Phylogenetic utility of dynamin and triose phosphate isomerase

Dynamin and triose phosphate isomerase (Tpi), two markers suggested as potentially useful for insect phylogenetics, have been sequenced for 12 scale insect taxa (Hemiptera: Coccoidea). Protocols are given for their amplification using conventional polymerase chain reaction, and their phylogenetic utility has been evaluated using several qualitative criteria and a modified version of the partition addition bootstrap alteration approach. Dynamin and Tpi fragments are easy to amplify and are evolving at a rate comparable with widely used nuclear ribosomal markers. The dynamin fragment has a single short intron. The Tpi fragment has three introns. One possible drawback to the use of the dynamin fragment as a phylogenetic marker is that its short length limits accurate modelling of complex substitution processes.