title: Gorgonia mariae and Antillogorgia bipinnata populations inferred from compensatory base change analysis of the internal transcribed spacer 2.
abstract: The systematics within some families of octocorals (Class Anthozoa: Sub-class Octocorallia) remains uncertain in terms of morphological variability and unresolved molecular phylogenies. Elucidating the phylogenetic relationships among octocorals can help for understanding the origin of its huge biodiversity and optimizing conservation plans. The phylogenetic relationships within Gorgoniidae family remain highly polyphyletic. This research explores Gorgonia mariae and Antillogorgia bipinnata populations from several study sites in the Caribbean sea using for the first time the compensatory base changes (CBCs) analysis of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) as a molecular tool to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships within the gorgonians. In addition, the mitochondrial gene mtMutS was sequenced in order to complement the nuclear information. This research shows that the presence of CBCs and hemi-CBCs is useful as a complementary tool for providing insights between octocoral species and populations, as well as an approach to figure out the origin of the octocorals biodiversity.
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, Universidad de los Andes, Carrera 1a # 18A-10, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: oltorres.suarez@gmail.com.
authors: Olga Lucía
authors: OL
authors: Torres-Suárez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D017691:Caribbean Region; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D050259:Genes, Mitochondrial; D005828:Genetics, Population; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer
keywords: Antillogorgia; Compensatory base changes; Gorgonia; ITS2 secondary structure; Internal transcribed spacer; Octocorals