scholarly journals Peer Review #3 of "Phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of the greater horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, in Northeast Asia (v0.1)"

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tong Liu ◽  
Keping Sun ◽  
Yung Chul Park ◽  
Jiang Feng

The greater horseshoe bat,Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, is an important model organism for studies on chiropteran phylogeographic patterns. Previous studies revealed the population history ofR. ferrumequinumfrom Europe and most Asian regions, yet there continue to be arguments about their evolutionary process in Northeast Asia. In this study, we obtained mitochondrial DNA cytband D-loop data ofR. ferrumequinumfrom Northeast China, South Korea and Japan to clarify their phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary process. Our results indicate a highly supported monophyletic group of Northeast Asian greater horseshoe bats, in which Japanese populations formed a single clade and clustered into the mixed branches of Northeast Chinese and South Korean populations. We infer thatR. ferrumequinumin Northeast Asia originated in Northeast China and South Korea during a cold glacial period, while some ancestors likely arrived in Japan by flying or land bridge and subsequently adapted to the local environment. Consequently, during the warm Eemian interglaciation, the Korea Strait, between Japan and South Korea, became a geographical barrier to Japanese and inland populations, while the Changbai Mountains, between China and North Korea, did not play a significant role as a barrier between Northeast China and South Korea populations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 495-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Balao ◽  
María Teresa Lorenzo ◽  
José Manuel Sánchez-Robles ◽  
Ovidiu Paun ◽  
Juan Luis García-Castaño ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and Aims Inferring the evolutionary relationships of species and their boundaries is critical in order to understand patterns of diversification and their historical drivers. Despite Abies (Pinaceae) being the second most diverse group of conifers, the evolutionary history of Circum-Mediterranean firs (CMFs) remains under debate. Methods We used restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) on all proposed CMF taxa to investigate their phylogenetic relationships and taxonomic status. Key Results Based on thousands of genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we present here the first formal test of species delimitation, and the first fully resolved, complete species tree for CMFs. We discovered that all previously recognized taxa in the Mediterranean should be treated as independent species, with the exception of Abies tazaotana and Abies marocana. An unexpectedly early pulse of speciation in the Oligocene–Miocene boundary is here documented for the group, pre-dating previous hypotheses by millions of years, revealing a complex evolutionary history encompassing both ancient and recent gene flow between distant lineages. Conclusions Our phylogenomic results contribute to shed light on conifers’ diversification. Our efforts to resolve the CMF phylogenetic relationships help refine their taxonomy and our knowledge of their evolution.


1995 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adina Breiman ◽  
Dan Graur

Many wild and cultivated wheat species are amphidiploid, i.e., they are polyploid species containing two or more distinct nuclear genomes, each with its own independent evolutionary history, but whose genetic behavior resembles that of diploids. Amphidiploidy has important evolutionary consequences in wheat. Since the beginning of this century different methods have been employed to identify the diploid donors of the coexisting genomes in the polyploids. To date, several of the genomic donors have been identified, and the search for the others has been narrowed down considerably. Molecular methodologies that are being increasingly used in studies aimed at reconstructing the evolutionary history of wheat species and their wild relatives have resolved many of the phylogenetic relationships among the various taxa.


2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (10) ◽  
pp. 1119-1130
Author(s):  
Márton Z. Vidovszky ◽  
Zhizhou Tan ◽  
Michael J. Carr ◽  
Sándor Boldogh ◽  
Balázs Harrach ◽  
...  

Polyomaviruses (PyVs) are small, circular dsDNA viruses carried by diverse vertebrates, including bats. Although previous studies have reported several horseshoe bat PyVs collected in Zambia and China, it is still unclear how PyVs evolved in this group of widely dispersed mammals. Horseshoe bats (genus Rhinolophus) are distributed across the Old World and are natural reservoirs of numerous pathogenic viruses. Herein, non-invasive bat samples from European horseshoe bat species were collected in Hungary for PyV identification and novel PyVs with complete genomes were successfully recovered from two different European horseshoe bat species. Genomic and phylogenetic analysis of the Hungarian horseshoe bat PyVs supported their classification into the genera Alphapolyomavirus and Betapolyomavirus. Notably, despite the significant geographical distances between the corresponding sampling locations, Hungarian PyVs exhibited high genetic relatedness with previously described Zambian and Chinese horseshoe bat PyVs, and phylogenetically clustered with these viruses in each PyV genus. Correlation and virus–host relationship analysis suggested that these PyVs co-diverged with their European, African and Asian horseshoe bat hosts distributed on different continents during their evolutionary history. Additionally, assessment of selective pressures over the major capsid protein (VP1) of horseshoe bat PyVs showed sites under positive selection located in motifs exposed to the exterior of the capsid. In summary, our findings revealed a pattern of stable intrahost divergence of horseshoe bat PyVs with their mammalian hosts on the African and Eurasian continents over evolutionary time.


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