| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Alström, Per, Professor, et al.
(författare)
-
Systematics of the avian family Alaudidae using multilocus and genomic data
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Avian Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 2053-7166. ; 14
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The family Alaudidae, larks, comprises 93–100 species (depending on taxonomy) that are widely distributed across Africa and Eurasia, with single species extending their ranges to North and northernmost South America and Australia. A decade-old molecular phylogeny, comprising ∼80% of the species, revealed multiple cases of parallel evolution and large variation in rates of morphological evolution, which had misled taxonomists into creating many non-monophyletic genera. Here, we reconstruct the phylogeny of the larks, using a dataset covering one mitochondrial and 16 nuclear loci and comprising all except one of the currently recognised species as well as several recently proposed new species (in total 133 taxa; not all loci available for all species). We provide additional support using genome-wide markers to infer a genus-level phylogeny based on near-complete generic sampling (in total 51 samples of 44 taxa across 40 species). Our results confirm the previous findings of rampant morphological convergence and divergence, and reveal new cases of paraphyletic genera. We propose a new subfamily classification, and also that the genus Mirafra is divided into four genera to produce a more balanced generic classification of the Alaudidae. Our study supports recently proposed species splits as well as some recent lumps, while also questioning some of the latter. This comprehensive phylogeny will form an important basis for future studies, such as comparative studies of lark natural history, ecology, evolution and conservation.
|
|
| 3. |
- Mostafavi, Ehsan, et al.
(författare)
-
Molecular Survey of Tularemia and Plague in Small Mammals From Iran
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2235-2988. ; 8
-
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.
|
|
| 4. |
- Saha, Anwesha, et al.
(författare)
-
The first complete mitochondrial genome data of the Afghan pika Ochotona rufescens (Lagomorpha, Ochotonidae), near the type locality
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Data in Brief. - 2352-3409. ; 53
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Afghan pika Ochotona rufescens (Gray, 1842) is widely distributed across the mountains of Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and southwestern Turkmenistan, most often at elevations between 2,000 and 3,000 m. Here we present, for the first time, the complete mitochondrial genomes of two specimens of the nominotypical subspecies Ochotona rufescens rufescens, de novo assembled from Illumina short reads of fragmented probe-enriched DNA. The lengths of the circular mitogenomes are 16,408 bp and 16,407 bp, respectively. Both mitogenomes contain 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNAs (16S rRNA and 12S rRNA), 22 transfer RNA genes, and a control region. The gene NAD6 and the tRNA (Gln), tRNA (Ala), tRNA (Asn), tRNA (Cys), tRNA (Tyr), tRNA (Ser), tRNA (Glu), and tRNA (Pro) are encoded on the light strand while the rest are encoded on the heavy strand. The overall nucleotide composition was ∼30% for A, 25% for T, 15% for G, and 29% for C. The mitogenome data are available in the GenBank under the accession numbers ON859136 and ON859137.
|
|
