Phylogenetic Utility of Avian Ovomucoid Intron G: A Comparison of Nuclear and Mitochondrial Phylogenies in Galliformes

Abstract

Abstract A novel nuclear marker, the avian ovomucoid intron G (OVOG) was sequenced from 19 galliform taxa. Results of the phylogenetic analyses using OVOG were compared to those obtained using the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene to determine the phylogenetic utility of OVOG. OVOG appeared to have strong phylogenetic signal for reconstructing relationships among genera and families, and the only difference between OVOG and cytb was in the placement of the New World quail (Odontophoridae). Genetic distances estimated using OVOG are approximately half of those estimated using cytb, although that relationship was not linear. OVOG exhibited patterns of nucleotide substitution very different from cytb, with OVOG having little base compositional bias, a relatively low transition–transversion ratio, and little among-site rate heterogeneity.