Esterase patterns and phylogenetic relationships of Drosophila species in the saltans subgroup (saltans group)

The esterase patterns of sixteen strains from four species in the saltans subgroup were analyzed using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Thirty-four esterase bands were detected. By using alpha and beta naphthyl acetates as substrates, they were classified in 18 alpha-esterases (they hydrolyse the alpha-naphtyl substrate), 15 beta-esterases (they hydrolyse the beta-naphtyl substrate) and 1 alpha/beta-esterase (it hydrolyses the alpha and beta-naphtyl substrates). Among the alpha-esterases, three were detected exclusively in males. Malathion, Eserine and pCMB were used as inhibitors in order to characterize biochemically the esterases. The results indicated the presence of cholinesterases, carboxylesterases and acetylesterases. The degree of mobility of the bands in the gels, their specificity to alpha and beta naphthyl acetates and the results of the inhibition tests allowed us to recognize tentatively nine genetic loci. Phylogenetic relationships among species inferred on the basis of the esterase patterns by PAUP 4.0 b8, with neighbor-joining search and a bootstrap analysis showed that, although the four species are closely related, D. septentriosaltans, D. saltans and D. austrosaltans are closer to each other than to D. prosaltans. These results showed to be consistent with phylogenetic relationships previously inferred from inversion polymorphism.

Genetic and phylogenetic analysis of glycoprotein of rabies virus isolated from several species in Brazil

Genetic and phylogenetic analyses of the region containing the glycoprotein (G) gene, which is related to pathogenicity and antigenicity, and the G-L intergenic region were carried out in 14 Brazilian rabies virus isolates. The isolates were classified as dog-related rabies virus (DRRV) or vampire bat-related rabies virus (VRRV), by nucleoprotein (N) analysis. The nucleotide and amino acid (AA) homologies of the area containing the G protein gene and G-L intergenic region were generally lower than those of the ectodomain. In both regions, nucleotide and deduced AA homologies were lower among VRRVs than among DRRVs. There were AA differences between DRRV and VRRV at 3 antigenic sites and epitopes (IIa, WB+ and III), suggesting that DRRV and VRRV can be distinguished by differences of antigenicity. In a comparison of phylogenetic trees between the ectodomain and the area containing the G protein gene and G-L intergenic region, the branching patterns of the chiropteran and carnivoran rabies virus groups differed, whereas there were clear similarities in patterns within the DRRV and VRRV groups. Additionally, the VRRV isolates were more closely related to chiropteran strains isolated from Latin America than to Brazilian DRRV. These results indicate that Brazilian rabies virus isolates can be classified as DRRV or VRRV by analysis of the G gene and the G-L intergenic region, as well as by N gene analysis.

Phylogenetic analysis of the neotropical pseudopolybia de saussure, 1863, with description of the male genitalia of pseudopolybia vespiceps (Hymenoptera : Vespidae, epiponini)

The male genitalia of Pseudopolybia vespiceps are described and compared to congeners. Characters of the male genitalia are combined with morphological characters of the females and nests and used in a phylogenetic analysis. The single cladogram resulting supports monophyly of the genus Pseudopolybia and interrelationships among the species as: P. langi + (P. difficilis + (P. compressa + P. vespiceps)). A new, illustrated identification key is presented.

Phylogenetic relationship of Sirodotia species (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta) in North and South America

Sequence data from the RUBISCO large subunit (rbcL) plastid gene and nuclear small-subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) were examined for five samples of Sirodotia delicatula from southeastern Brazil. Data from six North American samples previously identified as S. huillensis and S. suecica were also included in the analysis. Molecular data supported the continued recognition of these three species as separate entities, although one of the North American collections was misidentified. These results were shown to be congruent with morphology, chromosome number and geographic distribution. S. delicatula is more closely related to S. huillensis, both occurring in tropical-subtropical regions, than either to S. suecica with a temperate-boreal distribution. There was little rbcL variation within S. delicatula from Brazil and Costa Rica (the latter a collection previously identified as S. huillensis), with the six samples sequenced diverging from each other by 0-8 bp (0-0.67%). SSU rDNA data set did not provide sufficient resolution to infer phylogenetic relationships among the species of this group due to the low rates of variation (5 bp). Sirodotia was a well-supported clade (100% bootstrap or 1.00 a posteriori probability) based on rbcL sequences. Thus, the results confirm that Sirodotia is a monophyletic group within the Batrachospermales and we continue to recognize it at the generic level. The species S. delicatula, S. huillensis and S. suecica are morphologically and genetically distinct.

THE LEG EXOCRINE SYSTEM IN SERRITERMES-SERRIFER (HAGEN, 1858), PHYLOGENETIC IMPLICATIONS (ISOPTERA, SERRITERMITIDAE

The leg exocrine gland was examined in two species of Neotropical termites. Scanning microscopy studies showed a set of pores on the ventral surface of the first and second tarsomeres in all legs of Serritermes serrifer. In Heterotermes tenuis these pores are present on a sunken plate in all castes. To date, this gland has been observed only in Rhinotermitid species. The presence of leg exocrine gland provides additional evidence supporting a close phylogenetic relationship between the Serritermitidae and Rhinotermitidae.

A fuzzy inference system for identification of crossflow filtration processes

The crossflow filtration process differs of the conventional filtration by presenting the circulation flow tangentially to the filtration surface. The conventional mathematical models used to represent the process have some limitations in relation to the identification and generalization of the system behavior. In this paper, a system based on fuzzy logic systems is developed to overcome the problems usually found in the conventional mathematical models. Imprecisions and uncertainties associated with the measurements made on the system are automatically incorporated in the fuzzy approach. Simulation results are presented to justify the validity of the proposed approach.

