MOLECULAR EVIDENCE OF PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIP OF EMBIOPTERA AND RELATED GROUPS

Molecular evidence of phylogenetic relationship of embioptera and related groups has been attempted. Many evidence sexists for familial, ordinal and super ordinal relationship with stoneflies (Plecoptera). Also, based on resemblance in habitat, the termites (Isoptera) was included in studying the phylogenetic relationship. Bioinformatics tool was employed to confirm the close relationship. The taxonomic identification of Embiid species involves the study of anatomical differences in the structure of male genitalia which is taken as the main criterion. Bioinformatics tool was employed to confirm the close relationship. In the present study the evolutionary relationships of embiid Oligotoma saundersii, stonefly Acroneuria lycorias and termite Odontermes redemani was studied. Multiple sequence alignment was done for the mitochondrial sequences. The Mega 6 Software was used for this purpose of constructing the phylogenetic tree. The analysis involved 3 nucleotide sequences of the abovementioned species and the evolutionary history was inferred using the Neighbor-Joining method. The optimal tree with the sum of branch length = 7.17153663 is shown. From the present study it was concluded that the termites (Isoptera) showed a closer phylogenetic relationship to the Order Embioptera, now referred to as Embiidina compared to stoneflies belonging to the order Plecoptera