Dataset Information

Molecular and biometric data on Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Mid Mediterranean areas.

ABSTRACT: The present study was carried out using molecular and biometric data of Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus from mid-Mediterranean areas to determine additional information on basal relationships among its representative subspecies. To this aim, two different kinds of approach were employed, including a morphometric analysis of four morphological parameters (i.e., elytra length, elytra width, pronotum length, pronotum width) of 128 specimens, and a Bayesian genetic analysis of 44 cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) partial sequences (i.e., 38 examined for the first time and six retrieved from GenBank database). Representative populations of C. (M.) morbillosus were sampled in four countries, namely Italy, Malta, Spain, and Tunisia. The present findings support the validity of four C. (M.) morbillosus subspecies, specifically C. (M.) m. alternans, C. (M.) m. bruttianus, C. (M.) m. constantinus, and C. (M.) m. macilentus, and redefine these subspecies' distributions. Notably, within the C. (M.) m. constantinus clade, two (i.e., Sardinia/Tuscany and Lampedusa) out of the three subgroups appear as homogeneous geographical groupings.

SUBMITTER: Colomba M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9836721 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Molecular and biometric data on <i>Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus</i> Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Mid Mediterranean areas.

Colomba Mariastella M Lo Verde Gabriella G Liberto Fabio F Gregorini Armando A Sparacio Ignazio I

ZooKeys 20221102

The present study was carried out using molecular and biometric data of Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus from mid-Mediterranean areas to determine additional information on basal relationships among its representative subspecies. To this aim, two different kinds of approach were employed, including a morphometric analysis of four morphological parameters (i.e., elytra length, elytra width, pronotum length, pronotum width) of 128 specimens, and a Bayesian genetic analysis of 44 cytochrome oxidas ...[more]

PMID: 36760356

Similar Datasets

Project description:Carabus (Cathoplius) aliai was described as a separate species by Escalera in 1944 but since the 1950-60s it has been considered as a subspecies of Carabus (Cathoplius) stenocephalus Lucas, 1866. This downgrading was adopted after examining only a few specimens, due to their rarity in collections. In recent years, an important population of this taxon was rediscovered in the Tan-Tan area in southern Morocco. By combining field observations with laboratory breeding experiments including hybridization trials, and through the morphological examination of a representative number of individuals, it is confirmed that Carabusaliai is indeed a valid species. Despite close geographic distribution, the morphological and biological characteristics of Carabusaliai and Carabusstenocephalusifniensis Zarco, 1941, its northern substitutive taxon, are very different. Carabusaliai adults are characterized by a smaller size, a slender silhouette, a more brilliant aspect, a narrower pronotum, a coarser elytral sculpture, longer legs, and a wider and a little more curved apex of the median lobe of the aedeagus. Carabusaliai larvae are also characterized by a much smaller size and the Carabusaliai pupa has a narrower thoracic area and a different chaetotaxy compared to that of Carabusstenocephalusifniensis. Contrary to this, Carabusaliai has a life cycle belonging to the annual univoltine winter semelparous type. Moreover, the duration of its development cycle is shorter. Carabusaliai is a sabulicolous steppe-wandering species with an intensive running activity, while Carabusstenocephalusifniensis is a more sedentary taxon. Crossbreeding experiments showed a marked reproductive isolation between Carabusaliai and Carabusstenocephalusifniensis. When F1 hybrids were crossed with one another, a very high mortality rate during embryonic, larval and pupal development was evident and no vital F2 neo-adults were obtained. Morphological and biological differences, together with the reproductive failure in Carabusaliai × Carabusstenocephalusifniensis hybrids, clearly indicate that Carabusaliai is a separate Cathoplius species that is distributed in an area south of the Anti-Atlas chain, from Plage Blanche (Guelmim) to Lemsid and Bou Kra (south of Laâyoune). Carabusaliai is therefore both a Saharan desert endemic and an Atlantic resident. Moreover, it is the southernmost Carabus species of the western Palaearctic region.

Project description:BackgroundCanthariasis is a disease of humans caused by the infestation of beetle larvae. It is the second important insectal disease after myiasis. Several species of beetles are reported to cause the disease in gastrointestinal tract, urogenital system, nasal sinuses, ears and faces of mammals. The cigarette beetle Lasioderma serricorne is a widespread and destructive pest that usually feeds on tobacco, tea, beans, cereal grains, and animal and plant specimen. While there was no previous evidence of human infestation by this worm, we report the first case of L. serricorne infestation in a baby girl in China.Case presentationHere the case, an eight-month-old baby girl with irritable feeling, rubbing eyes, history of contact with mud and eating oranges twice during five days before attendance, and having "worms" in her stool was admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. The clinical examination revealed that the pulse rate, blood pressure and temperature were regular, and the examination of the head, neck, and chest were unremarkable. The stool specimens containing "worms" were sent to the Department of Parasitology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University. The worms were recovered, studied morphologically using naked eyes and anatomical lens, PCR analyzed targeting cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COX1) and 18S rRNA genes, examined by sequence analyses of the PCR products and finally classified by phylogenetic analysis to identify their species. Based on the findings, the worms were diagnosed as the larvae of L. serricorne.ConclusionThis report implies that the baby had an infestation with the larvae of L. serricorne in the gastrointestine. During contact with mud or eating oranges by the girl, worm eggs were swallowed into the stomach and resisted gastric acid digestion which eventually hatched into larvae and caused canthariasis. The 8 months girl had underdeveloped immune system which might facilitate the disease. This report implicates that L. serricorne can infest human accidentally and cause canthariasis that may lead to severe damage to infant and older patient upon involvement of important organs of the body. The patients once diagnosed having canthariasis should be treated in time.

