We studied 239 imagoes of 12 Parnassius species collected from the mountains of the Qinghai–Tibet... more We studied 239 imagoes of 12 Parnassius species collected from the mountains of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) and its neighbouring areas in China. We selected three mitochondrial gene (COI, ND1, and ND5) sequences, along with the homologous gene sequences of other Parnassius species from GenBank, to reconstruct the phylogenetic tree and biogeographic history of this genus. Our results show that Parnassius comprises eight monophyletic subgenera, with subgenus Parnassius at the basal position; the genus crown group originated during the Middle Miocene (ca. 16.99 Ma), and species diversification continued during sustained cooling phases after the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum (MMCO) when the QTP and its neighbouring regions experienced rapid uplift and extensive orogeny. A phylogenetic network analysis based on transcriptomes from GenBank suggests that ancient gene introgression might have contributed to the spread of the Parnassius genus to different altitudes. Ancestral area recon...
The origin and dispersal history of the large butterfly subfamily Nymphalinae are not fully under... more The origin and dispersal history of the large butterfly subfamily Nymphalinae are not fully understood, due to internal phylogenetic and time calibration issues. We conducted phylogenetic and dating analyses using mitochondrial and nuclear genes of biogeographically diverse groups of the Nymphalinae in order to resolve some controversial relationships and the paleobiogeographic pattern of the subfamily. Our results support the sister relationship of Vanessa (Tribe Nymphalini) and the Nymphalis-group, and the grouping of the three old-world genera (Rhinopalpa, Kallimoides and Vanessula) within Tribe Victorinini. Molecular dating analyses invoking two additional calibrations under the butterfly-host plant coevolutionary scenarios result in a relatively deeper divergence of the subfamily's two major clades (Nymphalini and the Kallimoids), compatible with the Cretaceous floral turnover scenario during the so-called Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution. Phylobiogeographic analyses revea...
Dong wu xue yan jiu = Zoological research / "Dong wu xue yan jiu" bian ji wei yuan hui bian ji, 2011
We investigated the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Argyreus hyperbius. The 15156 b... more We investigated the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Argyreus hyperbius. The 15156 bp long genome harbored the gene content (13 protein coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and an A+T-rich region) and the gene arrangement was identical to all known lepidopteran mitogenomes. Mitogenome sequence nucleotide organization and codon usage analyses showed that the genome had a strong A+T bias, accounting for A+T content of 80.8%, with a small negative AT skew (-0.019). Eleven intergenic spacers totaling 96 bp, and 14 overlapping regions totaling 34 bp were scattered throughout the whole genome. As has been observed in other lepidopteran species, 12 of the 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) were initiated by ATN codons, while the COI gene was tentatively designated by the CGA codon. A total of 11 PCGs harbored the complete termination codon TAA, while the COI and COII genes ended at a single T residue. All of the 22 tRNA genes showed typical clover structures except that the t...
The early evolutionary pattern and molecular adaptation mechanism of alpine Parnassius butterflie... more The early evolutionary pattern and molecular adaptation mechanism of alpine Parnassius butterflies to high altitudes in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau are poorly understood up to now, due to difficulties in sampling, limited sequence data, and time calibration issues. Here, we present large-scale transcriptomic datasets of eight representative Parnassius species to reveal the phylogenetic timescale and potential genetic basis for high-altitude adaptation with multiple analytic strategies using 476 orthologous genes. Our phylogenetic results strongly supported that the subgenus Parnassius formed a well-resolved basal clade, and the subgenera Tadumia and Kailasius were closely related in the phylogenetic trees. In addition, molecular dating analyses showed that the Parnassius began to diverge at about 13.0 to 14.3 million years ago (middle Miocene), correlated with their hostplant’s spatiotemporal distributions, as well as geological and palaeoenvironmental changes of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau...
Rivista Italiana Di Paleontologia E Stratigrafia, 2004
The Weimei Formation in southern Tibet is a shallow marine sequence accumulated in the northern m... more The Weimei Formation in southern Tibet is a shallow marine sequence accumulated in the northern margin of the Indian subcontinent. It has been dated as Tithonian based on ammonites such as Haplophylloceras strigile (Blanford), Berriasella sp. and Himalayites sp. Six ammonite specimens were found in the type locality of the Weimei Formation. They include Spitice ras ( Spitice ras) spitiense (Blanford), Berriasella sp. and Phylloceras sp. The occurrence of S. spitiense indicates that the ammonite-bearing portion is assignable to the Berriasian stage. The Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary possibly exists within the Weimei Formation.
