Class-level relationships in the phylum Cnidaria: evidence from mitochondrial genome structure.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

The phylogenetic relationships of the Recent cnidarian classes remain one of the classic problems in invertebrate zoology. We survey the structure of the mitochondrial genome in representatives of the four extant cnidarian classes and in the phylum Ctenophora. We find that all anthozoan species tested possess mtDNA in the form of circular molecules, whereas all scyphozoan, cubozoan, and hydrozoan species tested display mtDNA in the form of linear molecules. Because ctenophore and all other known metazoan mtDNA is circular, the shared occurrence of linear mtDNA in three of the four cnidarian classes suggests a basal position for the Anthozoa within the phylum.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Bridge, D; Cunningham, CW; Schierwater, B; DeSalle, R; Buss, LW

Published Date

  • September 1992

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 89 / 18

Start / End Page

  • 8750 - 8753

PubMed ID

  • 1356268

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC49998

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1091-6490

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0027-8424

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1073/pnas.89.18.8750

Language

  • eng