Description of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit II gene in some genera of New World monkeys (Primates, Platyrrhini)

ASCUNCE, M., E. HASSON, M. D. MUDRY

GENETICA

SPRINGER

Año: 2002 vol. 114 p. 253 - 267

0016-6707

Nucleotide sequence variation at themitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit II gene (COII) was analyzed in 27 New World monkey specimens, nine newly reported herein. The study involved comparisons among platyrrhines and also between platyrrhines and catarrhines. The analysis of the frequencies of transitions and transversions at each codon position showed transitional saturation at third codon position. Neighbor-Joining trees obtained from genetic distances estimated by means of Kimura’s (1980) two-parameter model showed poor esolution of phylogenetic relationships among platyrrhine genera. Rates of nucleotide substitutions were largely homogeneous except in the genus Saimiri that showed low numbers of unique substitutions suggesting the maintenance of ancestral or plesiomorphic states of platyrrhine mt DNA nucleotide characters probably due to its large population sizes ascompared to other platyrrhines.