18,293 bp (Limnonectes fujianensis (Fujian)), over 6600 species (AmphibiaWeb, http://www.Amphi respectively, and the full range of their GC contents biawe b.org/, accessed February, 2020). Most sequenced was relatively narrow (39.7–42.9%). Te four new neobatrachian frogs possess a derived mitogenome mitogenomes all contain a tandem duplication of trnM arrangement, “typical neobatrachian arrangement” [14, (IQMM trn cluster) that also occurs in other sequenced 27, 28]. Furthermore, there are some other types of rear- dicroglossids [14]. rangements in addition to typical neobatrachian arrange- Among the 35 amphibian mitogenomes presenting ment in amphibians. For example, the mitogenome of the evidence of duplication or loss of genes as well as CRs neobtrachian frog Limnonectes bannaensis lacks trnA, (excluding gene rearrangement with the same total num- trnN, trnC and trnE and contains a tandem duplication ber of genes), 19 species (including our four new mitog- of trnM [29], the mitogenome of the caecilian Crotapha- enomes) possess a tandem duplication of trnM (IQMM trema lamottei includes the duplications of trnF, trnP and trn cluster) (see Table 1). Tese 19 species represent 16 trnT and lack of trnK [30], and there are two CRs found species of Dicroglossidae, two species of Megophryidae in the mitogenomes of the neobatrachian frogs Mantella (the non-neobatrachian frog family), and one species madagascariensis [31] and Rhacophorus schlegelii [32]. of the neobatrachian Ceratobatrachidae. Tus, tandem In addition, while nad6 is located between nad5 and cob duplication of trnM is not exclusive to Dicroglossidae, genes within typical vertebrate mitogenome, it is rear- and more than one rearrangement
Recommended publications
  • Chapter 10. Amphibians of the Palaearctic Realm
    CHAPTER 10. AMPHIBIANS OF THE PALAEARCTIC REALM Figure 1. Summary of Red List categories Brandon Anthony, J.W. Arntzen, Sherif Baha El Din, Wolfgang Böhme, Dan Palaearctic Realm contains 6% of all globally threatened amphibians. The Palaearctic accounts for amphibians in the Palaearctic Realm. CogĄlniceanu, Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailovic, Pierre-André Crochet, Claudia Corti, for only 3% of CR species and 5% of the EN species, but 9% of the VU species. Hence, on the The percentage of species in each category Richard Griffiths, Yoshio Kaneko, Sergei Kuzmin, Michael Wai Neng Lau, basis of current knowledge, threatened Palaearctic amphibians are more likely to be in a lower is also given. Pipeng Li, Petros Lymberakis, Rafael Marquez, Theodore Papenfuss, Juan category of threat, when compared with the global distribution of threatened species amongst Manuel Pleguezuelos, Nasrullah Rastegar, Benedikt Schmidt, Tahar Slimani, categories. The percentage of DD species, 13% (62 species), is also much less than the global Max Sparreboom, ùsmail Uøurtaû, Yehudah Werner and Feng Xie average of 23%, which is not surprising given that parts of the region have been well surveyed. Red List Category Number of species Nevertheless, the percentage of DD species is much higher than in the Nearctic. Extinct (EX) 2 Two of the world’s 34 documented amphibian extinctions have occurred in this region: the Extinct in the Wild (EW) 0 THE GEOGRAPHIC AND HUMAN CONTEXT Hula Painted Frog Discoglossus nigriventer from Israel and the Yunnan Lake Newt Cynops Critically Endangered (CR) 13 wolterstorffi from around Kunming Lake in Yunnan Province, China. In addition, one Critically Endangered (EN) 40 The Palaearctic Realm includes northern Africa, all of Europe, and much of Asia, excluding Endangered species in the Palaearctic Realm is considered possibly extinct, Scutiger macu- Vulnerable (VU) 58 the southern extremities of the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian Subcontinent (south of the latus from central China.