The Apollo butterfly, Parnassius glacialis, is one of the most charming members of its genus and ... more The Apollo butterfly, Parnassius glacialis, is one of the most charming members of its genus and includes two subspecies locally distributed in montane areas of south-central China and Japan. In this study, we investigated the genetic structure and demographic history of P. glacialis by analyzing partial sequences of four mitochondrial genes and nuclear single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) via genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) of samples from nearly the entire known distributional range in China. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data demonstrated that a total of 39 haplotypes were present, and the species was estimated to have diverged about 0.95 million years ago during the middle Pleistocene transition into two main clades that likely formed during the Kunlun-Huanghe tectonic movement. The two clades then dispersed independently in distinct geographic areas alongside the mountainous routes in central and southern China, most likely driven by the Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles...
Deep phylogeny involving arthropod lineages is difficult to recover because the erosion of phylog... more Deep phylogeny involving arthropod lineages is difficult to recover because the erosion of phylogenetic signals over time leads to unreliable multiple sequence alignment (MSA) and subsequent phylogenetic reconstruction. One way to alleviate the problem is to assemble a large number of gene sequences to compensate for the weakness in each individual gene. Such an approach has led to many robustly supported but contradictory phylogenies. A close examination shows that the supermatrix approach often suffers from two shortcomings. The first is that MSA is rarely checked for reliability and, as will be illustrated, can be poor. The second is that, to alleviate the problem of homoplasy at the third codon position of protein-coding genes due to convergent evolution of nucleotide frequencies, phylogeneticists may remove or degenerate the third codon position but may do it improperly and introduce new biases. We performed extensive reanalysis of one of such “big data” sets to highlight these...
Abstract The mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequences of 40 species of cheilostome bryozoans including th... more Abstract The mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequences of 40 species of cheilostome bryozoans including those of 24 species newly determined were used to reconstruct the phylogenetic tree using neighboringjoining and maximumparsimony methods. By applying molecular ...
We studied 239 imagoes of 12 Parnassius species collected from the mountains of the Qinghai–Tibet... more We studied 239 imagoes of 12 Parnassius species collected from the mountains of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) and its neighbouring areas in China. We selected three mitochondrial gene (COI, ND1, and ND5) sequences, along with the homologous gene sequences of other Parnassius species from GenBank, to reconstruct the phylogenetic tree and biogeographic history of this genus. Our results show that Parnassius comprises eight monophyletic subgenera, with subgenus Parnassius at the basal position; the genus crown group originated during the Middle Miocene (ca. 16.99 Ma), and species diversification continued during sustained cooling phases after the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum (MMCO) when the QTP and its neighbouring regions experienced rapid uplift and extensive orogeny. A phylogenetic network analysis based on transcriptomes from GenBank suggests that ancient gene introgression might have contributed to the spread of the Parnassius genus to different altitudes. Ancestral area recon...
The origin and dispersal history of the large butterfly subfamily Nymphalinae are not fully under... more The origin and dispersal history of the large butterfly subfamily Nymphalinae are not fully understood, due to internal phylogenetic and time calibration issues. We conducted phylogenetic and dating analyses using mitochondrial and nuclear genes of biogeographically diverse groups of the Nymphalinae in order to resolve some controversial relationships and the paleobiogeographic pattern of the subfamily. Our results support the sister relationship of Vanessa (Tribe Nymphalini) and the Nymphalis-group, and the grouping of the three old-world genera (Rhinopalpa, Kallimoides and Vanessula) within Tribe Victorinini. Molecular dating analyses invoking two additional calibrations under the butterfly-host plant coevolutionary scenarios result in a relatively deeper divergence of the subfamily's two major clades (Nymphalini and the Kallimoids), compatible with the Cretaceous floral turnover scenario during the so-called Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution. Phylobiogeographic analyses revea...
