During the period between 1999 and 2006, wood-feeding cockroaches in the Cryptocercus punctulatus Scudder species complex were collected throughout Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. The chromosome numbers of insects from 59 sites were determined, and phylogenetic analyses were performed based on mitochondrial COII and nuclear ITS2 DNA. The distribution of the three male karyotypes found in the park (2n = 37, 39, and 45) is mapped and discussed in relation to recent disturbances and glacial history.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Nucleosomes are the basic structural units of eukaryotic chromatin, and they play a significant role in regulating gene expression. Specific DNA sequence patterns are known, from empirical and theoretical studies, to influence DNA bending and flexibility, and have been shown to exclude nucleosomes. A whole genome localization of these patterns, and their analysis, can add important insights on the gene regulation mechanisms that depend upon the structure of chromatin in and around a gene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe goal of the current study was to determine if cuticular hydrocarbons could be used to empirically delimit taxa within the Cryptocercus punctulatus species complex in the eastern United States. Cockroaches were collected from rotting logs in 22 locations across four states. Hydrocarbon phenotypes and two mitochondrial (16S and COII) genes and one nuclear (ITS2) gene were independently analyzed to determine their relationship with chromosome number.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucleosomes, a basic structural unit of eukaryotic chromatin, play a significant role in regulating gene expression. We have developed a web tool based on DNA sequences known from empirical and theoretical studies to influence DNA bending and flexibility, and to exclude nucleosomes. NXSensor (available at http://www.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWoodroaches of the genus Cryptocercus are subsocial and xylophagous cockroaches, distributed in North America and Asia. Studies on male chromosome number in Nearctic species have shown that diploid numbers vary from 2n=37 to 2n=47; numbers from Palearctic species were heretofore unknown. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain the varying number of chromosomes among Nearctic species: the serial reduction hypothesis, and the parallel scenario.
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