High impact information on Cetacea

• In this report, phylogenetic relationships between Cetacea and artiodactyls are tested with a combination of 15 published data sets plus new DNA sequence data from two nuclear loci, interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP) and von Willebrand factor (vWF) [1].
• A data set of complete mitochondrial cytochrome b and 12S rDNA sequences is presented here for 17 representatives of Artiodactyla and Cetacea, together with potential outgroups (two Perissodactyla, two Carnivora, two Tethytheria, four Rodentia, and two Marsupialia) [2].
• In the same way, we examine Irwin and Arnason's suggestion of the Hippopotamus/Cetacea clade by using cytochrome b and hemoglobins alpha and beta, and it turn out that their suggestion is also fragile [3].
• In order to increase knowledge of GH evolution in Cetartiodactyla (Artiodactyla plus Cetacea) we have cloned and characterized GH genes from camel (Camelus dromedarius), hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), and giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), using genomic DNA and a polymerase chain reaction technique [4].
• Lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg) concentrations on liver and kidney of Sotalia fluviatilis (Cetacea: Delphinidae) stranded in the coast of Ceará, Brazil, were studied from 1996 to 1999 [5].

Biological context of Cetacea

• These results provide the most detailed phylogeny of Cetacea to date and highlight the utility of both Bayesian methodology in general, and of Cytb in cetacean phylogenetics [6].
• Amino acid sequences of cytochrome b were provided for the analysis to examine the relationships among Ruminantia, Suiformes, and Cetacea with out-group mammals by using one representative species from each group [7].

Gene context of Cetacea

• An analysis of the nuclear casein sequences combined with published mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA sequences also supports the Cetacea/Hippopotamidae sister group [8].
• The deduced sequence for the mature hippopotamus GH is identical to that of dolphin, in accord with current ideas of a close relationship between Cetacea and Hippopotamidae [4].
• To extend the knowledge of GH in Cetartiodactyla (Artiodactyla plus Cetacea), we have cloned and characterised a single GH gene from the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), using genomic DNA and a polymerase chain reaction technique [9].
• These lesions are typical of a group of interrelated diseases described in humans as spondyloarthropathies, specifically ankylosing spondylitis, which has not been fully described in cetacea [10].
• These large sequence differences reflect the distant taxonomic relationships between the goose-beaked whale and the other species of Cetacea the myoglobin sequences of which have previously been determined [11].

References