A plurality of morphological characters need not equate with phylogenetic accuracy: A rare genomic change refutes the placement of Solifugae and Pseudoscorpiones in Haplocnemata
Guilherme Gainett, Benjamin C. Klementz, Emily V. W. Setton, Catalina Simian, Hernán A. Iuri, Gregory D. Edgecombe, Alfredo V. Peretti, Prashant P. Sharma
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Recent advances in higher-level invertebrate phylogeny have leveraged shared features of genomic architecture to resolve contentious nodes across the tree of life. Yet, the interordinal relationships within Chelicerata have remained recalcitrant given competing topologies in recent molecular analyses. As such, relationships between topologically unstable orders remain supported primarily by morphological cladistic analyses. Solifugae, one such unstable chelicerate order, has long been thought to be the sister group of Pseudoscorpiones, forming the clade Haplocnemata, on the basis of eight putative morphological synapomorphies. The discovery, however, of a shared whole genome duplication placing Pseudoscorpiones in Arachnopulmonata provides the opportunity for a simple litmus test evaluating the validity of Haplocnemata. Here, we present the first developmental transcriptome of a solifuge (Titanopuga salinarum) and survey copy numbers of the homeobox genes for evidence of systemic duplication. We find that over 70% of the identified homeobox genes in T. salinarum are retained in a single copy, while representatives of the arachnopulmonates retain orthologs of those genes as two or more copies. Our results refute the placement of Solifugae in Haplocnemata. Subsequent reevaluation of putative interordinal morphological synapomorphies among chelicerates reveals a high incidence of homoplasy, reversals, and inaccurate coding within Haplocnemata and other small clades, as well as Arachnida more broadly, suggesting existing morphological character matrices are insufficient to resolve chelicerate phylogeny.
期刊介绍:
Evolution & Development serves as a voice for the rapidly growing research community at the interface of evolutionary and developmental biology. The exciting re-integration of these two fields, after almost a century''s separation, holds much promise as the focus of a broader synthesis of biological thought. Evolution & Development publishes works that address the evolution/development interface from a diversity of angles. The journal welcomes papers from paleontologists, population biologists, developmental biologists, and molecular biologists, but also encourages submissions from professionals in other fields where relevant research is being carried out, from mathematics to the history and philosophy of science.