    [Show full text]
  • Complete Nucleotide Sequence and Gene Rearrangement of the Mitochondrial Genome of the Bell-Ring Frog, Buergeria Buergeri (Family Rhacophoridae)
    Genes Genet. Syst. (2004) 79, p. 151–163 Complete nucleotide sequence and gene rearrangement of the mitochondrial genome of the bell-ring frog, Buergeria buergeri (family Rhacophoridae) Naomi Sano1, Atsushi Kurabayashi1, Tamotsu Fujii2, Hiromichi Yonekawa3, and Masayuki Sumida1* 1Institute for Amphibian Biology, Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan 2Department of Health Science, Hiroshima Prefectural Women’s University, Hiroshima 734-8558, Japan 3Department of Laboratory Animal Science, The Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo 113-8613, Japan (Received 22 March 2004, accepted 26 May 2004) In this study we determined the complete nucleotide sequence (19,959 bp) of the mitochondrial DNA of the rhacophorid frog Buergeria buergeri. The gene content, nucleotide composition, and codon usage of B. buergeri conformed to those of typ- ical vertebrate patterns. However, due to an accumulation of lengthy repetitive sequences in the D-loop region, this species possesses the largest mitochondrial genome among all the vertebrates examined so far. Comparison of the gene organ- izations among amphibian species (Rana, Xenopus, salamanders and caecilians) revealed that the positioning of four tRNA genes and the ND5 gene in the mtDNA of B. buergeri diverged from the common vertebrate gene arrangement shared by Xenopus, salamanders and caecilians. The unique positions of the tRNA genes in B. buergeri are shared by ranid frogs, indicating that the rearrangements of the tRNA genes occurred in a common ancestral lineage of ranids and rhacophorids. On the other hand, the novel position of the ND5 gene seems to have arisen in a lineage leading to rhacophorids (and other closely related taxa) after ranid divergence.
    [Show full text]
  • 1704632114.Full.Pdf
    Phylogenomics reveals rapid, simultaneous PNAS PLUS diversification of three major clades of Gondwanan frogs at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary Yan-Jie Fenga, David C. Blackburnb, Dan Lianga, David M. Hillisc, David B. Waked,1, David C. Cannatellac,1, and Peng Zhanga,1 aState Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, College of Ecology and Evolution, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China; bDepartment of Natural History, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611; cDepartment of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Collections, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712; and dMuseum of Vertebrate Zoology and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 Contributed by David B. Wake, June 2, 2017 (sent for review March 22, 2017; reviewed by S. Blair Hedges and Jonathan B. Losos) Frogs (Anura) are one of the most diverse groups of vertebrates The poor resolution for many nodes in anuran phylogeny is and comprise nearly 90% of living amphibian species. Their world- likely a result of the small number of molecular markers tra- wide distribution and diverse biology make them well-suited for ditionally used for these analyses. Previous large-scale studies assessing fundamental questions in evolution, ecology, and conser- used 6 genes (∼4,700 nt) (4), 5 genes (∼3,800 nt) (5), 12 genes vation. However, despite their scientific importance, the evolutionary (6) with ∼12,000 nt of GenBank data (but with ∼80% missing history and tempo of frog diversification remain poorly understood. data), and whole mitochondrial genomes (∼11,000 nt) (7). In By using a molecular dataset of unprecedented size, including 88-kb the larger datasets (e.g., ref.
