| 1. |
- Abdilzadeh, Raziyeh, et al.
(författare)
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A Molecular Assessment of the Taxonomy of Iranian Sylvia Warblers (Aves; Sylviidae).
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Genetic Resources. - 2423-4257 .- 2588-2589. ; 5:2, s. 149-162
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The largest genus in Sylviidae family is Sylvia, which is the archetype for warblers. It contains up to 28 species that are distributed in the Old World. Here, we study Iranian Sylvia using cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) and cytochrome b (cytb) mitochondrial markers to identify them and place in a phylogenetic context using all available GenBank samples of sufficient length. Bayesian trees for both cytb and cox1 mitochondrial markers are compatible. Previous results suggesting that the Sylvia curruca complex is separated into two major clades with high support is corroborated, as our results show two main clades, one that includes Sylvia atricapilla and Sylvia borin plus Pseudoalcippe atriceps and Lioptilus nigricapillus, and the remainder of the Sylvia species in the other one. Our study did not support the geographical groups: The West- Mediterranean group, the Central-Mediterranean group, and the East- Mediterranean or the African-European species, the African-Asian species, and the Mediterranean species inferred on molecular evidenced by previous studies. Sylvia cantillans is divided into three clades, corroborating previous studies. We confirmed the following taxa to occur in Iran: Sylvia borin, Sylvia atricapilla, Sylvia curruca curruca, Sylvia curruca halimodendri, Sylvia althaea, Sylvia crassirostris, Sylvia mystacea and Sylvia nisoria. All Iranian samples were conclusively identified to species level, and none of them give rise to any further taxonomic inquiry.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Aliabadian, Mansour, et al.
(författare)
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Convergent evolution of morphological and ecological traits in the open-habitat chat complex (Aves, Muscicapidae : Saxicolinae).
- 2012
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Ingår i: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. - : Elsevier BV. - 1055-7903 .- 1095-9513. ; 65:1, s. 35-45
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Open-habitat chats (genera Myrmecocichla, Cercomela, Oenanthe and relative) are a morphologically and ecologically cohesive group of genera with unclear phylogenetic relationships. They are distributed mostly in open, arid and/or rocky habitats of Africa and Eurasia. Here, we present the most comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of this group to date, with a complete taxon sampling at the species level. The analysis, based on a multilocus dataset including three mitochondrial and three nuclear loci, allows us to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships and test the traditional generic limits. All genera are non-monophyletic, suggesting extensive convergence on similar plumage patterns in unrelated species. While the colour pattern appear to be a poor predictor of the phylogenetic relationships, some of the ecological and behavioural traits agree relatively well with the major clades. Following our results, we also propose a revised generic classification for the whole group.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Barani-Beiranvand, Hossein, et al.
(författare)
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Phylogeny of penduline tits inferred from mitochondrial and microsatellite genotyping
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Avian Biology. - : WILEY. - 0908-8857 .- 1600-048X. ; 48:7, s. 932-940
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Penduline tits (Remiz spp.) are renowned for their diverse mating and parenting strategies, and are a well-studied system by behavioural ecologists. However, the phylogenetic relationships and species delimitations within this genus are poorly understood. Here, we investigate phylogenetic relationships within the genus Remiz by examining the genetic variation in the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene of 64 individuals and in ten autosomal microsatellite markers from 44 individuals. The taxon sampling includes individuals from all currently recognized species (R. pendulinus, R. macronyx, R. coronatus, and R. consobrinus) and most subspecies in the Palearctic region. We showed that R. coronatus and R. consobrinus are genetically well differentiated and constitute independent evolutionary lineages, separated from each other and from R. pendulinus/macronyx. However, we found no evidence for significant differentiation among R. pendulinus/macronyx individuals in mtDNA haplotypes and only marginal differences between R. pendulinus and R. macronyx in microsatellite markers. Hence, based on present data our recommendation is to treat R. pendulinus and R. macronyx as conspecific and R. coronatus and R. consobrinus as separate species.
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| 6. |
- Mostafavi, Ehsan, et al.
(författare)
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Molecular Survey of Tularemia and Plague in Small Mammals From Iran
- 2018
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2235-2988. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Plague and tularemia are zoonoses and their causative bacteria are circulating in certain regions of Iran. This study was conducted to investigate potential disease reservoirs amongst small wildlife species in different regions of Iran.Methods: Rodents, insectivores and hares from 17 different provinces of the country were collected in 2014 and 2015. Samples were taken from the spleens of the animals and Real-time PCR was applied to detect nucleic acid sequences that are specific to Francisella tularensis and Yersinia pestis, respectively.Results: Among 140 collected rodents, 25 distinct species were identified out of which five were the most common: Microtus paradoxus (21% out of 140 rodents), Apodemus witherbyi (12%), Microtus irani (11%), Mus musculus (11%) and Microtus socialis (10%). Seventeen insectivores were collected and identified as Crocidura suaveolens (82%) and C. leucodon (18%). Fifty-one hares were collected and identified as Lepus europaeus (57%), Lepus tolai (14%) and Lepus sp. (29%). Three out of 140 explored rodents (1.91%) were positive for F. tularensis, an A. witherbyi, a Mus musculus domesticus, and a Chionomys nivalis collected from Golestan, Khuzestan and Razavi Khorasan provinces, respectively. Two hares (3.92%) were F. tularensis-positive, a L. europaeus from Khuzestan and a Lepus sp. from the Sistan and Baluchistan province. None of the tested animals were positive for Y. pestis.Conclusion: This is the first report of direct detection of F. tularensis in mammals of Iran and the first-time observation of the agent in a snow vole, C. nivalis worldwide. The results indicate that tularemia is more widespread in Iran than previously reported including the Northeast and Southwestern parts of the country. Future studies should address genetic characterization of F. tularensis positive DNA samples from Iran to achieve molecular subtyping and rule out assay cross-reactivity with near neighbor Francisella species.
