Phylogenetic relationships among 28 of the 68 species of the paleotropical genus Gaertnera (Rubiaceae) and two related genera were inferred from nucleotide sequence variation in four nuclear DNA (nDNA) markers: the internal transcribed spacers of nuclear rDNA (ITS), the large and small copies of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PepC-large and PepC-small), and triose phosphate isomerase (Tpi). P...

Complex structures are generated and maintained through energy flux. Structures embody information, and biological information is stored in nucleic acids. The progressive increase in biological complexity over geologic time is thus the consequence of the information-generating power of energy flow plus the information-accumulating capacity of DNA, winnowed by natural selection. Consequently, th...

Changes in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content is a useful clinical biomarker for various diseases, however results are controversial as several analytical factors can affect measurement of mtDNA. MtDNA is often quantified by taking ratio between a target mitochondrial gene and a reference nuclear gene (mtDNA/nDNA) using quantitative real time PCR often on two separate experiments. It measures re...

BACKGROUND DNA sequencing techniques used to estimate biodiversity, such as DNA barcoding, may reveal cryptic species. However, disagreements between barcoding and morphological data have already led to controversy. Species delimitation should therefore not be based on mtDNA alone. Here, we explore the use of nDNA and bioclimatic modelling in a new species of aquatic beetle revealed by mtDNA se...

To establish longevity of faecal DNA samples under varying summer field conditions, we collected 53 faeces from captive brown bears (Ursus arctos) on a restricted vegetation diet. Each faeces was divided, and one half was placed on a warm, dry field site while the other half was placed on a cool, wet field site on Moscow Mountain, Idaho, USA. Temperature, relative humidity, and dew point data w...

The present study aimed to detect the mutation characteristics of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in Eca109 of Ec9706 cells, and to investigate their association with the nuclear genome (nDNA), thus providing a basis for gene targeting therapies for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). In vitro‑cultured Ec9706 and Eca109 cells were analyzed the changes of single‑nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs),...

Recently, we found dramatic mitochondrial DNA divergence of Israeli Chamaeleo chamaeleon populations into two geographically distinct groups. We aimed to examine whether the same pattern of divergence could be found in nuclear genes. However, no genomic resource is available for any chameleon species. Here we present the first chameleon transcriptome, obtained using deep sequencing (SOLiD). Our...

Delimiting the boundaries of species involved in radiations is critical to understanding the tempo and mode of lineage formation. Single locus gene trees may or may not reflect the underlying pattern of population divergence and lineage formation, yet they constitute the vast majority of the empirical data in species radiations. In this study we make use of an expressed sequence tag (EST) datab...

A multi-marker nuclear genotyping approach was performed on larval and adult specimens of Anisakis spp. (N = 689) collected from fish and cetaceans in allopatric and sympatric areas of the two species Anisakis pegreffii and Anisakis simplex (s. s.), in order to: (1) identify specimens belonging to the parental taxa by using nuclear markers (allozymes loci) and sequence analysis of a new diagnos...