    [Show full text]
  • (Amphibia, Anura): Morfología Y Desarrollo Del Sistema Esquelético
    UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS BIOLÓGICAS Departamento de Biología Animal I (Zoología) TESIS DOCTORAL Evolución de Pelobatidos y Peloditidos (Amphibia, Anura): morfología y desarrollo del sistema esquelético MEMORIA PARA OPTAR AL GRADO DE DOCTOR PRESENTADA POR María del Rosario Rodríguez Talavera Director Francisco de Borja Sanchiz y Gil de Avalle Madrid Ed. electrónica 2019 © María del Rosario Rodríguez Talavera, 1989 /L °'`^`^^ Departamento de Biología Animal I Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas Universidad Complutense de Madrid ireeemema HVOLIICIOB DH PHLOBATIDOS Y PHLODITIDOS (A1^[PHIBIA, AHURA): XORFOLOGIA Y DHSARROLLO DHL SISTHxA HSQIIñLHTICO Memoria presentada para optar al grado de doctor en Ciencias Biológicas por l[aría del xosarío Rodríguez Talavera v^ B^ del director de la tesis ^^%^ ^a ^-...^r ^ Dr. D. Francisco de Borja Sanchíz y Gil de Avalle Invest:igador del CSIC en el Museo Nacional de Ciencias Iiaturales Madrid, octubre de 1989 AGRADfiCII[ IfiHTOS En primer lugar deseo expresar mi agradecimiento al Dr. Sanchíz, director de esta tesis, por sugerirme el tema de investigación y por su valiosa colaboración, tolerancia y acertadas críticas durante el desarrollo del trabajo. E1 Dr. Castanet CLaboratoire d'Anatomie Comparée, IJniversité Paris VII) revisó amablemente los resultados esqueletocronológicos. Aumerosas personas me acompañaron en los viajes de recolección de material. Especialmente agradezco la colaboración de Begoña Arano y Asunción Rodríguez Espeso en Portugal; Juan Carlos Arrechea y Jesús Dorda en 14arruecos, y Marisa Esteban en el sur de Espa4ia. Las siguientes personas colectaron material adicional para este estudio: Begoña E►rano, Ignacio Doadrio, Jesús Dorda, Carmen Díaz-Paniagua, Marisa Esteban, Mario García-Paris, Paloma Garzón, Rafael Márquez y Carolina Martín- Albaladejo.
    [Show full text]
  • ©Zoologische Staatssammlung München;Download
    ©Zoologische Staatssammlung München;download: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/; www.biologiezentrum.at SPIXIANA ©Zoologische Staatssammlung München;download: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/; www.biologiezentrum.at symplesiomorphies with some African genera formerly considered as basal representatives of the Ranidae (and today seen as own families, Arthroleptidae and Astylosternidae; see Dubois 1992), rhacophorines shared synapomorphies with more derived representatives of the extremely diverse and speciose family Ranidae. Actually, rhacophorids are only distinguished from other ranids by the presence of an intercalary element between ultimate and penultimate phalanges of fingers and toes, and by generally (but not consistently) more arboreal habits. Based on the synapomorphies identified (e.g., presence of a bony sternal style), Laurent (1986), Dubois (1992) and Blommers-Schlösser (1993) proposed to include the Rhacophoridae as subfamily Rhacophorinae in the family Ranidae. However, the proposal of Blommers-Schlösser (1993) (i. e. the definition of the family Ranidae as group contain- ing almost all ranoid taxa with an ossified sternal style) is all but generally accepted by herpetologists. Most authors continue considering the Rhacophoridae as separate family (e.g., Frost 1985), a view also shared by internet databases (as the Amphibian Species of the World database, Amphibiaweb, Tree of life, Genbank; as of 10 November 2000). Furthermore, new names such as "fanged ifrogs" (Emerson & Ward 1998, Emerson et al. 2000a) and "boophids" (Richards et al. 2000) have been used to address ranoid subclades, without a nomenclatural formalization of these groups. In the last few years, numerous new results on Old World treefrog phylogeny have been published, several of them referring to the taxa endemic to Madagascar.
