48 research outputs found
Some Like It Fat: Comparative Ultrastructure of the Embryo in Two Demosponges of the Genus Mycale (Order Poecilosclerida) from Antarctica and the Caribbean
0000-0002-7993-1523© 2015 Riesgo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License [4.0], which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article
Molecular Phylogeny Restores the Supra-Generic Subdivision of Homoscleromorph Sponges (Porifera, Homoscleromorpha)
Homoscleromorpha is the fourth major sponge lineage, recently recognized to be distinct from the Demospongiae. It contains <100 described species of exclusively marine sponges that have been traditionally subdivided into 7 genera based on morphological characters. Because some of the morphological features of the homoscleromorphs are shared with eumetazoans and are absent in other sponges, the phylogenetic position of the group has been investigated in several recent studies. However, the phylogenetic relationships within the group remain unexplored by modern methods.Here we describe the first molecular phylogeny of Homoscleromorpha based on nuclear (18S and 28S rDNA) and complete mitochondrial DNA sequence data that focuses on inter-generic relationships. Our results revealed two robust clades within this group, one containing the spiculate species (genera Plakina, Plakortis, Plakinastrella and Corticium) and the other containing aspiculate species (genera Oscarella and Pseudocorticium), thus rejecting a close relationship between Pseudocorticium and Corticium. Among the spiculate species, we found affinities between the Plakortis and Plakinastrella genera, and between the Plakina and Corticium. The validity of these clades is furthermore supported by specific morphological characters, notably the type of spicules. Furthermore, the monophyly of the Corticium genus is supported while the monophyly of Plakina is not.As the result of our study we propose to restore the pre-1995 subdivision of Homoscleromorpha into two families: Plakinidae Schulze, 1880 for spiculate species and Oscarellidae Lendenfeld, 1887 for aspiculate species that had been rejected after the description of the genus Pseudocorticium. We also note that the two families of homoscleromorphs exhibit evolutionary stable, but have drastically distinct mitochondrial genome organizations that differ in gene content and gene order
Global Diversity of Sponges (Porifera)
With the completion of a single unified classification, the Systema Porifera (SP) and subsequent development of an online species database, the World Porifera Database (WPD), we are now equipped to provide a first comprehensive picture of the global biodiversity of the Porifera. An introductory overview of the four classes of the Porifera is followed by a description of the structure of our main source of data for this paper, the WPD. From this we extracted numbers of all ‘known’ sponges to date: the number of valid Recent sponges is established at 8,553, with the vast majority, 83%, belonging to the class Demospongiae. We also mapped for the first time the species richness of a comprehensive set of marine ecoregions of the world, data also extracted from the WPD. Perhaps not surprisingly, these distributions appear to show a strong bias towards collection and taxonomy efforts. Only when species richness is accumulated into large marine realms does a pattern emerge that is also recognized in many other marine animal groups: high numbers in tropical regions, lesser numbers in the colder parts of the world oceans. Preliminary similarity analysis of a matrix of species and marine ecoregions extracted from the WPD failed to yield a consistent hierarchical pattern of ecoregions into marine provinces. Global sponge diversity information is mostly generated in regional projects and resources: results obtained demonstrate that regional approaches to analytical biogeography are at present more likely to achieve insights into the biogeographic history of sponges than a global perspective, which appears currently too ambitious. We also review information on invasive sponges that might well have some influence on distribution patterns of the future
Neue linguistische Methoden und arbeitstechnische Verfahren in der Erschliessung der ägyptischen Grammatik
15 páginas, 1 tabla, 6 figuras.Does diversity beget diversity? Diversity
includes a diversity of concepts because it is linked to
variability in and of life and can be applied to multiple
levels. The connections between multiple levels of
diversity are poorly understood. Here, we investigated
the relationships between genetic, bacterial, and
chemical diversity of the endangered Atlanto-Mediterranean sponge Spongia lamella. These levels of
diversity are intrinsically related to sponge evolution
and could have strong conservation implications. We
used microsatellite markers, denaturing gel gradient
electrophoresis and quantitative polymerase chain
reaction, and high performance liquid chromatography to quantify genetic, bacterial, and chemical
diversity of nine sponge populations. We then used
correlations to test whether these diversity levels
covaried. We found that sponge populations differed
significantly in genetic, bacterial, and chemical
diversity. We also found a strong geographic pattern
of increasing genetic, bacterial, and chemical dissimilarity with increasing geographic distance between
populations. However, we failed to detect significant
correlations between the three levels of diversity
investigated in our study. Our results suggest that
diversity fails to beget diversity within a single species
and indicates that a diversity of factors regulates a
diversity of diversities, which highlights the complex
nature of the mechanisms behind diversityResearch funded by grants from the Agence Nationale de la
Recherche (ECIMAR), from the Spanish Ministry of Science
and Technology SOLID (CTM2010-17755) and Benthomics
(CTM2010-22218-C02-01) and the BIOCAPITAL project
(MRTN-CT-2004-512301) of the European Union. This is a
contribution of the Consolidated Research Group ‘‘Grupo de
Ecologı´a Bento´nica,’’ SGR2009-655.Peer reviewe