Summary
The common cetacean highly repetitive DNA component was analyzed with respect to its evolution and value for establishing phylogenetic relationships. The repeat length of the component, which is tandemly organized, is ≈ 1750 by in all cetaceans except the delphinids, in which the repeat length is ≈ 1580 bp.
The evolution of the component was studied after sequencing the component in different odontocetes representing the Delphinidae (delphinids), Monodontidae (narwhals), and Ziphiidae (beaked whales). The evolution of this component is very slow, and comparisons showed that sequence divergence among species corresponds closely to their generally accepted phylogenetic relationships and that the component evolves in a concerted manner.
The phylogenetic information obtained in this study identified the Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) as a delphinid and did not support a close relationship of this species with the Monodontidae.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Árnason Ú (1982) Southern blot hybridizations in cetaceans using killer whale restriction fragment as a probe. Hereditas 97:47–49
Árnason Ú (1987) The evidence for a common ancestry of toothed and baleen whales based on studies of chromosomes and highly repetitive DNA. Kromosomo (Tokyo) 45:1479–1488
Árnason Ú, Allderdice PW, Lien J, Widegren B (1988) Highly repetitive DNA in the baleen whale genera Balaenoptera and Megaptera. J Mol Evol 27:217–221
Árnason Ú, Best P (1991) Phylogenetic relationships within the Mysticeti (whalebone whales) based upon studies of highly repetitive DNA in all extant species., Hereditas 114:263–269
Árnason Ú, Höglund M, Widegren B (1984) Conservation of highly repetitive DNA in cetaceans. Chromosoma 89:238–242
Árnason Ú, Purdom IF, Jones KW (1978) Conservation and chromosomal localization of DNA satellites in balenopterid whales. Chromosoma 66:141–159
Árnason Ú, Widegren B (1989) Composition and chromosomal localization of cetacean highly repetitive DNA with special reference to the blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus. Chromosoma 98:323–329
Barnes LG (1978) A review of Lophocetus and Liolithax and their relationships to the delphinoid family Kentriodontidae (Cetacea: Odontoceti). Nat Hist Mus Los Angeles Cty Sci Bull 28:1–35
Barnes LG (1984) Fossil odontocetes (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Almejas formation, Isla Cedros, Mexico. PaleoBios 42. 46 pp
Barnes LG, Domning DP, Ray CE (1985) Status of studies on fossil marine mammals. Mar Mamm Sci 1:15–53
Deveraux J, Haeberli P, Smithies O (1984) A comprehensive set of sequence analysis programs for the VAX. Nucleic Acids Res 12:387–395
Dod B, Mottez E, Desmarais E, Bonhomme F, Roizés G (1989) Concerted evolution of light satellite DNA in genus Mus implies amplification and homogenization of large blocks of repeats. Mot Biol Evol 6:478–491
Dover GA (1982) Molecular drive-a cohesive mode of species evolution. Nature 299:111–117
Felsenstein J (1985) Confidence limits on phylogenies: an approach using the bootstrap. Evolution 39:783–791
Felsenstein J (1990) PHYLIP manual, version 3.3. University Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley
Fraser FC (1966) Comments on the Delphinoidea. In: Norris KS (ed) Whales, dolphins and porpoises. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 7–30
Fraser FC, Purves PE (1960) Hearing in cetaceans. Bull Br Mus (Nat Hist) Zool 7:1–140
Hein J (1990) Unified approach to alignment and phylogenies. Methods Enzymol 183:626–645
Heyning JE (1989) Comparative facial anatomy of beaked whales (Ziphiidae) and a systematic revision among the families of extant Odontoceti. Contrib Sci (Los Angel) 405:1–64
Jeffreys AJ, Royle NJ, Wilson W, Wong Z (1988) Spontaneous mutation rates to new length alleles at tandem-repetitive hypervariable loci in human DNA. Nature 332:278–281
Kasuya T (1973) Systematic consideration of Recent toothed whales based on the morpology of tympano-periotic bone. Sci Rep Whales Res Inst 25:1–103
Lint DW, Clayton JW, Lillie WR, Postma L (1990) Evolution and systematics of beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas, and other odontocetes: a molecular approach. Can Bull Fish Aquat Sci 224:7–22
Mead JG (1975) Anatomy of the external nasal passages and facial complex in the Delphinidae. Smithson Contrib Zool 207:1–72
Miklos GLG (1985) Localized highly repetitive DNA sequences in vertebrate and invertebrate genomes. In: MacIntyre RJ (ed) Molecular evolutionary genetics. Plenum, New York, pp 241–321
Mitchell E (1970) Pigmentation pattern evolution in delphinid cetaceans: an essay on adaptive colouration. Can J Zool 48: 717–740
Ness AR (1967) A measure of asymmetry of the skulls of odontocete whales. J Zool Lond 153:209–221
Nishiwaki AR (1963) Taxonomic consideration on genera of Delphinidae. Sci Rep Whales Res Inst 17:93–103
Nishiwaki AR (1964) Revision of the article “Taxonomic consideration on genera of Delphinidae.” Sci Rep Whales Res Inst 18:171–172
Sambrook J, Fritsch EF, Maniatis T (1989) Molecular cloning, a laboratory manual, ed. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor NY
Shimura E, Numachi KI (1987) Genetic variability and differentiation in the toothed whales. Sci Rep Whales Res Inst 38: 141–163
Smith TF, Waterman MS (1981) Comparison of bio-sequences. Adv Appl Math 2:482–489
Stephan W (1989) Tandem repetitive noncoding DNA: forms and forces. Mol Biol Evol 6:198–212
Strachan T, Webb D, Dover G (1985) Transition stages of molecular drive in multi-copy DNA families in Drosophila. EMBO J 4:1701–1708
Tabor S, Richardson CC (1987) DNA sequence analysis with a modified bacteriophage T7 DNA polymerase. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84:4767–4771
Way JS, Willard HF (1989) Concerted evolution of alpha satellite DNA: evidence for species specificity and a general lack of sequence conservation among alphoid sequence of higher primates. Chromosoma 98:273–279
Widegren B, Árnason Ú, Akusjärvi G (1985) Characteristics of a conserved 1.579-bp highly repetitive component in the killer whale, Orcinus orca. Mol Biol Evol 2:411–419
Willard HF, Way JS (1987) Chromosome-specific subsets of human apha satellite DNA: analysis of sequence divergence within and between chromosomal subsets and evidence for an ancestral pentameric repeat. J Mol Evol 25:207–214
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Offprint requests to: S. Gretarsdottir
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Grétarsdóttir, S., Árnason, Ú. Evolution of the common cetacean highly repetitive DNA component and the systematic position of Orcaella brevirostris . J Mol Evol 34, 201–208 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00162969
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00162969