    [Show full text]
  • Diversity of Diversity of Anura
    Diversity of Anura WFS 433/533 1/24/2013 Lecture goal To familiarize students with the different families of the order anura. To familiarize students with aspects of natural history and world distribution of anurans Required readings: Wells: pp. 15-41 http://amphibiaweb.org/aw/index.html Lecture roadmap Characteristics of Anurans Anuran Diversity Anuran families, natural history and world distribution 1 What are amphibians? These foul and loathsome animals are abhorrent because of their cold body, pale color, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eye, offensive smell, harsh voice, squalid habitation, and terrible venom; and so their Creator has not exerted his powers to make many of them. Carl von Linne (Linnaeus) Systema Naturae (1758) What are frogs? A thousand splendid suns, a million moons, a billion twinkle stars are nothing compared to the eyes of a frog in the swamp —Miss Piggy about Kermit, in Larry king live, 1993 Diversity of anurans Global Distribution 30 Families 4963 spec ies Groups: •Archaeobatrachia (4 families) •Mesobatrachia (5 families) 30 Families •Neobatrachia (all other families) 2 No. of Known Species in Number of Species Number of Species in Family World in the United States? Tennessee? Allophrynidae 10 0 Arthroleptidae 78 0 0 Ascaphidae 22 0 Bombinatoridae 11 0 0 Brachycephalidae 60 0 Bufonidae 457 23 2 Centrolenidae 139 0 0 Dendrobatidae 219 1* 0 Discoglossidae 11 0 0 Heleophrynidae 60 0 Hemisotidae 90 0 Hylidae 851 29* 10 Hyperoliidae 253 0 0 Leiopelmatidae 40 0 30 families Leptodactylidae
    [Show full text]
  • Early Eocene Frogs from Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India
    Early Eocene frogs from Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India ANNELISE FOLIE, RAJENDRA S. RANA, KENNETH D. ROSE, ASHOK SAHNI, KISHOR KUMAR, LACHHAM SINGH, and THIERRY SMITH Folie, A., Rana, R.S., Rose, K.D., Sahni, A., Kumar, K., Singh, L., and Smith, T. 2013. Early Eocene frogs from Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 58 (3): 511–524. The Ypresian Cambay Shale Formation of Vastan Lignite Mine in Gujarat, western India, has yielded a rich vertebrate fauna, including the earliest modern mammals of the Indian subcontinent. Here we describe its assemblage of four frogs, including two new genera and species, based on numerous, diverse and well−preserved ilia and vertebrae. An abundant frog, Eobarbourula delfinoi gen. and sp. nov., with a particular vertebral articulation similar to a zygosphene−zygantrum complex, represents the oldest record of the Bombinatoridae and might have been capable of displaying the Unken reflex. The large non−fossorial pelobatid Eopelobates, known from complete skeletons from the Eocene and Oligocene of Europe, is also identified at Vastan based on a single nearly complete ilium. An abundant “ranid” and a possible rhacophorid Indorana prasadi gen. and sp. nov. represent the earliest records of both families. The Vastan pelobatids and ranids confirm an early worldwide distribution of these families, and the bombinatorids and rhacophorids show possible origins of those clades on the Indian subcontinent. Key words: Amphibia, Bombinatoridae, Ranidae, Pelobatidae, Rhacophoridae, Eocene, Vastan, India. Annelise Folie [[email protected]] and Thierry Smith [[email protected]], Royal Bel− gian Institute of Natural Sciences, Department of Paleontology, Rue Vautier 29, B−1000 Brussels, Belgium; Rajendra S.
    [Show full text]
  • Phylogenetic Relationships of Pelobatoidea Re-Examined Using Mtdna
    MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 28 (2003) 12–23 www.elsevier.com/locate/ympev Phylogenetic relationships of Pelobatoidea re-examined using mtDNA Mario Garcııa-Parııs,a,* Daniel R. Buchholz,b and Gabriela Parra-Oleac a Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Jose Gutierrez Abascal, 2. 28006 Madrid, Spain b Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3160, USA c Instituto de Biologııa, UNAM. AP 70-153, Mexico DF 04510, Mexico Received 1 April 2002; revised 15 January 2003 Abstract Pelobatoidea is a clade of ancient anurans with obscure relationships to the remaining clades of frogs. We used partial sequences of two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome b and 16S RNA) from all Pelobatoidea subclades, including all species of Pelobatidae and Pelodytidae and four outgroup taxa (Xenopus, Ascaphus, Discoglossus, and Rana), to propose a phylogenetic hypothesis for rela- tionships within Pelobatoidea. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses support the monophyly of Pelobatoidea, but our hy- pothesis of internal relationships differs substantially from all previous hypotheses. Megophryidae is sister to Pelobates, and this clade is sister to Pelodytes. The most basal clade within Pelobatoidea is formed by Scaphiopus and Spea. The family Pelobatidae, as previously defined is not monophyletic, and it is split into Eurasian spadefoot toads Pelobates which retain the name Pelobatidae and North American spadefoot toads Scaphiopus and Spea which comprise the revived taxon Scaphiopodidae. Our analysis un- covers the existence of morphologically cryptic taxa within previously recognized species of the genus Spea and reveals marked genetic differentiation within Iberian Pelodytes. We discuss biogeographic implications and the evolution of fossoriality in the light of the new phylogenetic hypothesis.
