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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Insect Genetics and Biochemistry Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #109331
Title: MITOCHONDRIAL GENE ORDER AND ARTHROPOD EVOLUTION

Author
item Roehrdanz, Richard
item DEGRUGILLIER, MAURICE - USDA-ARS RETIRED

Submitted to: Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting North Central Branch
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/25/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Rearrangements of the mitochondrial DNA gene order have been touted as a tool for defining the pattern of evolutionary divergence in arthropod taxa. We have employed a combination of highly conserved or "universal" insect-based PCR primers with long-PCR to survey fourteen non-insect arthropods for mitochondrial gene rearrangements. The size of the amplified fragments was used to order the primer containing genes. Five chelicerates exhibit amplicons that are consistent with the insect mtDNA gene order. These five species comprise two soft ticks, two prostriate hard ticks and a harvestman. Six other chelicerates, all metastriate hard ticks, have a different arrangement that has been previously detailed in a complete mtDNA sequence. Three new gene arrangements are described here. They were recovered from a terrestrial crustacean (Isopoda, sowbug) and two myriapods (Chilopoda, centipede; Diplopoda, millipede). We report two new positions for Met in arthropods. A crustacean isopod and a myriapod diplopod have Met positioned between the 12S and 16S rRNAs. A myriapod chilopod has Met located between CytB and ND4. The long-PCR approach affords an opportunity to readily screen divergent taxa for major rearrangements.