Dong wu xue yan jiu = Zoological research / "Dong wu xue yan jiu" bian ji wei yuan hui bian ji, 2011
We investigated the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Argyreus hyperbius. The 15156 b... more We investigated the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Argyreus hyperbius. The 15156 bp long genome harbored the gene content (13 protein coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and an A+T-rich region) and the gene arrangement was identical to all known lepidopteran mitogenomes. Mitogenome sequence nucleotide organization and codon usage analyses showed that the genome had a strong A+T bias, accounting for A+T content of 80.8%, with a small negative AT skew (-0.019). Eleven intergenic spacers totaling 96 bp, and 14 overlapping regions totaling 34 bp were scattered throughout the whole genome. As has been observed in other lepidopteran species, 12 of the 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) were initiated by ATN codons, while the COI gene was tentatively designated by the CGA codon. A total of 11 PCGs harbored the complete termination codon TAA, while the COI and COII genes ended at a single T residue. All of the 22 tRNA genes showed typical clover structures except that the t...
The early evolutionary pattern and molecular adaptation mechanism of alpine Parnassius butterflie... more The early evolutionary pattern and molecular adaptation mechanism of alpine Parnassius butterflies to high altitudes in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau are poorly understood up to now, due to difficulties in sampling, limited sequence data, and time calibration issues. Here, we present large-scale transcriptomic datasets of eight representative Parnassius species to reveal the phylogenetic timescale and potential genetic basis for high-altitude adaptation with multiple analytic strategies using 476 orthologous genes. Our phylogenetic results strongly supported that the subgenus Parnassius formed a well-resolved basal clade, and the subgenera Tadumia and Kailasius were closely related in the phylogenetic trees. In addition, molecular dating analyses showed that the Parnassius began to diverge at about 13.0 to 14.3 million years ago (middle Miocene), correlated with their hostplant’s spatiotemporal distributions, as well as geological and palaeoenvironmental changes of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau...
Rivista Italiana Di Paleontologia E Stratigrafia, 2004
The Weimei Formation in southern Tibet is a shallow marine sequence accumulated in the northern m... more The Weimei Formation in southern Tibet is a shallow marine sequence accumulated in the northern margin of the Indian subcontinent. It has been dated as Tithonian based on ammonites such as Haplophylloceras strigile (Blanford), Berriasella sp. and Himalayites sp. Six ammonite specimens were found in the type locality of the Weimei Formation. They include Spitice ras ( Spitice ras) spitiense (Blanford), Berriasella sp. and Phylloceras sp. The occurrence of S. spitiense indicates that the ammonite-bearing portion is assignable to the Berriasian stage. The Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary possibly exists within the Weimei Formation.
The Apollo butterfly, Parnassius glacialis, is one of the most charming members of its genus and ... more The Apollo butterfly, Parnassius glacialis, is one of the most charming members of its genus and includes two subspecies locally distributed in montane areas of south-central China and Japan. In this study, we investigated the genetic structure and demographic history of P. glacialis by analyzing partial sequences of four mitochondrial genes and nuclear single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) via genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) of samples from nearly the entire known distributional range in China. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data demonstrated that a total of 39 haplotypes were present, and the species was estimated to have diverged about 0.95 million years ago during the middle Pleistocene transition into two main clades that likely formed during the Kunlun-Huanghe tectonic movement. The two clades then dispersed independently in distinct geographic areas alongside the mountainous routes in central and southern China, most likely driven by the Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles...
Deep phylogeny involving arthropod lineages is difficult to recover because the erosion of phylog... more Deep phylogeny involving arthropod lineages is difficult to recover because the erosion of phylogenetic signals over time leads to unreliable multiple sequence alignment (MSA) and subsequent phylogenetic reconstruction. One way to alleviate the problem is to assemble a large number of gene sequences to compensate for the weakness in each individual gene. Such an approach has led to many robustly supported but contradictory phylogenies. A close examination shows that the supermatrix approach often suffers from two shortcomings. The first is that MSA is rarely checked for reliability and, as will be illustrated, can be poor. The second is that, to alleviate the problem of homoplasy at the third codon position of protein-coding genes due to convergent evolution of nucleotide frequencies, phylogeneticists may remove or degenerate the third codon position but may do it improperly and introduce new biases. We performed extensive reanalysis of one of such “big data” sets to highlight these...
Abstract The mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequences of 40 species of cheilostome bryozoans including th... more Abstract The mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequences of 40 species of cheilostome bryozoans including those of 24 species newly determined were used to reconstruct the phylogenetic tree using neighboringjoining and maximumparsimony methods. By applying molecular ...
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