Phylogenetic and phylogeographic resolution of Botrylloides leachii (Savigny, 1816) in Northeastern Mediterranean

Date

2020-03-01

Author

Temiz, Berivan
Öztürk, Esra
Karahan, Arzu

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Globally distributed sea squirts, tunicates, are one of the most diverse taxons among chordates. Two genera of colonial tunicates, Botryllusthought to originated in Mediterranean Sea including 32 and Botrylloideswith 19 species, are botryllid ascidians spread among all of the world seas. The presence of 6 botryllid species in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea particularly in Israel, Egypt and Gulf of Suez shore are confirmed which are Botrylloides leachii, Botrylloides niger, Botrylloides anceps, Botrylloides israliense, Botryllusschlosseriand Botryllus rosaceus.Tunicates being the closest invertebrate relatives to the vertebrates are one of the widely used model organisms especially in developmental biology and immunology studies. Considering their unique characteristics as including the only chordate group having the ability of whole-body regeneration, B.leachiihas a pivotal role in these studies with another special feature by undergoing into hibernation when the ambient conditions are not favorable. In this study, we target to determine the evolutionary phylogenetic status of B.leachiiby estimating its resolution and biodiversity in the North-eastern Mediterranean Sea at 8 spatial stations from Antalya to Hatay regions employing mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers (COI and H3) on over hundreds of samples. Also the morphological investigation of the speciesperformed and blastogeny (an asexual reproduction type) is analyzed. Besides, Kızkalesi station selected as transient sampling residing is monitored through a year to understand the biodiversity characteristics combined with several ecological parameters such as salinity, temperature and tidal rhythms.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/107580

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Graduate School of Marine Sciences, Article