SET-domain (SET: Su(var)3-9, E(z) and Trithorax)-containing proteins were collected through sequence searches of the available databases. After removing redundancies, the proteins belonging to three families, SU(VAR)3-9, E(Z) and TRITHORAX, were selected. Analysis of the relationship between the different members is based on pairwise alignment, compilation, and comparison of their SETdomains. T...

The nymphs of Antillotolania Ramos and Deiroderes Ramos are described for the first time, along with the first host record for the genus Antillotolania, represented by Antillotolania myricae, sp. n. Nymphal features of both genera, such as a ventrally fused, cylindrical tergum IX (anal tube), the presence of abdominal lamellae, and heads with foliaceous ventrolateral lobes confirm their placeme...

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) represent the most prevalent class of genetic markers available for linkage disequilibrium or cladistic analyses. PCR primers may be labeled with fluorescent dyes and used to rapidly and accurately differentiate among alleles that are defined by a single-nucleotide differences. Here, we describe the primer-mediated detection of SNPs based on primer mismatc...

We review recent advances in our understanding of placental evolution with particular focus on the interhaemal barrier. It seems likely that the non-invasive, epitheliochorial placentation of living eutherians is a derived state. However, there is disagreement on whether the last common ancestor of eutherian mammals had an endotheliochorial placenta or a haemochorial one. Research has been stim...

The phylogenetic relationships of Goyazia and Lembocarpus are investigated based on cladistic analysis of ndhF sequences. Both genera are currently classified in the tribe Gloxinieae, but both are poorly known. Based on its floral morphology, the classification of Goyazia in Gloxinieae is not controversial. Lembocarpus may be placed in Gloxinieae, Episcieae, or Sinningieae. The acaulescent, tub...

For most of the past century, prehistorians have had to rely on the fossil and archaeological records in order to reconstruct the past. In the last few decades, this evidence has been substantially supplemented from classical human genetics. More recently, phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences that incorporate geographical information have provided a high-resolution tool for the investigation ...

The superfamily Portunoidea including extinct lineages is herein evaluated via cladistic analysis of adult morphological characters and traditional systematics. Nearly every fossil species has been examined via type material, or if this was not possible, through illustrations and original descriptions. The analyses indicate that the superfamily is much more diverse at the family level than has ...

We analysed cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and NADH dehydrogenase subunit I sequence variation among 29 populations of a widely ranging southwestern springsnail (Pyrgulopsis micrococcus) and 18 regional congeners. Cladistic analyses of these sequences depict P. micrococcus as a polyphyletic composite of five well-supported clades. Sequence divergences among these clades and subclades imply the ...

We sequenced the nuclear small subunit of ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) from seven species within the insect-pathogenic order Entomophthorales. These sequences were aligned with other published SSU rDNA sequences and phylogenies were inferred using phenetic and cladistic methods. Based on three different phylogenetic methods the Entomophthorales (excluding Basidiobolus ranarum) is monophyletic; B. r...

As a result of their plastic body plan, the relationships of the annelid worms and even the taxonomic makeup of the phylum have long been contentious. Morphological cladistic analyses have typically recovered a monophyletic Polychaeta, with the simple-bodied forms assigned to an early-diverging clade or grade. This is in stark contrast to molecular trees, in which polychaetes are paraphyletic a...