Evaluating Relationships Among Right Whales Using Nuclear Gene Regions

C. Gaines ⁽¹⁾, M.P. Hare ⁽²⁾, S.E. Beck (2), R.L. Brownell, Jr. ⁽³⁾, C. Schaeff ⁽⁴⁾, and H.C. Rosenbaum ⁽⁵⁾

Molecular Systematics Laboratory, American Museum of Natural History, 79th Street and CPW, New York, NY 10024, USA

(1) Department of Biology, Fordham University, 441 E. Fordham Rd, Bronx, NY 10458
(2) Biology Department, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
(3) National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Box 271, La Jolla, CA 92038
(4) Biology Department, American University, 4400 Mass. Ave, N.W. Washington D.C., 20016-8007
(5) Wildlife Conservation Society, Science Resource Center, 2300 Southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10460

It has recently been proposed that Right Whales (Eubalaena sp.) be divided into three taxonomic units consisting of the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis), which has a circumpolar distribution in the Southern Hemisphere, the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), and the North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica). These classifications are based on discrete patterns of genetic variation in the mitochondrial DNA, as there is little morphological evidence to distinguish the three groups using a classical systematics approach. In order to contribute additional data to an assessment of species relationships and designations within Eubalaena, we have tested numerous nuclear DNA gene regions for their utility and informativeness at the population/species boundary. These markers were derived from a variety of sources including published literature. The selection of loci was primarily based on an approach that relies on the amplification of nuclear introns using conserved DNA sequences in exons flanking these introns, commonly known as exon primed, intron crossing (EPIC). Various EPIC primers have been or were designed by us to work across many taxa. Each locus was screened to identify primers that will amplify cetacean, and more specifically Eubalaena DNA and contain variable and phylogenetically informative regions. Our preliminary data have produced thirteen nuclear gene regions that are variable across the three groups of right whales. Within these variable regions, there are diagnostic nucleotide characters that are informative phylogenetically and appropriate for population aggregation analyses. Additional regions are in the process of being characterized for this study. These preliminary data provide additional molecular characters for phylogenetic analyses of Eubalaena and other cetacea.