Molecular-phylogenetic analysis of cyclopoids (Copepoda: Cyclopoida) from Lake Baikal and its water catchment basin

Abstract

Baikalian cyclopoids represent one of the richest endemic faunas of freshwater cyclopoid copepods. The genus Diacyclops Kiefer, 1927 is the most numerous by species number in the lake. In this work, molecular-phylogenetic analysis of 14 species and 1 sub-species from Lake Baikal and its water catchment basin is performed. The regions of mitochondrial cytochrom-oxydase I (COI) and of nuclear small-subunit 18S rRNA were used as evolution markers. In the obtained set of nucleotide sequences of COT gene, an effect of synonymous substitution saturation is revealed. Baikalian representatives of the genus Diacyclops form at phylogenetic schemes by two markers a monophyletic griup, it suggest their origin from a common ancestral form. Preliminary estimate of the age of this group is 20-25 My.