Description of a new leech species from North America,<i>Helobdella austinensis</i>n. sp. (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae), with observations on its feeding behaviour

Kutschera, U.; Langguth, Henning; Kuo, Dian‐Han; Weisblat, David A.; Shankland, Marty

doi:10.1002/zoos.201300010

Cited by 44 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Embryos were obtained from a laboratory colony of the species H. austinensis (Kutschera et al 2013) as described elsewhere (Gline et al 2011; Weisblat and Kuo 2014). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal expression of a twist homolog in the leech Helobdella austinensis

et al. 2017

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Genes of the twist family encode bHLH transcription factors known to be involved in the regulation and differentiation of early mesoderm. Here, we report our characterization of Hau-twist, a twist homolog from the leech Helobdella austinensis, a tractable lophotrochozoan representative. Hau-twist was expressed in segmental founder cells of the mesodermal lineage, in subsets of cells within the mesodermal lineage of the germinal plate, in circumferential muscle fibers of a provisional integument during segmentation and organogenesis stages and on the ventral side of the developing proboscis. Thus, consistent with other systems, our results suggest that twist gene of the leech Helobdella might function in mesoderm differentiation.

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“…Embryos were obtained from a laboratory colony of the species H. austinensis (Kutschera et al 2013) as described elsewhere (Gline et al 2011; Weisblat and Kuo 2014). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal expression of a twist homolog in the leech Helobdella austinensis

et al. 2017

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“…Specimens of H. medicinalis were killed by adding 80 % ethanol to the water, so that the animals were preserved in their non-contracted, natural shape, and photographed. Extraction of DNA from part of the posterior sucker, sequencing of a fragment of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (CO-I), and phylogenetic analyses, based on newly acquired (and deposited) GenBank-data were performed as described (Kutschera et al , 2013Wirchansky and Shain 2010). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on CO-I-sequences acquired in our laboratory for H. verbana and other leech species (Kutschera 2010(Kutschera , 2011Kutschera et al 2007Kutschera et al , 2013, supplemented by additional GenBank CO-I-data, the results shown in Table 1 were obtained. The type species H. medicinalis and its sister taxon H. verbana differ by ca.…”

Section: Phylogenetic Analysis Divergence Time and Geographic Distrimentioning

confidence: 99%

The European medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis L.: Morphology and occurrence of an endangered species

Kutschera¹,

Elliott²

2014

ZSE

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Although the European medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis L. 1758) is one of the bestknown members of the Hirudinea due to its use in phlebotomy, this species has been confused with the Mediterranean taxon H. verbana Carena 1820. Here we describe the morphology of adult and juvenile H. medicinalis and document its genetic distance to H. verbana, using newly acquired mitochondrial DNA-sequence (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, CO-I)-data from specimens collected in Germany. Our CO-I analysis shows that H. medicinalis and H. verbana differ by 9.4 %. Hence, the original Hirudo-population diverged ca. 10 million years ago so that today two geographically separated biospecies exist that co-occur in only a few natural habitats. We analyzed the behaviour of adult H. medicinalis, but could not find differences with respect to its sister taxon H. verbana. Finally, we summarize the occurrence of H. medicinalis in Central Europe and conclude that this once widely distributed freshwater species largely disappeared in many countries. We suggest that the loss of natural freshwater ecosystems, with flat, warm banks, and amphibians (frogs, newts and toads) as preferred host organisms for the juveniles, are largely responsible for the decline of H. medicinalis in Northern Europe.

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“…Only five years after its genome sequence was published (Dehal et al 2002), it was realized that the stocks labeled with this name and held in the labs in different parts of the world actually belonged to two different species, reproductively isolated but hardly distinguishable on morphological traits (iannelli et al 2007). Multiple species have also been treated as one in the case of the leech Helobdella triserialis (E. Blanchard, 1849), another popular model species (Siddall & Borda 2003;Bely & Weisblat 2006;Weisblat & Kuo 2009;Kutschera et al 2013). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Systematics in the Evo-Devo era

Minelli

2015

EJT

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Abstract. evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) suggests a distinction between modular and systemic variation. in the case of modular change, the conservation of the overall structure helps recognizing affinities, while a single, fast evolving module is likely to produce a bonanza for the taxonomist, while systemic changes produce strongly deviating morphologies that cause problems in tracing homologies. Similarly, changes affecting the whole life cycle are more challenging than those limited to one stage. Developmental modularity is a precondition for heterochrony. Analyzing a matrix of morphological data for paedomorphic taxa requires special care. it is, however, possible to extract phylogenetic signal from heterochronic patterns. The taxonomist should pay attention to the intricacies of the genotype→phenotype map. When using genetic data to infer phylogeny, a comparison of gene sequences is just a first step. To bridge the gap between genes and morphology we should consider the spatial and temporal patterns of gene expression, and their regulation. Minor genetic change can have major phenotypic effects, sometimes suggesting saltational evolution. evo-devo is also relevant in respect to speciation: changes in developmental schedules are often implicated in the divergence between sympatric morphs, and a developmental modulation of 'temporal phenotypes' appears to be responsible for many cases of speciation.

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Description of a new leech species from North America,Helobdella austinensisn. sp. (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae), with observations on its feeding behaviour

Cited by 44 publications

References 22 publications

Spatiotemporal expression of a twist homolog in the leech Helobdella austinensis

Spatiotemporal expression of a twist homolog in the leech Helobdella austinensis

The European medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis L.: Morphology and occurrence of an endangered species

Biological Systematics in the Evo-Devo era

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