Early Diversification of Membrane Intrinsic Proteins (MIPs) in Eukaryotes.

Membrane intrinsic proteins (MIPs), including aquaporins (AQPs) and aquaglyceroporins (GLPs), form an ancient family of transporters for water and small solutes across biological membranes. The evolutionary history and functions of MIPs have been extensively studied in vertebrates and land plants, but their widespread presence across the eukaryotic tree of life suggests both a more complex evolutionary history and a broader set of functions than previously thought. That said, the early evolution of MIPs remains obscure.

New insights into the molecular phylogeny, biogeographical history, and diversification of Amblyomma ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) based on mitogenomes and nuclear sequences.

Background: Amblyomma is the third most diversified genus of Ixodidae that is distributed across the Indomalayan, Afrotropical, Australasian (IAA), Nearctic and Neotropical biogeographic ecoregions, reaching in the Neotropic its highest diversity. There have been hints in previously published phylogenetic trees from mitochondrial genome, nuclear rRNA, from combinations of both and morphology that the Australasian Amblyomma or the Australasian Amblyomma plus the Amblyomma species from the southern cone of South America, might be sister-group to the Amblyomma of the rest of the world. However, a stable phylogenetic framework of Amblyomma for a better understanding of the biogeographic patterns underpinning its diversification is lacking.

Comparative genomic analysis of chemosensory-related gene families in gastropods.

Chemoreception is critical for the survival and reproduction of animals. Except for a reduced group of insects and chelicerates, the molecular identity of chemosensory proteins is poorly understood in invertebrates. Gastropoda is the extant mollusk class with the greatest species richness, including marine, freshwater, and terrestrial lineages, and likely, highly diverse chemoreception systems.

A Combined Transcriptomics and Proteomics Approach Reveals the Differences in the Predatory and Defensive Venoms of the Molluscivorous Cone Snail (Caenogastropoda: Conidae).

Venoms are complex mixtures of proteins that have evolved repeatedly in the animal kingdom. Cone snail venoms represent one of the best studied venom systems. In nature, this venom can be dynamically adjusted depending on its final purpose, whether to deter predators or hunt prey.

Sequential colonization of oceanic archipelagos led to a species-level radiation in the common chaffinch complex (Aves: Fringilla coelebs).

Oceanic archipelagos are excellent systems for studying speciation, yet inference of evolutionary process requires that the colonization history of island organisms be known with accuracy. Here, we used phylogenomics and patterns of genetic diversity to infer the sequence and timing of colonization of Macaronesia by mainland common chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs), and assessed whether colonization of the different archipelagos has resulted in a species-level radiation. To reconstruct the evolutionary history of the complex we generated a molecular phylogeny based on genome-wide SNP loci obtained from genotyping-by-sequencing, we ran ancestral range biogeographic analyses, and assessed fine-scale genetic structure between and within archipelagos using admixture analysis.

The genome of the venomous snail Lautoconus ventricosus sheds light on the origin of conotoxin diversity.

Background: Venoms are deadly weapons to subdue prey or deter predators that have evolved independently in many animal lineages. The genomes of venomous animals are essential to understand the evolutionary mechanisms involved in the origin and diversification of venoms.

Results: Here, we report the chromosome-level genome of the venomous Mediterranean cone snail, Lautoconus ventricosus (Caenogastropoda: Conidae).

Comparative transcriptomics of the venoms of continental and insular radiations of West African cones.

The transcriptomes of the venom glands of 13 closely related species of vermivorous cones endemic to West Africa from genera and were sequenced and venom repertoires compared within a phylogenetic framework using one species as outgroup. The total number of conotoxin precursors per species varied between 108 and 221. Individuals of the same species shared about one-fourth of the total conotoxin precursors.

A mitogenomic phylogeny of chitons (Mollusca: Polyplacophora).

Background: Polyplacophora, or chitons, have long fascinated malacologists for their distinct and rather conserved morphology and lifestyle compared to other mollusk classes. However, key aspects of their phylogeny and evolution remain unclear due to the few morphological, molecular, or combined phylogenetic analyses, particularly those addressing the relationships among the major chiton lineages.

Results: Here, we present a mitogenomic phylogeny of chitons based on 13 newly sequenced mitochondrial genomes along with eight available ones and RNAseq-derived mitochondrial sequences from four additional species.

Conotoxin Diversity in the Venom Gland Transcriptome of the Magician's Cone, .

The transcriptomes of the venom glands of two individuals of the magician's cone, , from Okinawa (Japan) were sequenced, assembled, and annotated. In addition, RNA-seq raw reads available at the SRA database from one additional specimen of from the Philippines were also assembled and annotated. The total numbers of identified conotoxin precursors and hormones per specimen were 118, 112, and 93.

New patellogastropod mitogenomes help counteracting long-branch attraction in the deep phylogeny of gastropod mollusks.

Long-branch attraction (LBA) is a well-known artifact in phylogenetic reconstruction. Sparse taxon sampling and extreme heterogeneity of evolutionary rates among lineages generate propitious situations for LBA, even defying probabilistic methods of phylogenetic inference. A clear example illustrating LBA challenges is the difficulty of reconstructing the deep gastropod phylogeny, particularly using mitochondrial (mt) genomes.

Conotoxin Diversity in Chelyconus ermineus (Born, 1778) and the Convergent Origin of Piscivory in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Cones.

The transcriptome of the venom duct of the Atlantic piscivorous cone species Chelyconus ermineus (Born, 1778) was determined. The venom repertoire of this species includes at least 378 conotoxin precursors, which could be ascribed to 33 known and 22 new (unassigned) protein superfamilies, respectively. Most abundant superfamilies were T, W, O1, M, O2, and Z, accounting for 57% of all detected diversity.

Phylogenetic relationships of Mediterranean and North-East Atlantic Cantharidinae and notes on Stomatellinae (Vetigastropoda: Trochidae).

The subfamily Cantharidinae Gray, 1857 (Trochoidea: Trochidae) includes 23 recognized genera and over 200 known living species. These marine top shell snails are microphagous grazers that generally live in shallow rocky shores and in macroalgae and seagrass beds of sub-tropical and temperate waters from the Central and Western Indo-Pacific biogeographic regions to the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies revising the family Trochidae supported the monophyly of the subfamily Cantharidinae and its sister group relationship to the subfamily Stomatellinae.

Phylogenetic relationships among superfamilies of Neritimorpha (Mollusca: Gastropoda).

Despite the extraordinary morphological and ecological diversity of Neritimorpha, few studies have focused on the phylogenetic relationships of this lineage of gastropods, which includes four extant superfamilies: Neritopsoidea, Hydrocenoidea, Helicinoidea, and Neritoidea. Here, the nucleotide sequences of the complete mitochondrial genomes of Georissa bangueyensis (Hydrocenoidea), Neritina usnea (Neritoidea), and Pleuropoma jana (Helicinoidea) and the nearly complete mt genomes of Titiscania sp. (Neritopsoidea) and Theodoxus fluviatilis (Neritoidea) were determined.