    [Show full text]
  • The Origin of Modern Frogs (Neobatrachia) Was Accompanied By
    Irisarri et al. BMC Genomics 2012, 13:626 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/13/626 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access The origin of modern frogs (Neobatrachia) was accompanied by acceleration in mitochondrial and nuclear substitution rates Iker Irisarri1, Diego San Mauro2, Federico Abascal1,3, Annemarie Ohler4, Miguel Vences5 and Rafael Zardoya1* Abstract Background: Understanding the causes underlying heterogeneity of molecular evolutionary rates among lineages is a long-standing and central question in evolutionary biology. Although several earlier studies showed that modern frogs (Neobatrachia) experienced an acceleration of mitochondrial gene substitution rates compared to non-neobatrachian relatives, no further characterization of this phenomenon was attempted. To gain new insights on this topic, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genomes and nine nuclear loci of one pelobatoid (Pelodytes punctatus) and five neobatrachians, Heleophryne regis (Heleophrynidae), Lechriodus melanopyga (Limnodynastidae), Calyptocephalella gayi (Calyptocephalellidae), Telmatobius bolivianus (Ceratophryidae), and Sooglossus thomasseti (Sooglossidae). These represent major clades not included in previous mitogenomic analyses, and most of them are remarkably species-poor compared to other neobatrachians. Results: We reconstructed a fully resolved and robust phylogeny of extant frogs based on the new mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data, and dated major cladogenetic events. The reconstructed tree recovered Heleophryne as sister group to all other neobatrachians,
    [Show full text]
  • Native Frog (Leiopelma Spp.) Recovery Plan
    Native Frog (Leiopelma spp.) Recovery Plan Threatened Species Recovery Plan No. 18 Department of Conservation Threatened Species Unit PO Box 10-420 Wellington New Zealand Prepared by: Donald G. Newman Science & Research Division Department of Conservation for the Threatened Species Unit © March 1996, Department of Conservation ISSN 1170-3806 ISBN 0-478-01805-3 Cover photo: I. G. Crook, Department of Conservation CONTENTS page 1.0 Introduction 1 2.0 Past Distribution 3 2.1 Leiopelma hamiltoni 3 2.2 Leiopelma hochstetteri 3 2.3 Leiopelma waitomoensis (extinct) 3 2.4 Leiopelma markhami (extinct) 4 2.5 Leiopelma auroraensis (extinct) 4 3.0 Present Distribution 5 3.1 Hamilton's frog 5 3.2 Maud Island frog 5 3.3 Archey's frog 5 3.4 Hochstetter's frog 5 3.5 Captive stocks 6 4.0 Threats to Native Frogs 7 4.1 Hamilton's frog 7 4.2 Maud Island frog 7 4.3 Archey's frog 7 4.4 Hochstetter's frog 8 4.5 Global declines of amphibian populations 8 5.0 Ability to Recover 9 6.0 Options for Recovery 11 6.1 Hamilton's frog 11 6.2 Maud Island frog 11 6.3 Archey's frog 12 6.4 Hochstetter's frog 13 7.0 Recovery Strategy: Goal and Objectives 15 8.0 Recovery Strategy: Work Plan 17 9.0 Research Priorities 25 References 27 Acknowledgements 29 Appendix 1: Estimate of Funding Required Appendix 2: Monitoring Techniques for Native Frogs Appendix 3:Advocacy Pamphlet Appendix 4: Published Recovery Plans Figure 1: Former distribution of Leiopelma taxa identified from subfossils (Bell 1994, after Worthy 1986, 1987b) 4 Figure 2: Known distribution of extant Leiopelma species (Bell 1994) 6 1.0 Introduction The native frogs of New Zealand, Leiopelma spp., are regarded as amongst the most primitive living in the world today.
