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Research Team
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| This National Science Foundation-supported project (DEB 9796097) is the first phylogenetic study using DNA sequences to infer higher-level relationships of caddisflies. The Trichoptera are one of the major orders of aquatic insects and are of particular evolutionary and ecological interest because of the diversity of net and case-making behaviors of the larvae. Relationships among the three recognized suborders of Trichoptera has been highly controversial, partly because the alternative hypotheses of suborder relationships support different evolutionary scenarios for the origin of larval case- and net-making behaviors. The molecular study includes about 200 species, including 43 of the 45 recognized families of Trichoptera. Hopefully it will eventually include all of the families. Genes (or gene fragments) used for the analysis include a ribosomal protein coding gene (COI), a nuclear protein-coding gene (EF-1 alpha ), and nuclear ribosomal coding genes, each of which evolves under different evolutionary constraints and can potentially provide resolution at different levels of phylogenetic divergence. We now have good evidence supporting one of the competing hypotheses of subordinal relationships. Family-level analyses are continuing, with a number of people involved with different parts of the overall study. | |
Publications
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