Cryptic speciation in a model invertebrate chordate.

ABSTRACT: We applied independent species concepts to clarify the phylogeographic structure of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis, a powerful model system in chordate biology and for comparative genomic studies. Intensive research with this marine invertebrate is based on the assumption that natural populations globally belong to a single species. Therefore, understanding the true taxonomic classification may have implications for experimental design and data management. Phylogenies inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers accredit the existence of two cryptic species: C. intestinalis sp. A, genetically homogeneous, distributed in the Mediterranean, northeast Atlantic, and Pacific, and C. intestinalis sp. B, geographically structured and encountered in the North Atlantic. Species-level diverg

SUBMITTER: Caputi L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1890500 | biostudies-literature | 2007 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature