Evidence from 18 S Ribosomal DNA that the Lophophorates Are Protostome Animals

1995/03/17 by Kenneth M. Halanych, John D. Bacheller, Anna Marie A. Aguinaldo +3 · 8 citations
Environmental Science · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Marine Ecology and Invasive Species #Myxozoan Parasites in Aquatic Species #Parasite Biology and Host Interactions #Deuterostome #Biology #Phylogenetic tree #Phylogenetics #Evolutionary biology #Phylum #Ribosomal DNA #Sequence (biology) #Ribosomal RNA #Zoology #Paleontology #Genetics #Gene

paper · doi:10.1126/science.7886451

openalex publication_date 1995/03/17 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

The suspension-feeding metazoan subkingdom Lophophorata exhibits characteristics of both deuterostomes and protostomes. Because the morphology and embryology of lophophorates are phylogenetically ambiguous, their origin is a major unsolved problem of metazoan phylogenetics. The complete 18S ribosomal DNA sequences of all three lophophorate phyla were obtained and analyzed to clarify the phylogenetic relationships of this subkingdom. Sequence analyses show that lophophorates are protostomes closely related to mollusks and annelids. This conclusion deviates from the commonly held view of deuterostome affinity.

Citations

• Ribosomal DNA: Molecular Evolution and Phylogenetic Inference
• An Empirical Test of Bootstrapping as a Method for Assessing Confidence in Phylogenetic Analysis
• Molecular Phylogeny of the Animal Kingdom

Cited by

• Assembling the lophotrochozoan (=spiralian) tree of life
• Lophotrochozoa, Diversification of
• New phylogenomic data support the monophyly of Lophophorata and an Ectoproct-Phoronid clade and indicate that Polyzoa and Kryptrochozoa are caused by systematic bias
• A Twist in Time--The Evolution of Spiral Cleavage in the Light of Animal Phylogeny
• Recent progress in reconstructing lophotrochozoan (spiralian) phylogeny
• Did internal transport, rather than directed locomotion, favor the evolution of bilateral symmetry in animals?
• Lophotrochozoa [wikipedia]
• Spiralia [wikipedia]