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The phylogenetic position of Koliella , a chlorophyte characterized by Klebsormidium type cell division, was inferred from analyses of partial 18S rDNA and partial 16S rDNA. Parsimony and distance analyses of separate and combined data sets indicated that the members of Koliella belonged to Trebouxiophyceae, and high decay indices and bootstrap values supported this affinity. However, the genus appeared to be polyphyletic. Koliella spiculiformis , the nomenclatural type of the genus, was allied with Nannochloris eucaryota and the "true" chlorellas ( Chlorella vulgaris , C. lobophora , C. sorokiniana , and C. kessleri ). The close relatives of Koliella longiseta ( ϵ Raphidonema longiseta ) and Koliella sempervirens appeared to be Stichococcus bacillaris and some species traditionally classified in Chlorella that were characterized by the production of secondary carotenoids under nitrogendeficient conditions. This clade was also supported by the presence of a relatively phylogenetically stable group I intron (1506) in the 18S rRNA gene. Because of the presence of Klebsormidium type cell division, some authors regarded the members of Koliella as closely related to charophytes. Molecular analyses, however, did not confirm this affinity and suggested that a Klebsormidium type cell division is homoplastic in green plants.

The phylogeny and taxonomy of the drosophilids have been the subject of extensive investigations. Recently, Grimaldi (1990) has challenged some common conceptions, and several sets of molecular data have provided information not always compatible with other taxonomic knowledge or consistent with each other. We present the coding nucleotide sequence of the Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase gene (Sod) for 15 species, which include the medfly Ceratitis capitata (family Tephritidae), the genera Chymomyza and Zaprionus, and representatives of the subgenera Dorsilopha, Drosophila, Hirtodrosophila, Scaptodrosophila, and Sophophora. Phylogenetic analysis of the Sod sequences indicates that Scaptodrosophila and Chymomyza branched off the main lineage before the major Drosophila radiations. The presence of a second intron in Chymomyza and Scaptodrosophila (as well as in the medfly) confirms the early divergence of these two taxa. This second intron became deleted from the main lineage before the major Drosophila radiations. According to the Sod sequences, Sophophora (including the melanogaster, obscura, saltans, and willistoni species groups) is older than the subgenus Drosophila; a deep branch splits the willistoni and saltans groups from the melanogaster and obscura groups. The genus Zaprionus and the subgenera Dorsilopha and Hirtodrosophila appear as branches of a prolific "bush" that also embraces the numerous species of the subgenus Drosophila. The Sod results corroborate in many, but not all, respects Throckmorton's (King, R.C. (ed) Handbook of Genetics. Plenum Press, New York, pp. 421-469, 1975) phylogeny; are inconsistent in some important ways with Grimaldi's (Bull. Am. Museum Nat. Hist. 197: 1-139, 1990) cladistic analysis; and also are inconsistent with some inferences based on mitochondrial DNA data. The Sod results manifest how, in addition to the information derived from nucleotide sequences, structural features (i.e., the deletion of an intron) can help resolve phylogenetic issues.