Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 9, 2026

A Concoction Pipeline for Generating Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) Among Riparian and Aquatic Beetles
Published on: July 11, 2025
Molecular evolution of the small subunit ribosomal DNA in woodlice (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea) and implications
1Spezielle Zoologie, Institut für Zoologie, Universität Leipzig, Talstrasse 33, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Abstract:
The small subunit ribosomal DNA (ssu rDNA) of 13 isopods was sequenced. The entire length of the ribosomal gene is unusually long, resulting from the presence of five expansion elements accounting for more than 40% of the gene. We found that in terrestrial isopods the length of the ssu rDNA ranges from 2414 bp (Ligidium hypnorum) to 3537 bp (Cubaris murina). This is the longest metazoan ssu rDNA reported to date. The conserved regions are highly informative for analysis of the early nodes of the tree, whereas the variable expansion elements are better suited to reconstruction of the branching pattern between closely related taxa. The suggested relationship among Synochaeta, Crinochaeta, and Diplochaeta based on the conserved regions confirms that based on previous morphological analyses. In contrast, the phylogeny within the Crinochaeta based on the entire ssu rDNA including the variable domains is in conflict with that based on most of the morphological analyses. The phylogenetic analyses of the ssu rDNA support a repeated independent evolution of the three different types of pleopodal lungs in the Crinochaeta.
Related Concept Videos
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...
Microbial Phylogeny
Evolutionary Processes in Microbes
Evolution of Microbial Genome