    [Show full text]
  • Cardioactive Toxins in True Toads (Anura: Bufonidae) Positive
    Downloaded from rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org on 5 August 2009 Positive Darwinian selection results in resistance to cardioactive toxins in true toads (Anura: Bufonidae) David J. Moore, Damien C. T. Halliday, David M. Rowell, Anthony J. Robinson and J. Scott Keogh Biol. Lett. 2009 5, 513-516 first published online 22 May 2009 doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0281 References This article cites 13 articles, 6 of which can be accessed free http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/5/4/513.full.html#ref-list-1 Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article - sign up in the box at the top Email alerting service right-hand corner of the article or click here To subscribe to Biol. Lett. go to: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/subscriptions This journal is © 2009 The Royal Society Downloaded from rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org on 5 August 2009 Biol. Lett. (2009) 5, 513–516 Melanophryniscus and Dendrophryniscus, cardiotonic doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0281 steroids produced are bufadienolides (Flier et al. Published online 22 May 2009 1980; Mebs et al. 2007). Most other anurans are not Evolutionary biology tolerant to cardioactive steroids, but the hylid Scinax ruber and leptodactylid Leptodactylus macrosternum (Leptodactylus ocellatus species group) are natural pre- Positive Darwinian dators of bufonids in South America (Chen & Chen 1933; Crossland & Azevedo-Ramos 1999). selection results in Amino acid sites that determine tolerance to cardio- active steroids have been identified in the sodium resistance to cardioactive pump polymer. The initial extracellular loop of the toxins in true toads a1 subunit of the sodium pump is a primary binding site for cardiotonic steroids.
    [Show full text]
  • CHAPTER 10B.Indd 1 5/2/08 04:39:56 CHAPTER 10
    CHAPTER 10b.indd 1 5/2/08 04:39:56 CHAPTER 10. AMPHIBIANS OF THE PALAEARCTIC REALM Figure 1. Summary of Red List categories Brandon Anthony, J.W. Arntzen, Sherif Baha El Din, Wolfgang Böhme, Dan Palaearctic Realm contains 6% of all globally threatened amphibians. The Palaearctic accounts for amphibians in the Palaearctic Realm. Cog lniceanu, Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailovic, Pierre-André Crochet, Claudia Corti, for only 3% of CR species and 5% of the EN species, but 9% of the VU species. Hence, on the The percentage of species in each category Richard Griffi ths, Yoshio Kaneko, Sergei Kuzmin, Michael Wai Neng Lau, basis of current knowledge, threatened Palaearctic amphibians are more likely to be in a lower is also given. Pipeng Li, Petros Lymberakis, Rafael Marquez, Theodore Papenfuss, Juan category of threat, when compared with the global distribution of threatened species amongst Manuel Pleguezuelos, Nasrullah Rastegar, Benedikt Schmidt, Tahar Slimani, categories. The percentage of DD species, 13% (62 species), is also much less than the global Max Sparreboom, Ismail Ugurtas, Yehudah Werner, and Feng Xie average of 23%, which is not surprising given that parts of the region have been well surveyed. Red List Category Number of species Nevertheless, the percentage of DD species is much higher than in the Nearctic. Extinct (EX) 2 Two of the world’s 34 documented amphibian extinctions have occurred in this region: the Extinct in the Wild (EX) 0 THE GEOGRAPHIC AND HUMAN CONTEXT Hula Painted Frog Discoglossus nigriventer from Israel and the Yunnan Lake Newt Cynops Critically Endangered (CR) 13 wolterstorffi from around Kunming Lake in Yunnan Province, China.
    [Show full text]