Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Empirical, Metagenomic, and Computational Techniques Illuminate the Mechanisms by which Fungicides Compromise Bee Health
Published on: October 9, 2017
Molecular phylogenetics at the Felsenstein zone: approaching the Strepsiptera problem using 5.8S and 28S rDNA
1Zoologisches Institut der Universität München, Luisenstrasse 14, Munich, 80333, Germany.
Abstract:
Recent efforts to reconstruct the phylogenetic position of the insect order Strepsiptera have elicited a major controversy in molecular phylogenetics. We sequenced the 5.8S rDNA and major parts of the 28S rDNA 5' region of the strepsipteran species Stylops melittae. Their evolutionary dynamics were analyzed together with previously published insect rDNA sequences to identify tree estimation bias risks and to explore additional sources of phylogenetic information. Several major secondary structure changes were found as being autapomorphic for the Diptera, the Strepsiptera, or the Archaeognatha. Besides elevated substitution rates a significant AT bias was present in dipteran and strepsipteran 28S rDNA which, however, was restricted to stem sites in the Diptera while also affecting single-stranded sites in the Strepsiptera. When dipteran taxa were excluded from tree estimation all methods consistently supported the placement of Strepsiptera to within the Holometabola. When dipteran taxa were included maximum likelihood continued to favor a sister-group relationship of Strepsiptera with Mecoptera while remaining methods strongly supported a sister-group relationship with Diptera. Parametric bootstrap analysis revealed maximum likelihood as a consistent estimator if rate heterogeneity across sites was taken into account. Though the position of Strepsiptera within Holometabola remains elusive, we conclude that the evolution of dipteran and strepsipteran rDNA involved similar yet independent changes of substitution parameters.
Related Concept Videos
Phylogenetic Trees
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Modern Molecular Taxonomy
Applications of Molecular Taxonomy
Microbial Phylogeny

