Evidence for a higher number of species of Odontotermes (Isoptera) than currently known from Peninsular Malaysia from mitochondrial DNA phylogenies
Termites of the genus Odontotermes are important decomposers in the Old World tropics and are sometimes important pests of crops, timber and trees. The species within the genus often have overlapping size ranges and are difficult to differentiate based on morphology. As a result, the taxonomy of Odo...
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| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science
2011
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/23620/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/23620/1/23620.PDF |
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| author | Cheng, Shawn Kirton, Laurence G. Panandam, Jothi Malar Siraj, Siti Shapor Ng, Kevin Kit Siong Tan, Soon Guan |
| author_facet | Cheng, Shawn Kirton, Laurence G. Panandam, Jothi Malar Siraj, Siti Shapor Ng, Kevin Kit Siong Tan, Soon Guan |
| author_sort | Cheng, Shawn |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Termites of the genus Odontotermes are important decomposers in the Old World tropics and are sometimes important pests of crops, timber and trees. The species within the genus often have overlapping size ranges and are difficult to differentiate based on morphology. As a result, the taxonomy of Odontotermes in Peninsular Malaysia has not been adequately worked out. In this study, we examined the phylogeny of 40 samples of Odontotermes from Peninsular Malaysia using two mitochondrial DNA regions, that is, the 16S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit I genes, to aid in elucidating the number of species in the peninsula. Phylogenies were reconstructed from the individual gene and combined gene data sets using parsimony and likelihood criteria. The phylogenies supported the presence of up to eleven species in Peninsular Malaysia, which were identified as O. escherichi, O. hainanensis, O. javanicus, O. longignathus, O. malaccensis, O. oblongatus, O. paraoblongatus, O. sarawakensis, and three possibly new species. Additionally, some of our taxa are thought to comprise a complex of two or more species. The number of species found in this study using DNA methods was more than the initial nine species thought to occur in Peninsular Malaysia. The support values for the clades and morphology of the soldiers provided further evidence for the existence of eleven or more species. Higher resolution genetic markers such as microsatellites would be required to confirm the presence of cryptic species in some taxa. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T08:36:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-23620 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T08:36:49Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science |
| recordtype | eprints |
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| spelling | upm-236202019-10-01T02:31:25Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/23620/ Evidence for a higher number of species of Odontotermes (Isoptera) than currently known from Peninsular Malaysia from mitochondrial DNA phylogenies Cheng, Shawn Kirton, Laurence G. Panandam, Jothi Malar Siraj, Siti Shapor Ng, Kevin Kit Siong Tan, Soon Guan Termites of the genus Odontotermes are important decomposers in the Old World tropics and are sometimes important pests of crops, timber and trees. The species within the genus often have overlapping size ranges and are difficult to differentiate based on morphology. As a result, the taxonomy of Odontotermes in Peninsular Malaysia has not been adequately worked out. In this study, we examined the phylogeny of 40 samples of Odontotermes from Peninsular Malaysia using two mitochondrial DNA regions, that is, the 16S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit I genes, to aid in elucidating the number of species in the peninsula. Phylogenies were reconstructed from the individual gene and combined gene data sets using parsimony and likelihood criteria. The phylogenies supported the presence of up to eleven species in Peninsular Malaysia, which were identified as O. escherichi, O. hainanensis, O. javanicus, O. longignathus, O. malaccensis, O. oblongatus, O. paraoblongatus, O. sarawakensis, and three possibly new species. Additionally, some of our taxa are thought to comprise a complex of two or more species. The number of species found in this study using DNA methods was more than the initial nine species thought to occur in Peninsular Malaysia. The support values for the clades and morphology of the soldiers provided further evidence for the existence of eleven or more species. Higher resolution genetic markers such as microsatellites would be required to confirm the presence of cryptic species in some taxa. Public Library of Science 2011-06 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/23620/1/23620.PDF Cheng, Shawn and Kirton, Laurence G. and Panandam, Jothi Malar and Siraj, Siti Shapor and Ng, Kevin Kit Siong and Tan, Soon Guan (2011) Evidence for a higher number of species of Odontotermes (Isoptera) than currently known from Peninsular Malaysia from mitochondrial DNA phylogenies. PLOS ONE, 6 (6). art. no. e20992. pp. 1-8. ISSN 1932-6203 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0020992 10.1371/journal.pone.0020992 |
| spellingShingle | Cheng, Shawn Kirton, Laurence G. Panandam, Jothi Malar Siraj, Siti Shapor Ng, Kevin Kit Siong Tan, Soon Guan Evidence for a higher number of species of Odontotermes (Isoptera) than currently known from Peninsular Malaysia from mitochondrial DNA phylogenies |
| title | Evidence for a higher number of species of Odontotermes (Isoptera) than currently known from Peninsular Malaysia from mitochondrial DNA phylogenies |
| title_full | Evidence for a higher number of species of Odontotermes (Isoptera) than currently known from Peninsular Malaysia from mitochondrial DNA phylogenies |
| title_fullStr | Evidence for a higher number of species of Odontotermes (Isoptera) than currently known from Peninsular Malaysia from mitochondrial DNA phylogenies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evidence for a higher number of species of Odontotermes (Isoptera) than currently known from Peninsular Malaysia from mitochondrial DNA phylogenies |
| title_short | Evidence for a higher number of species of Odontotermes (Isoptera) than currently known from Peninsular Malaysia from mitochondrial DNA phylogenies |
| title_sort | evidence for a higher number of species of odontotermes (isoptera) than currently known from peninsular malaysia from mitochondrial dna phylogenies |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/23620/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/23620/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/23620/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/23620/1/23620.PDF |