Background: Species identification in commercially processed food and feed products is one of the important issues. This study was conducted to develop a genetic method for the detection of pig and cattle species in processed food and feed products using newly designed species-specific primers targeting mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene fragments. Methods: Two sets of specific primers were designed ...

Since about 1630, the Imperial Palace has been biologically isolated from other habitats by the development and urbanization of Tokyo. We morphologically examined the skulls of the lesser Japanese mole (Mogera imaizumii) from the Imperial Palace and compared them with those from Kanto District, while the sequences of the cytochrome b and 12S rRNA genes were also analyzed to clarify the genetic ...

A new species of freshwater crab the genus Potamonemus Cumberlidge & Clark, 1992 is described from Mount Manengouba Reserve and Bakossi National Park in tropical rainforests southwestern Cameroon, Central Africa. man sp. nov. recognized by characters carapace chelipeds. In addition, a phylogenetic analysis based on partial sequences three mitochondrial DNA genes (COI, 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA...

A new quadrannulate species of Orobdella Oka, 1895, Orobdella naraharaetmagarum sp. n., from the mountainous region of western Honshu, Japan is described. Orobdella naraharaetmagarum is a small species with a body length of less than 5 cm. Phylogenetic analyses using nuclear 18S rRNA and histone H3, as well as mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, tRNA(Cys), tRNA(Met), 12S rRNA, tRNA(Va...

Two species of Cantellius from Taiwan were identified from the elephant skin coral, Pachyseris speciosa Dana, 1846. Cantellius sextus was found on the underside of the coral plate and a new species, C. hoegi sp. nov., on the upper surface. The microdistribution indicates the different requirements of the two species. In the present study, both arthropodal and opercular plate characters of these...

We demonstrate using Drosophila, periodical cicadas, and hominid primates, that the molecular clock based on animal mitochondrial small-subunit (12S) rRNA genes ticks at significantly different relative rates depending on which taxa and which region of the gene are examined. Drosophila, which are commonly used as model taxa, are evolving in a highly peculiar manner with the majority of sites in...

The 30 living species of armadillos, anteaters, and sloths (Mammalia: Xenarthra) represent one of the three major clades of placentals. Armadillos (Cingulata: Dasypodidae) are the earliest and most speciose xenarthran lineage with 21 described species. The question of their tricky phylogeny was here studied by adding two mitochondrial genes (NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 [ND1] and 12S ribosomal ...