title: Specific chicken repeat 1 (CR1) retrotransposon insertion suggests phylogenetic affinity of rockfowls (genus Picathartes) to crows and ravens (Corvidae).
abstract: While the monophyly of the order Passeriformes as well as its suborders suboscines (Tyranni) and oscines (Passeri) is well established, both on morphological and molecular grounds, lower phylogenetic relationships have been a continuous matter of debate, especially within oscines. This is particularly true for the rockfowls (genus Picathartes), which phylogenetic classification has been an ongoing puzzle. Sequence-based molecular studies failed in deriving unambiguously resolved and supported hypotheses. We present here a novel approach: use of retrotransposon insertions as phylogenetic markers in passerine birds. Chicken repeat 1 (CR1) is the most important non-LTR retrotransposon in birds. We present two truncated CR1 loci in passerine birds, not only found in representatives of Corvinae (jays, crows and allies), but also in the West-African Picathartes species which provide new evidence for a closer relationship of these species to Corvidae than has previously been thought. Additionally, we show that not only the absence/presence pattern of a CR1 insertion, but also the CR1 sequences themselves contain phylogenetic information.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Evolutionary Biology/Systematic Zoology, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Treplin
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tiedemann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D046368:Crows / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D017931:DNA Primers; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D018626:Retroelements / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018626:Retroelements