Phylogenetic positions of several amitochondriate protozoa——Evidence from phylogenetic analysis of DNA topoisomerase II  

作　　者：HE De DONG Jiuhong WEN Jianfan XIN Dedong LU Siqi 

机构地区：[1]Key Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Evolution,Kunming Institute of Zoology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Kunming 650223,China [2]Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100039,China [3]Capital University of Medical Sciences,Beijing 100054,China

出　　处：《Science China(Life Sciences)》2005年第6期565-573,共9页中国科学(生命科学英文版)

基　　金：This work was supported by the Important Direction of Knowledge Innovation Program from Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.KSCX2-SW-101C);National Natural Science Foundat ion of China(Grant Nos.90408016,30021004&30170135);Yunnan Province(Grant No.2000YP19).

摘　　要：Several groups of parasitic protozoa, as represented by Giardia, Trichomonas, En-tamoeba and Microsporida, were once widely considered to be the most primitive extant eu-karyotic group―Archezoa. The main evidence for this is their ‘lacking mitochondria’ and pos-sessing some other primitive features between prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and being basal to all eukaryotes with mitochondria in phylogenies inferred from many molecules. Some authors even proposed that these organisms diverged before the endosymbiotic origin of mitochondria within eukaryotes. This view was once considered to be very significant to the study of origin and evolution of eukaryotic cells (eukaryotes). However, in recent years this has been challenged by accumulating evidence from new studies. Here the sequences of DNA topoisomerase II in G. lamblia, T. vaginalis and E. histolytica were identified first by PCR and sequencing, then com-bining with the sequence data of the microsporidia Encephalitozoon cunicul and other eukaryotic groups of different evolutionary positions from GenBank, phylogenetic trees were constructed by various methods to investigate the evolutionary positions of these amitochondriate protozoa. Our results showed that since the characteristics of DNA topoisomerase II make it avoid the defect of ‘long-branch attraction’ appearing in the previous phylogenetic analyses, our trees can not only reflect effectively the relationship of different major eukaryotic groups, which is widely accepted, but also reveal phylogenetic positions for these amitochondriate protozoa, which is different from the previous phylogenetic trees. They are not the earliest-branching eukaryotes, but diverged after some mitochondriate organisms such as kinetoplastids and mycetozoan; they are not a united group but occupy different phylogenetic positions. Combining with the recent cytological findings of mitochondria-like organelles in them, we think that though some of them (e.g. diplo-monads, as represented by Giardia) may occupy a very low evoSeveral groups of parasitic protozoa, as represented by Giardia, Trichomonas, En-tamoeba and Microsporida, were once widely considered to be the most primitive extant eu-karyotic group―Archezoa. The main evidence for this is their ‘lacking mitochondria’ and pos-sessing some other primitive features between prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and being basal to all eukaryotes with mitochondria in phylogenies inferred from many molecules. Some authors even proposed that these organisms diverged before the endosymbiotic origin of mitochondria within eukaryotes. This view was once considered to be very significant to the study of origin and evolution of eukaryotic cells (eukaryotes). However, in recent years this has been challenged by accumulating evidence from new studies. Here the sequences of DNA topoisomerase II in G. lamblia, T. vaginalis and E. histolytica were identified first by PCR and sequencing, then com-bining with the sequence data of the microsporidia Encephalitozoon cunicul and other eukaryotic groups of different evolutionary positions from GenBank, phylogenetic trees were constructed by various methods to investigate the evolutionary positions of these amitochondriate protozoa. Our results showed that since the characteristics of DNA topoisomerase II make it avoid the defect of ‘long-branch attraction’ appearing in the previous phylogenetic analyses, our trees can not only reflect effectively the relationship of different major eukaryotic groups, which is widely accepted, but also reveal phylogenetic positions for these amitochondriate protozoa, which is different from the previous phylogenetic trees. They are not the earliest-branching eukaryotes, but diverged after some mitochondriate organisms such as kinetoplastids and mycetozoan; they are not a united group but occupy different phylogenetic positions. Combining with the recent cytological findings of mitochondria-like organelles in them, we think that though some of them (e.g. diplo-monads, as represented by Giardia) may occupy a very low evo

关 键 词：protozoa amitochondriate DNA topoisomerase II phylogenetic tree evolutionary position. 

分 类 号：Q951.3[生物学—动物学]