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Hox genes and the phylogeny of the arthropods

2001; Elsevier BV; Volume: 11; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0960-9822(01)00222-6

1879-0445

Charles E. Cook, M.Louise Smith, Maximilian J. Telford, Alberto Bastianello, Michael Akam,

Crustacean biology and ecology

The arthropods are the most speciose, and among the most morphologically diverse, of the animal phyla. Their evolution has been the subject of intense research for well over a century, yet the relationships among the four extant arthropod subphyla — chelicerates, crustaceans, hexapods, and myriapods — are still not fully resolved. Morphological taxonomies have often placed hexapods and myriapods together (the Atelocerata) [1Brusca R.C. Brusca G.J. Invertebrates. Sinauer Associates, Inc, Sunderland, Massachusetts1990Google Scholar, 2Giribet G. Ribera C. A review of arthropod phylogeny new data based on ribosomal DNA sequences and direct character optimization.Cladistics. 2000; 16: 204-231Crossref Google Scholar], but recent molecular studies have generally supported a hexapod/crustacean clade [2Giribet G. Ribera C. A review of arthropod phylogeny new data based on ribosomal DNA sequences and direct character optimization.Cladistics. 2000; 16: 204-231Crossref Google Scholar, 3Boore J.L. Collins T.M. Stanton D. Daehler L.L. Brown W.M. Deducing the pattern of arthropod phylogeny from mitochondrial DNA rearrangements.Nature. 1995; 376: 163-165Crossref PubMed Scopus (327) Google Scholar, 4Boore J.L. Lavrov D.V. Brown W.M. Gene translocation links insects and crustaceans.Nature. 1998; 392: 667-668Crossref PubMed Scopus (481) Google Scholar, 5Ballard J.W. Olsen G.J. Faith D.P. Odgers W.A. Rowell D.M. Atkinson P.W. Evidence from 12S ribosomal RNA sequences that onychophorans are modified arthropods.Science. 1992; 258: 1345-1348Crossref PubMed Scopus (201) Google Scholar, 6Friedrich M. Tautz D. Ribosomal DNA phylogeny of the major extant arthropod classes and the evolution of myriapods.Nature. 1995; 376: 165-167Crossref PubMed Scopus (295) Google Scholar, 7Giribet G. Carranza S. Baguña J. Riutort M. Ribera C. First molecular evidence for the existence of a tardigrada + arthropoda clade.Mol Biol Evol. 1996; 13: 76-84Crossref PubMed Scopus (441) Google Scholar, 8Regier J.C. Shultz J.W. Molecular phylogeny of the major arthropod groups indicates polyphyly of crustaceans and a new hypothesis for the origin of hexapods.Mol Biol Evol. 1997; 14: 902-913Crossref PubMed Scopus (160) Google Scholar, 9Turbeville J.M. Pfeifer D.M. Field K.G. Raff R.A. The phylogenetic status of arthropods, as inferred from 18S rRNA sequences.Mol Biol Evol. 1991; 8: 669-686PubMed Google Scholar]. A cluster of regulatory genes, the Hox genes, control segment identity in arthropods, and comparisons of the sequences and functions of Hox genes can reveal evolutionary relationships [10deRosa R. Grenier J.K. Andreeva T. Cook C.E. Adoutte A. Akam M. Hox genes in brachiopods and priapulids and protostome evolution.Nature. 1999; 399: 772-776Crossref PubMed Scopus (402) Google Scholar]. We used Hox gene sequences from a range of arthropod taxa, including new data from a basal hexapod and a myriapod, to estimate a phylogeny of the arthropods. Our data support the hypothesis that insects and crustaceans form a single clade within the arthropods to the exclusion of myriapods. They also suggest that myriapods are more closely allied to the chelicerates than to this insect/crustacean clade.