Studies on Squamate phylogeny by complete mtDNA sequences

我确定了完整的核苷酸序列的线粒体基因组的几个有鳞动物的家庭的代表，并进行分子系统发育分析使用线粒体基因的核苷酸或氨基酸序列。如此测序的有鳞动物线粒体基因组具有在大多数其他脊椎动物中发现的典型基因组织，除了科莫多巨蜥在其线粒体DNA中有特殊的基因重排。系统发育分析表明：1）现存的蛇和蜥蜴彼此是单系的; 2）鬣蜥并不代表最早的蜥蜴谱系; 3）盲蛇是其他更高级蛇的姐妹谱系。这些发现增加了独立的系统发育信息，传统的进化观主要是基于形态。我有兴趣获得更多的数据，以了解更高的爬行动物的系统发育关系。

I determined complete nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial genomes from representatives of several squamate families and conducted molecular phylogenetic analyses using nucleotide or amino acid sequences of mitochondrial genes. Squamate mitochondrial genomes thus sequenced had the typical gene organization that had been found for most other vertebrates, except in that Komodo monitor had peculiar gene rearrangements in its mitochondrial DNA. Phylogenetic analyses suggested that 1) extant snakes and lizards are monophyletic to each other, 2) Iguania does not represent the eariest lizard lineage, and 3) the blind snake is a sister lineage to other more advanced snakes. These findings add independent phylogenetic information to the conventional evolutionary view mostly based on morphology. I am interested in obtaining more data to understand higher phylogenetic relationships of reptiles.