Quantitative phenetics and taxonomy of some phlebotomine taxa

Elucidating the evolution of Phlebotominae is important not only to revise their taxonomy, but also to help understand the origin of the genus Leishmania and its relationship with humans. Our study is a phenetic portrayal of this history based on the genetic relationships among some New Word and Old Word taxa. We used both multilocus enzyme electrophoresis and morphometry on 24 male specimens of the Old Word genus Phlebotomus (with three of its subgenera: Phlebotomus, Spelaeophlebotomus and Australophlebotomus), and on 67 male specimens of the three New World genera, Warileya, Brumptomyia and Lutzomyia, (with three subgenera of Lutzomyia: Lutzomyia, Oligodontomyia and Psychodopygus). Phenetic trees derived from both techniques were similar, but disclosed relationships that disagree with the present classification of sand flies. The need for a true evolutionary approach is stressed.

Taxonomy of the genus Leishmania: present and future trends and their implications

The application of different taxonomic methods (Cladistic, Evolutionary Taxonomy and Numerical Taxonomy) to the taxonomy of the Genus Leishmania are reviewed. The major groupings of the most recent classifications obtained using the cladistical approach agree with the major divisions of previous classifications which used traditional taxonomy (Evolutionary Taxonomy). The advantage of the cladistical approach is that it produces cladograms whose branches indicate more accurately levels of relationships between the different taxa. Numerical Taxonomy is useful for identification but not as good as the cladistical approach for classification. The ancient division of this monophyletic genus into two major evolutionary lines supports the use of the subgeneric names Leishmania and Viannia.

Phenetic, biogeographical, and evolutionary study ofOrnithogalum subg.Heliocharmos (Hyacinthaceae) in the western Mediterranean basin

A macromorphological study is made on taxa of the genusOrnithogalum subg.Heliocharmos in North Africa, Spain, and France. The results obtained are consistent with data from cytogenetics, reproductive biology and strategies of reproduction. They allow the retention of two species:O. algeriense and O. umbellatum. A biogeographical and phylogenetic interpretation of the subgenus is proposed for the western Mediterranean. Theoretical views on phenetics are discussed.

Chemical similarity among domesticated and wild genotypes of peanut based on n-alkanes profiles

The objective of this work was to analyze the epicuticular n-alkane profile of domesticated and wild peanut genotypes. Foliar epicuticular n-alkanes of four Arachis hypogaea genotypes and two wild species - A. monticola and A. stenosperma - were analyzed by gas chromatography. Chemical relationships between them were evaluated using the Dice coefficient and UPGMA method. Two clusters were formed: one with four A. hypogaea genotypes and the other with the two wild species. There is more similarity between the BR1 and LIGO-PE06 genotypes and between the BRS 151 L-7 and BRS Havana genotypes.

Morphometric and cladistic analyses of the phylogeny of Macropodinium (Ciliophora : Litostomatea : Macropodiniidae)

Phylogenetic studies of the genus Macropodinium were conducted using two methods; phenetics and cladistics. The phenetic study of morphometrics suggested that the genus could be divided into 3 groups attributable mostly to cell size and shape. The cladistic study also split the genus into 3 groups related to cell size but groups were further distinguished by patterns of ornamentation. Reconciliation of both approaches revealed considerable congruence, however, it also suggested the existence of convergences in the phenetic study and a lack of resolution in the cladistic study. The morphological diversity of Macropodinium is probably due to evolutionary trends such as increasing body size, allometry and polymerisation of structures. None of these trends, however, was uniformly directional and differential effects were observed in different regions of the phylogenetic tree. Comparison of the phylogeny of Macropodinium to a consensus phylogeny of the macropodids revealed limited incongruence between the 2 trees. The ciliate groups could be related to 2 host groups; the wallaby genera and the kangaroo and wallaroo subgenera. The association with these host groups may be the result of phyletic codescent, ecological resource tracking or a combination of both. Further studies of both host and ciliate phylogeny are necessary to resolve these effects.