Abstract
Drosophila species are extensively used in biological research; yet, important phylogenetic relationships within the genus and with related genera remain unresolved. The combined data for three genes (Adh, Sod, and Gpdh) statistically resolves outstanding issues. We define the genus Drosophila inclusively so as to include Scaptomyza and Zaprionus (considered distinct genera in the taxonomy of Wheeler, 1981) but excluding Scaptodrosophila. The genus Drosophila so defined is monophyletic. The subgenus Sophophora (including the melanogaster, obscura, and willistoni groups) is monophyletic and the sister clade to all other Drosophila subgenera. The Hawaiian Drosophila (including Scaptomyza) is a monophyletic group, but the subgenus Drosophila is not monophyletic, because the immigrans group is more closely related to the subgenus Hirtodrosophila than to other species of the subgenus Drosophila, such as the virilis and repleta groups.
Highlights
The family Drosophilidae is among the most diverse of the Diptera, encompassing more than 2500 species (Wheeler, 1986)
The other clade is composed of the subgenus Drosophila, including the Hawaiian Drosophila (Idiomyia, sensu Grimaldi, 1990), as well as Scaptomyza, Zaprionus, and Hirtodrosophila (D. pictiventris)
The maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony methods give identical trees, which differ from the tree in Fig. 1 only in that Zaprionus splits off first and D. immigrans and D. pictiventris branch off as a pair from the rest of the clade
Summary
The family Drosophilidae is among the most diverse of the Diptera, encompassing more than 2500 species (Wheeler, 1986). Phylogenetic relationships among the species, whether the inferences are based on morphology (Throckmorton, 1975; Grimaldi, 1990) or molecular data (DeSalle, 1992a,b; Kwiatowski et al, 1994, 1997; Pelandakis and Solignac, 1993; Powell, 1997; Remsen and DeSalle, 1998; Russo et al, 1995; Tatarenkov et al, 1999; Thomas and Hunt, 1993). Molecular data (Kwiatowski et al, 1994, 1997; Pelandakis and Solignac, 1993; Remsen and DeSalle, 1998; Tatarenkov et al, 1999; Thomas and Hunt, 1993) contradict in very many important aspects Grimaldi’s revisions of the Drosophila phylogeny, while they often support Throckmorton’s hypothesis. KWIATOWSKI AND AYALA two genes, as well as of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (Gpdh), seeking to resolve the phylogeny of these and other taxa within the Drosophilidae
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