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Hindi Research Article
Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) DNA Variation in Millepora
Craig S Tepper1* and Sophia C Gaynor1,2
1Department of Biology, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA 52314, USA
2Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
- *Corresponding Author:
- Craig S. Tepper
Department of Biology; Cornell College
Mt. Vernon, IA
USA, 52314
Tel: +3198954376
E-mail: ctepper@cornellcollege.edu
Received date: September 07, 2015; Accepted date: December 04, 2015; Published date: December 10, 2015
Citation: Tepper CS, Gaynor SC (2015) Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) DNA Variation in Millepora. J Marine Sci Res Dev 6:177. doi:10.4172/2155-9910.1000177
Copyright: © 2015 Tepper CS, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Two main growth forms of Millepora (fire coral) are present around the islands of The Bahamas: one exhibits a strong, blade-like structure, Millepora complanata, and the other possesses a delicate branch-like structure, Millepora alcicornis. The phylogenetic relationship of these corals has been under considerable debate for over a century due to the existence of a wide-range of intermediate growth forms. Recent genetic analysis using ribosomal DNA (rDNA) suggests the existence of two distinct reproductively isolated cryptic clades that are independent of morphology [1]. However, using repeated rDNA sequences for phylogenetic construction can lead to false phylogenies if repeated sequences have not undergone concerted evolution, a process involving homogenization of individual repeats of a multigene family. We analyzed twenty rDNA clones isolated from a single bladed Millepora colony and found that although variant rDNA sequences were present, rDNA appears to be largely homogenized.