Project description:BackgroundRates of molecular evolution are known to vary across taxa and among genes, and this requires rate calibration for each specific dataset based on external information. Calibration is sensitive to evolutionary model parameters, partitioning schemes and clock model. However, the way in which these and other analytical aspects affect both the rates and the resulting clade ages from calibrated phylogenies are not yet well understood. To investigate these aspects we have conducted calibration analyses for the genus Carabus (Coleoptera, Carabidae) on five mitochondrial and four nuclear DNA fragments with 7888 nt total length, testing different clock models and partitioning schemes to select the most suitable using Bayes Factors comparisons.ResultsWe used these data to investigate the effect of ambiguous character and outgroup inclusion on both the rates of molecular evolution and the TMRCA of Carabus. We found considerable variation in rates of molecular evolution depending on the fragment studied (ranging from 5.02% in cob to 0.26% divergence/My in LSU-A), but also on analytical conditions. Alternative choices of clock model, partitioning scheme, treatment of ambiguous characters, and outgroup inclusion resulted in rate increments ranging from 28% (HUWE1) to 1000% (LSU-B and ITS2) and increments in the TMRCA of Carabus ranging from 8.4% (cox1-A) to 540% (ITS2). Results support an origin of the genus Carabus during the Oligocene in the Eurasian continent followed by a Miocene differentiation that originated all main extant lineages.ConclusionsThe combination of several genes is proposed as the best strategy to minimise both the idiosyncratic behaviors of individual markers and the effect of analytical aspects in rate and age estimations. Our results highlight the importance of estimating rates of molecular evolution for each specific dataset, selecting for optimal clock and partitioning models as well as other methodological issues potentially affecting rate estimation.

Project description:Molecular clocks have become powerful tools given increasing sequencing and fossil resources. However, calibration analyses outcomes depend on the choice of priors. Here, we revisited the seminal dating study published by Andújar and coworkers of the genus Carabus proposing that prior choices need re-evaluation. We hypothesized that reflecting fossil evidence and the Gondwanan split properly significantly rewinds the molecular clock. We re-used the dataset including five mitochondrial and four nuclear DNA fragments with a total length of 7888 nt. Fossil evidence for Oligocene occurrence of Calosoma was considered. Root age was set based on the fossil evidence of Harpalinae ground beetles in the Upper Cretaceous. Paleogene divergence of the outgroup taxa Ceroglossini and Pamborini is introduced as a new prior based on current paleontological and geological literature. The ultrametric time-calibrated tree of the extended nd5 dataset resulted in a median TMRCA Carabus of 53.92 Ma (HPD 95% 45.01-63.18 Ma), roughly 30 Ma older than in the Andújar study. The splits among C. rugosus and C. morbillosus (A), C. riffensis from the European Mesocarabus (B), and Eurycarabus and Nesaeocarabus (C) were dated to 17.58 (12.87-22.85), 24.14 (18.02-30.58), and 21.6 (16.44-27.43) Ma. They were decidedly older than those previously reported (7.48, 10.93, and 9.51 Ma). These changes were driven almost entirely by constraining the Carabidae time-tree root with a Harpalinae amber fossil at ~99 Ma. Utilizing the nd5 dating results of three well-supported Carabus clades as secondary calibration points for the complete MIT-NUC dataset led to a TMRCA of Carabus of 44.72 (37.54-52.22) Ma, compared with 25.16 Ma (18.41-33.04 Ma) in the previous study. Considering fossil evidence for Oligocene Calosoma and Late Cretaceous Harpalini together with the Gondwanan split as a new prior, our new approach supports the origin of genus Carabus in the Eocene. Our results are preliminary because of the heavy reliance on the nd5 gene, and thus will have to be tested with a sufficient set of nuclear markers. Additionally, uncertainties due to dating root age of the tree based on a single fossil and outgroup taxon affect the results. Improvement of the fossil database, particularly in the supertribe Carabitae, is needed to reduce these uncertainties in dating Carabus phylogeny.

Dataset Information

Molecular and biometric data on Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Mid Mediterranean areas.

Publications

Molecular and biometric data on <i>Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus</i> Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Mid Mediterranean areas.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets

Dataset Information

Molecular and biometric data on Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Mid Mediterranean areas.

Publications

﻿Molecular and biometric data on <i>Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus</i> Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Mid Mediterranean areas.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets

Molecular and biometric data on <i>Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus</i> Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Mid Mediterranean areas.