p-Aminobenzoate synthase (PS) and anthranilate synthase (AS) are structurally related enzymes that catalyze similar reactions and produce similar products, para- and ortho-aminobenzoate (anthranilate). Each enzyme is composed of two non-identical subunits: a glutamine amidotransferase subunit (CoII) and a subunit that produces an aminobenzoate product (CoI). Nucleotide sequence comparisons of t...

The application of DNA barcoding to distinguish between two or more closely related taxa has been used more frequently in recent years. The typical approach has been to isolate, amplify and sequence cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI), a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) encoded subunit of respiratory Complex IV. COI has proven useful as a marker for identification purposes because the frequency of mu...

Polymorphism of the mtDNA gene COI encoding cytochrome C oxidase subunit I was studied in the mosquitoes Culex pipiens Linnaeus, 1758 and C. torrentium Martini, 1925 from sixteen locations in Russia and in three laboratory strains of subtropical subspecies of the C. pipiens complex. Representatives of this complex are characterized by a high ecological plasticity and there are signifi cant ecop...

The phylogeny and taxonomy of mammalian species were originally based upon shared or derived morphological characteristics. However, genetic analyses have more recently played an increasingly important role in confirming existing or establishing often radically different mammalian groupings and phylogenies. The two most commonly used genetic loci in species identification are the cytochrome oxi...

The genetic structure of the holopelagic scyphozoan Pelagia noctiluca was inferred based on the study of 144 adult medusae. The areas of study were five geographic regions in two European seas (Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea). A 655-bp sequence of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), and a 645-bp sequence of two nuclear internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) were an...

The red palm weevil (RPW) is a major pest of palms. It is native to southeast Asia and Melanesia, but in recent decades has vastly expanded its range as the result of multiple accidental anthropogenic introductions into the Middle East, Mediterranean Basin, Caribbean, and U.S.A. Currently regarded as a single species, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier), RPW displays remarkable color variation ...

We genetically characterized Tamarixia radiata (Waterston) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) populations from Texas, Florida, and Mexico and the sister taxon Tamarixia triozae (Burks) by two molecular methods. T. radiata is an ectoparasitoid of Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), nymphs. Thepopulationswere submitted to intersimple sequence repeat-polymerase chain rea...

The capuchinos are a group of birds in the genus Sporophila that has apparently radiated recently, as evidenced by their lack of mitochondrial genetic diversity. We obtained cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) sequences (or DNA barcodes) for the 11 species of the group and various outgroups. We compared the patterns of COI variability of the capuchinos with those of the largest barcode data set from n...

A complete DNA-based inventory of the Earth's present biota using large-scale high-throughput DNA sequencing of signature region(s) (DNA barcoding) is an ambitious proposal rivaling the Human Genome Project. We examine whether this approach will also enable us to assess the past diversity of the earth's biota. To test this, we sequenced the 5' terminus of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase ...

Copepods, small aquatic crustaceans, are the most abundant metazoan zooplankton and outnumber every other group of multicellular animals on earth. In spite of ecological and biological importance in aquatic environment, their morphological plasticity, originated from their various lifestyles and their incomparable capacity to adapt to a variety of environments, has made the identification of sp...