Molecular genetics of the Peninsular Malaysian termite genus Odontotermes

Termites of the genus Odontotermes (Macrotermitinae) are important decomposers in the Old World tropics. Species within the genus have overlapping size ranges and are difficult to differentiate based on morphology. As a result, the taxonomy of species within the genus is poorly resolved. In this...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Cheng, Shawn
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English
Published:	2011
Subjects:	Odontotermes - Molecular genetics - Peninsular Malaysia
Online Access:	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85020/1/FBSB%202011%2022%20ir.pdf
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

id	my-upm-ir.85020
record_format	uketd_dc
spelling	my-upm-ir.850202021-12-31T02:29:06Z Molecular genetics of the Peninsular Malaysian termite genus Odontotermes 2011-12 Cheng, Shawn Termites of the genus Odontotermes (Macrotermitinae) are important decomposers in the Old World tropics. Species within the genus have overlapping size ranges and are difficult to differentiate based on morphology. As a result, the taxonomy of species within the genus is poorly resolved. In this study, the species boundaries of the Peninsular Malaysian Odontotermes were elucidated using mtDNA genes, namely the 16S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit I. MtDNA genes defined at least eleven species of Odontotermes in Peninsular Malaysia, namely, o. escherichi, O. hainanensis, O. javanicus, O. longignathus, o. malaccensis, O. oblongatus, O. paraoblongatus, o. sara waken sis, and three morphospecies that have now been identified as O. azmiensis sp. nov, O. minutus and O. srinakarinensis sp. nov. Microsatellite markers were also developed de novo to investigate the presence of cryptic species in O. srinakarinensis sp. nov, a clade which consisted of samples with highly divergent sequences. Shared allele trees, principal components analysis and Bayesian clustering of genotype data from 191 termite individuals from this species complex showed that samples in this clade were in fact made up of two species, that is, O. srinakarinensis and O. denticulatus. This was corroborated by morphological and distributional differences between these species. After mtDNA and microsatellite data helped elucidate the species boundaries of the Peninsular Malaysian Odontotermes, the soldiers of each species were morphometrically characterised. In addition, information on the host and habitat associations of species within the Odontotermes, and their distribution throughout the peninsula were determined. Odontotermes - Molecular genetics. - Peninsular Malaysia Termitidae - Molecular genetics. - Peninsular Malaysia Termites - Molecular genetics. - Peninsular Malaysia 2011-12 Thesis http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85020/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85020/1/FBSB%202011%2022%20ir.pdf text en public doctoral Universiti Putra Malaysia Odontotermes - Molecular genetics. - Peninsular Malaysia Termitidae - Molecular genetics. - Peninsular Malaysia Termites - Molecular genetics. - Peninsular Malaysia Tan, Soon Guan
institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
collection	PSAS Institutional Repository
language	English
advisor	Tan, Soon Guan
topic	Odontotermes - Molecular genetics - Peninsular Malaysia Odontotermes - Molecular genetics - Peninsular Malaysia Odontotermes - Molecular genetics - Peninsular Malaysia
spellingShingle	Odontotermes - Molecular genetics - Peninsular Malaysia Odontotermes - Molecular genetics - Peninsular Malaysia Odontotermes - Molecular genetics - Peninsular Malaysia Cheng, Shawn Molecular genetics of the Peninsular Malaysian termite genus Odontotermes
description	Termites of the genus Odontotermes (Macrotermitinae) are important decomposers in the Old World tropics. Species within the genus have overlapping size ranges and are difficult to differentiate based on morphology. As a result, the taxonomy of species within the genus is poorly resolved. In this study, the species boundaries of the Peninsular Malaysian Odontotermes were elucidated using mtDNA genes, namely the 16S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit I. MtDNA genes defined at least eleven species of Odontotermes in Peninsular Malaysia, namely, o. escherichi, O. hainanensis, O. javanicus, O. longignathus, o. malaccensis, O. oblongatus, O. paraoblongatus, o. sara waken sis, and three morphospecies that have now been identified as O. azmiensis sp. nov, O. minutus and O. srinakarinensis sp. nov. Microsatellite markers were also developed de novo to investigate the presence of cryptic species in O. srinakarinensis sp. nov, a clade which consisted of samples with highly divergent sequences. Shared allele trees, principal components analysis and Bayesian clustering of genotype data from 191 termite individuals from this species complex showed that samples in this clade were in fact made up of two species, that is, O. srinakarinensis and O. denticulatus. This was corroborated by morphological and distributional differences between these species. After mtDNA and microsatellite data helped elucidate the species boundaries of the Peninsular Malaysian Odontotermes, the soldiers of each species were morphometrically characterised. In addition, information on the host and habitat associations of species within the Odontotermes, and their distribution throughout the peninsula were determined.
format	Thesis
qualification_level	Doctorate
author	Cheng, Shawn
author_facet	Cheng, Shawn
author_sort	Cheng, Shawn
title	Molecular genetics of the Peninsular Malaysian termite genus Odontotermes
title_short	Molecular genetics of the Peninsular Malaysian termite genus Odontotermes
title_full	Molecular genetics of the Peninsular Malaysian termite genus Odontotermes
title_fullStr	Molecular genetics of the Peninsular Malaysian termite genus Odontotermes
title_full_unstemmed	Molecular genetics of the Peninsular Malaysian termite genus Odontotermes
title_sort	molecular genetics of the peninsular malaysian termite genus odontotermes
granting_institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
publishDate	2011
url	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85020/1/FBSB%202011%2022%20ir.pdf
_version_	1747813513282191360

Molecular genetics of the Peninsular Malaysian termite genus Odontotermes

Similar Items