Mapping lightning processes using fuzzy inference system

This paper describes a novel approach for mapping lightning processes using fuzzy logic. The core regarding lightning process is to identify and to model those uncertain information on mathematical principles. In fact, the lightning process involves several nonlinear features that our current mathematical tools would not be able to model. The estimation process has been carried out using a fuzzy system based on Sugeno's architecture. Simulation results confirm that proposed approach can be efficiently used in these types of problem.

EthoSeq: A tool for phylogenetic analysis and data mining in behavioral sequences

This article introduces the software program called EthoSeq, which is designed to extract probabilistic behavioral sequences (tree-generated sequences, or TGSs) from observational data and to prepare a TGS-species matrix for phylogenetic analysis. The program uses Graph Theory algorithms to automatically detect behavioral patterns within the observational sessions. It includes filtering tools to adjust the search procedure to user-specified statistical needs. Preliminary analyses of data sets, such as grooming sequences in birds and foraging tactics in spiders, uncover a large number of TGSs which together yield single phylogenetic trees. An example of the use of the program is our analysis of felid grooming sequences, in which we have obtained 1,386 felid grooming TGSs for seven species, resulting in a single phylogeny. These results show that behavior is definitely useful in phylogenetic analysis. EthoSeq simplifies and automates such analyses, uncovers much of the hidden patterns of long behavioral sequences, and prepares this data for further analysis with standard phylogenetic programs. We hope it will encourage many empirical studies on the evolution of behavior.

Esterase patterns and phylogenetic relationships of species and strains included in the Drosophila buzzatii cluster

Ten strains of two species in the Drosophila buzzatii cluster (D. serido and D. seriema) were examined as to esterase patterns using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The migration rate of esterases, and their substrate specificity to alpha and beta naphthyl acetates, were analysed. Other esterase features such as inhibition behaviour, presence in males and females and location in the head, thorax or abdomen of flies, were also examined. The present data,together with results obtained by others for eight strains of D. koepferae, D. serido, D. seriema and D. buzzatii, show that 69 bands have been detected in the eighteen strains studied. This total number of bands was used for comparison of strains and species by similarity index, analysis of dependence and cluster analysis. The comparisons confirmed the existence of a high degree of similarity among D. seriema strains and among D. koepferae strains, but indicated differentiation among the D. serido strains. Two strains (D69R2 and D69R5) which differed from the others of the latter species, showed closer affinities with D. buzzatii, which indicates the need for further work on those strains classified as D. serido.

Reassessment of the phylogenetic position of conulariids (?Ediacaran-Triassic) within the subphylum medusozoa (Phylum Cnidaria)

Fossil taxa of uncertain phytogenetic affinities can play a crucial role in the analysis of character evolution within major extant groups. Marques & Collins (2004) concluded that conulariids (?Ediacaran-Triassic) are an extinct group of medusozoan cnidarians most closely related to Stauromedusae. However, only six of the 87 characters used by these authors can be observed in conulariid fossils. Rescoring the character states of conulariids in a conservative manner yields a new hypothesis for the phylogenetic position of conulariids, namely that they are the sister group of the scyphozoan order Coronatae rather than Stauromedusae, which is revealed as the earliest diverging lineage of Medusozoa. This new hypothesis also implies several different sequences of character evolution within Cnidaria. Specifically, the presence of a periderm completely covering the polyp in conutariids and coronates appears to be derived within Scyphozoa. Strobilation appears to be a synapomorphy uniting conulariids, Coronatae, Rhizostomeae and Semaeostomeae. This result supports the controversial interpretation of one exceptionally preserved conulariid that potentially shows that these animals produced ephyrae by strobilation. Finally, the pelagic adult medusa stage and the giant fibre nerve net appear to be features that are derived within Medusozoa.

Sequence heterogeneity and phylogenetic relationships between the copia retrotransposon in Drosophila species of the repleta and melanogaster groups

Although the retrotransposon copia has been studied in the melanogaster group of Drosophila species, very little is known about copia dynamism and evolution in other groups. We analyzed the occurrence and heterogeneity of the copia 5' LTR-ULR partial sequence and their phylogenetic relationships in 24 species of the repleta group of Drosophila. PCR showed that copia occurs in 18 out of the 24 species evaluated. Sequencing was possible in only eight species. The sequences showed a low nucleotide diversity, which suggests selective constraints maintaining this regulatory region over evolutionary time. on the contrary, the low nucleotide divergence and the phylogenetic relationships between the D. willistoni/Zaprionus tuberculatus/melanogaster species subgroup suggest horizontal transfer. Sixteen transcription factor binding sites were identified in the LTR-ULR repleta and melanogaster consensus sequences. However, these motifs are not homologous, neither according to their position in the LTR-ULR sequences, nor according to their sequences. Taken together, the low motif homologies, the phylogenetic relationship and the great nucleotide divergence between the melanogaster and repleta copia sequences reinforce the hypothesis that there are two copia families.

PHYLOGENETIC STUDIES OF SOME SPECIES OF THE GENUS COFFEA .2. NUMERICAL-ANALYSIS OF ISOENZYMATIC DATA

Thirteen species of Coffea were studied for five enzymes systems, including alpha and beta esterase, alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, malate dehydrogenase and acid dehydrogenase. Three coefficients of similarity: Simple Matching, Jaccard and Ochiai and three different clustering methods: Single Linkage, Complete Linkage and Unweighted Pair Group, using Arithmetic Averages (UPGMA) were used to analyse the data.The phylogenetic relationships among the twelve diploid species and between them and the tetraploid species C. arabica showed that similarity among species of the same subsection is not always greater than among species of different subsections. In addition, although there are several similarity groups in common, established by isoenzymatic polymorphism, morphological characteristics, chemical data, crossability and geographic distribution, there is no common trend among the phylogenetic relationships as indicated by all these different evaluating procedures.