Phylogenetic analyses in cetacean species of the family Delphinidae using a short wavelength sensitive opsin gene sequence

Fisheries Science volume 76, pages571–576(2010)Cite this article

Abstract

The short wavelength sensitive (SWS) opsin gene is expected to contain informative sites for understanding the speciation of the family Delphinidae, because it is not functional in cetaceans. We determined partial SWS gene sequences from 15 delphinid species of 12 genera and from harbor porpoise for comparison. We found a 39-bp insertion that was shared by six species (the insertion group: Delphinus delphis, Delphinus capensis, Stenella longirostris, Stenella coeruleoalba, Lagenodelphis hosei, and Sousa chinensis) and common base substitutions shared by eight species (Stenella frontalis, Tursiops truncatus, and six species of the insertion group). As these insertions and substitutions are not found in the other seven delphinids or in the cloven-hoofed mammals (which are close to cetaceans), it is suggested that these eight species are more closely related to each other than to the other species. This hypothesis is supported by phylogenetic analyses. The eight species with the substitutions formed a clade containing two sister clades, one consisting of the insertion group and the other consisting of the two other species, in both neighbor-joining and Bayes analyses. Phylogenetic analyses also showed that Lissodelphis borealis and Lagenorhynchus obliquidens are closely related and that their common ancestor diverged from the others at an early stage of delphinid evolution.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Noriko Tsunehiro and Masahiro Kunimoto of the Environmental Specimen Bank (es-BANK) at the Center for Marine Environmental Studies (CEMS), Ehime University, for helping with tissue handling. We are indebted to Drs. Takanobu Mizuta and Yukiko Tando of the Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo for experimental support. We also thank Dr. Koji Inoue for comments on the manuscript. This work was funded by a Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant from The Japan Science Society.

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  1. Tomoko Koito

    Present address: College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, 1866 Kameino, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, 252-0880, Japan

Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8561, Japan

    Tomoko Koito

  2. Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano, Tokyo, 164-8639, Japan

    Tomoko Koito, Kaoru Kubokawa & Nobuyuki Miyazaki

  3. Center for Marine Environmental Studies, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Ehime, 790-8577, Japan

    Shinsuke Tanabe

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  1. Tomoko Koito
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  2. Kaoru Kubokawa
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  3. Shinsuke Tanabe
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  4. Nobuyuki Miyazaki
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Correspondence to Tomoko Koito.

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Koito, T., Kubokawa, K., Tanabe, S. et al. Phylogenetic analyses in cetacean species of the family Delphinidae using a short wavelength sensitive opsin gene sequence. Fish Sci 76, 571–576 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-010-0241-7

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Keywords

  • Delphinidae
  • Short wavelength sensitive (SWS) gene
  • Insertion
  • Phylogenetic analysis