The Patterns and Puzzles of Genetic Diversity of Endangered Freshwater Mussel Philipsson, 1788 Populations from Vistula and Neman Drainages (Eastern Central Europe).

Mussels of the family Unionidae are important components of freshwater ecosystems. Alarmingly, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List of Threatened Species identifies almost 200 unionid species as extinct, endangered, or threatened. Their decline is the result of human impact on freshwater habitats, and the decrease of host fish populations.

Detection of bacterial endosymbionts in freshwater crustaceans: the applicability of non-degenerate primers to amplify the bacterial 16S rRNA gene.

Bacterial endosymbionts of aquatic invertebrates remain poorly studied. This is at least partly due to a lack of suitable techniques and primers for their identification. We designed a pair of non-degenerate primers which enabled us to amplify a fragment of ca.

First insight into microbiome profile of fungivorous thrips Hoplothrips carpathicus (Insecta: Thysanoptera) at different developmental stages: molecular evidence of Wolbachia endosymbiosis.

Insects' exoskeleton, gut, hemocoel, and cells are colonized by various microorganisms that often play important roles in their host life. Moreover, insects are frequently infected by vertically transmitted symbionts that can manipulate their reproduction. The aims of this study were the characterization of bacterial communities of four developmental stages of the fungivorous species Hoplothrips carpathicus (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae), verification of the presence of Wolbachia, in silico prediction of metabolic potentials of the microorganisms, and sequencing its mitochondrial COI barcode.

Instances of erroneous DNA barcoding of metazoan invertebrates: Are universal cox1 gene primers too "universal"?

The cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene is the main mitochondrial molecular marker playing a pivotal role in phylogenetic research and is a crucial barcode sequence. Folmer's "universal" primers designed to amplify this gene in metazoan invertebrates allowed quick and easy barcode and phylogenetic analysis. On the other hand, the increase in the number of studies on barcoding leads to more frequent publishing of incorrect sequences, due to amplification of non-target taxa, and insufficient analysis of the obtained sequences.

Gender-Associated Mitochondrial DNA Heteroplasmy in Somatic Tissues of the Endangered Freshwater Mussel Unio crassus (Bivalvia: Unionidae): Implications for Sex Identification and Phylogeographical Studies.

Some bivalve species possess two independent mitochondrial DNA lineages: maternally (F-type) and paternally (M-type) inherited. This phenomenon is called doubly uniparental inheritance. It is generally agreed that F-type mtDNA is typically present in female somatic and gonadal tissues as well as in male somatic tissues, whereas the M-type mtDNA occurs only in male germ line and gonadal tissue.

The complete maternal and paternal mitochondrial genomes of Unio crassus: Mitochondrial molecular clock and the overconfidence of molecular dating.

The availability of a rapidly growing number of complete mitochondrial genome sequences provokes high confidence dating approaches. However, even if the congruence between mitochondrial and nuclear markers is reasonable, the resulting topologies are frequently questionable. The unique opportunity to study the evolutionary history of two independent mitochondrial genomes in one phylogenetic context exists in the freshwater mussels family Unionidae.

Identification and characterization of the first microsatellite loci for the thick-shelled river mussel Unio crassus (Bivalvia: Unionidae).

The thick-shelled river mussel Unio crassus is critically endangered throughout its range as a result of increasing human activity and habitat loss. Next generation DNA sequencing was used to develop a set of microsatellite markers that can be used for future ecological and population genetics studies of U. crassus.

A new view on dam lines in Polish Arabian horses based on mtDNA analysis.

Polish Arabian horses are one of the oldest and the most important Arab populations in the world. The Polish Arabian Stud Book and the Genealogical Charts by Skorkowski are the main sources of information on the ancestors of Polish Arabs. Both publications were viewed as credible sources of information until the 1990s when the data regarding one of the dam lines was questioned.

Genetic differences among several species of Tricladida from the relict Lake Ohrid as revealed by enzyme electrophoresis.

Six endemic and two widely distributed species living in Lake Ohrid were studied. In general, these hermaphroditic animals displayed no signs of departure from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Genetic variation in all but one of the endemic species was of the same extent as that in geographically wide ranging invertebrates.