EVOLUTION OF RIBOSOMAL DNA: FIFTY MILLION YEARS OF RECORDED HISTORY IN THE FROG GENUS RANA

Abstract

Evolution of nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) arrays of frogs of the genus Rana was examined among 32 species that last shared a common ancestor approximately 50 million years ago. Extensive variation in restriction sites exists within the transcribed and nontranscribed rDNA spacer regions among the species, whereas rDNA coding regions exhibit comparatively little interspecific variation in restriction sites. The most parsimonious phylogenetic hypothesis for the evolution of the group was constructed based on variation in restriction sites and internal spacer lengths among the 32 species of Rana and one species of Pyxicephalus (examined for outgroup comparison). This analysis suggests that R. sylvatica of North America is more closely related to the R. temporaria group of Eurasia than to other North American Rana. The hypothesized phylogeny also supports the monophyly of the R. boylii group, the R. catesbeiana group, the R. palmipes group, the R. tarahumarae group, and the R. pipiens complex. Furthermore, the restriction site data provide information about the evolution within and among these species groups. This demonstrates that restriction site mapping of rDNA arrays provides a useful molecular technique for the examination of historical evolutionary questions across considerable periods of time.