title: Deducing the pattern of arthropod phylogeny from mitochondrial DNA rearrangements.
abstract: The origins of arthropods and the phylogenetic relationships among their three major living groups (atelocerates, crustaceans and chelicerates) are vigorously contended. To help resolve this, we determined mitochondrial gene arrangements for a chelicerate, a myriapod, two crustaceans, an onychophoran, a mollusc and an annelid, and compared them with published gene orders of other species. The result strongly supports the monophyly of Arthropoda and of Mandibulata (atelocerates plus crustaceans) and refutes the Uniramia (atelocerates plus onychophorans). Gene arrangement comparisons are emerging as a powerful new tool for resolving ancient phylogenetic relationships.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1048, USA.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Boore
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stanton
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Daehler
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001181:Arthropods / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011995:Recombination, Genetic
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial