Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (7)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Baldo, A. M.
Right arrow Articles by Strausbaugh, L. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Baldo, A. M.
Right arrow Articles by Strausbaugh, L. D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Molecular Biology and Evolution, Vol 16, 1511-1520, Copyright © 1999 by Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Potentials and limitations of histone repeat sequences for phylogenetic reconstruction of Sophophora

AM Baldo, DH Les and LD Strausbaugh
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs 06269-2131, USA.

Simplified DNA sequence acquisition has provided many new data sets that are useful for phylogenetic reconstruction, including single- and multiple-copy nuclear and organellar genes. Although transcribed regions receive much attention, nontranscribed regions have recently been added to the repertoire of sequences suitable for phylogenetic studies, especially for closely related taxa. We evaluated the efficacy of a small portion of the histone repeat for phylogenetic reconstruction among Drosophila species. Histone repeats in invertebrates offer distinct advantages similar to those of widely used ribosomal repeats. First, the units are tandemly repeated and undergo concerted evolution. Second, histone repeats include both highly conserved coding and variable intergenic regions. This composition facilitates application of "universal" primers spanning potentially informative sites. We examined a small region of the histone repeat, including the intergenic spacer segments of coding regions from the divergently transcribed H2A and H2B histone genes. The spacer (about 230 bp) exists as a mosaic with highly conserved functional motifs interspersed with rapidly diverging regions; the former aid in alignment of the spacer. There are no ambiguities in alignment of coding regions. Coding and noncoding regions were analyzed together and separately for phylogenetic information. Parsimony, distance, and maximum-likelihood methods successfully retrieve the corroborated phylogeny for the taxa examined. This study demonstrates the resolving power of a small histone region which may now be added to the growing collection of phylogenetically useful DNA sequences.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
H. Piontkivska, A. P. Rooney, and M. Nei
Purifying Selection and Birth-and-death Evolution in the Histone H4 Gene Family
Mol. Biol. Evol., May 1, 2002; 19(5): 689 - 697.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
F. Rodriguez-Trelles, R. Tarrio, and F. J. Ayala
Evidence for a High Ancestral GC Content in Drosophila
Mol. Biol. Evol., November 1, 2000; 17(11): 1710 - 1717.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.