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Phylogeny of cypridinid ostracodes and the evolution of cypridinid luciferase. Elizabeth Torres*1; AC Cohen2; R DeSalle3; RJ Rivoli1; JG Morin4 (1) Dept Biol. & Microbiol., 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA; (2) Bodega Marine Lab [U.C. Davis], P.O. Box 247, Bodega Bay, CA 94923, USA; (3) Molecular Systematics Lab, Amer. Museum of Nat. Hist., 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA; (4) Section of Ecol. and Systematics, Corson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA      *(etorre11@calstatela.edu) The phylogenetic history of the ostracode family Cypridinidae has been reconstructed based on simultaneous analyses of morphological and molecular sequence data. The Cypridinidae contains an estimated 200 species, of which about half are bioluminescent. Based on our cladograms, we propose that bioluminescence (and cypridinid luciferase) evolved once in the Family Cypridinidae. Bioluminescent signaling for courtship appears to have evolved subsequently and just once in the Caribbean cypridinids, where males of over 60 species display nightly on coral reefs to attract females. The pattern of evolution of three major signaling displays is examined by mapping behavioral characters onto a phylogeny of signaling cypridinids based on molecular sequence data. A cDNA library has been constructed for Vargula tsujii, a bioluminescent cypridinid which occurs along the Pacific Coast of North America. A probe constructed via RT-PCR of V. hilgendorfii luciferase was used to probe the V. tsujii cDNA library. Luciferase from V. tsujii is compared to the published luciferase sequence for V. hilgendorfii from Japan. The molecular evolution of cypridinid luciferase is investigated based on sequence comparisons of cypridinid luciferases. [Talk: torres.elizab.26631]

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