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| 7. |
- Robb, Magnus S., et al.
(författare)
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The rediscovery of Strix butleri (Hume, 1878) in Oman and Iran, with molecular resolution of the identity of Strix omanensis Robb, van den Berg and Constantine, 2013
- 2016
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Ingår i: Avian Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 2053-7166. ; 7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Many species of owls (Strigidae) represent cryptic species and their taxonomic study is in flux. In recent years, two new species of owls of the genus Strix have been described from the Middle East by different research teams. It has been suggested that one of these species, S. omanensis, is not a valid species but taxonomic comparisons have been hampered by the lack of voucher specimens of S. omanensis, and the poor state of the holotype of S. butleri. Methods: Here we use new DNA sequence data to clarify the taxonomy and nomenclature of the S. butleri complex. We also report the capture of a single S. butleri sensu stricto in Mashhad, Iran. Results: A cytochrome b sequence of S. omanensis was found to be identical to that of the holotype of S. butleri, indicating that the name S. omanensis is best regarded as a junior synonym of S. butleri. The identity of the S. butleri captured in Mashhad, Iran, was confirmed using DNA sequence data. This represents a major (1300 km) range extension of this species. Conclusions: The population discovered in Oman in 2013 and originally named 'S. omanensis' actually represents the rediscovery of S. butleri, which was known from a single specimen and had not been recorded since 1878. The range of S. butleri extends into northeast Iran. Our study augments the body of evidence for the recognition of S. butleri and S. hadorami as separate species and highlights the importance of using multiple evidence to study cryptic owl species.
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| 8. |
- Schweizer, Manuel, et al.
(författare)
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Genome-wide evidence supports mitochondrial relationships and pervasive parallel phenotypic evolution in open-habitat chats
- 2019
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Ingår i: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. - : Elsevier BV. - 1055-7903 .- 1095-9513. ; 139
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In wheatears and related species ('open-habitat chats'), molecular phylogenetics has led to a comprehensively revised understanding of species relationships and species diversity. Phylogenetic analyses have suggested that, in many cases, phenotypic similarities do not reflect species' relationships, revealing traditionally defined genera as non-monophyletic. This led to the suggestion of pervasive parallel evolution of open-habitat chats' plumage coloration and ecological phenotypes. However, to date, the molecular evidence for the phylogenetic relationships among open-habitat chats is mainly limited to mitochondrial DNA. Here, we assessed whether the mitochondrial relationships are supported by genome-wide data. To this end, we reconstructed the species tree among 14 open-habitat chat taxa using multi-species coalescent analyses based on similar to 1'300 SNPs. Our results confirm previous ones based chiefly on mitochondrial DNA; notably the paraphyly of the Oenanthe lugens complex and the clustering of individual species formerly placed in the genera Cercomela and Myrmecocichla within Oenanthe. Since several variable morphological and ecological characteristics occur in multiple places across the open-habitat chat phylogeny, our study consolidates the evidence for pervasive parallel evolution in the plumage coloration and ecology of open-habitat chats.
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| 9. |
- Schweizer, Manuel, et al.
(författare)
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Parallel plumage colour evolution and introgressive hybridization in wheatears
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. - : Wiley. - 1010-061X .- 1420-9101. ; 32:1, s. 100-110
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genetic and phenotypic mosaics, in which various phenotypes and different genomic regions show discordant patterns of species or population divergence, offer unique opportunities to study the role of ancestral and introgressed genetic variation in phenotypic evolution. Here, we investigated the evolution of discordant phenotypic and genetic divergence in a monophyletic clade of four songbird taxa-pied wheatear (O. pleschanka), Cyprus wheatear (Oenanthe cypriaca), and western and eastern subspecies of black-eared wheatear (O. h. hispanica and O. h. melanoleuca). Phenotypically, black back and neck sides distinguish pied and Cyprus wheatears from the white-backed/necked black-eared wheatears. Meanwhile, mitochondrial variation only distinguishes western black-eared wheatear. In the absence of nuclear genetic data, and given frequent hybridization among eastern black-eared and pied wheatear, it remains unclear whether introgression is responsible for discordance between mitochondrial divergence patterns and phenotypic similarities, or whether plumage coloration evolved in parallel. Multispecies coalescent analyses of about 20,000 SNPs obtained from RAD data mapped to a draft genome assembly resolve the species tree, provide evidence for the parallel evolution of colour phenotypes and establish western and eastern black-eared wheatears as independent taxa that should be recognized as full species. The presence of the entire admixture spectrum in the Iranian hybrid zone and the detection of footprints of introgression from pied into eastern black-eared wheatear beyond the hybrid zone despite strong geographic structure of ancestry proportions furthermore suggest a potential role for introgression in parallel plumage colour evolution. Our results support the importance of standing heterospecific and/or ancestral variation in phenotypic evolution.
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