Author
Nikolaus U. Szucsich
Other affiliations: University of Rostock, Arkansas State University, University of Vienna ...read more
Bio: Nikolaus U. Szucsich is an academic researcher from Naturhistorisches Museum. The author has contributed to research in topics: DNA barcoding & Protura. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 40 publications receiving 2910 citations. Previous affiliations of Nikolaus U. Szucsich include University of Rostock & Arkansas State University.
Papers
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Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation1, Rutgers University2, Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies3, University of Jena4, University of Bonn5, University of Vienna6, Naturhistorisches Museum7, University of Tsukuba8, Landcare Research9, Johns Hopkins University10, University of Hamburg11, Ehime University12, Florida Museum of Natural History13, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart14, Australian National University15, National Evolutionary Synthesis Center16, Macquarie University17, American Museum of Natural History18, University of Memphis19, University of Guadalajara20, Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities21, Natural History Museum22, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology23, California Academy of Sciences24, South China Agricultural University25, North Carolina State University26, Hokkaido University27
TL;DR: The phylogeny of all major insect lineages reveals how and when insects diversified and provides a comprehensive reliable scaffold for future comparative analyses of evolutionary innovations among insects.
Abstract: Insects are the most speciose group of animals, but the phylogenetic relationships of many major lineages remain unresolved. We inferred the phylogeny of insects from 1478 protein-coding genes. Phylogenomic analyses of nucleotide and amino acid sequences, with site-specific nucleotide or domain-specific amino acid substitution models, produced statistically robust and congruent results resolving previously controversial phylogenetic relations hips. We dated the origin of insects to the Early Ordovician [~479 million years ago (Ma)], of insect flight to the Early Devonian (~406 Ma), of major extant lineages to the Mississippian (~345 Ma), and the major diversification of holometabolous insects to the Early Cretaceous. Our phylogenomic study provides a comprehensive reliable scaffold for future comparative analyses of evolutionary innovations among insects.
1,998 citations
University of Duisburg-Essen1, Slovak Academy of Sciences2, University of Minho3, University of Pécs4, Leibniz Association5, Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department6, University of Savoy7, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences8, Naturhistorisches Museum9, University of Bergen10, University of Porto11, Naturalis12, University of Salzburg13, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna14, Bielefeld University15, Ilia State University16, Babeș-Bolyai University17, Ankara University18, National Institute of Oceanography, India19, University of Montenegro20, American Museum of Natural History21, Norwegian University of Science and Technology22
TL;DR: This work analysed gaps in the two most important reference databases, Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) and NCBI GenBank, with a focus on the taxa most frequently used in WFD and MSFD, and found that coverage varies strongly among taxonomic groups, and among geographic regions.
257 citations
TL;DR: This review deals with the morphology and function of adult insect mouthparts modified to feed on nectar, pollen or petals, and finds that mouthpart specializations to petal-feeding are reported in flower-visiting insects.
207 citations
Indiana University1, University of Hamburg2, University of Münster3, Baylor College of Medicine4, Columbia University5, University of Washington6, United States Department of Agriculture7, Georgia Institute of Technology8, University of Pennsylvania9, University of Melbourne10, Washington and Lee University11, Lewis & Clark College12, University of Vermont13, California Academy of Sciences14, Wayne State University15, University of Massachusetts Lowell16, Agricultural Research Service17, University of Kassel18, Foundation for Research & Technology – Hellas19, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics20, École normale supérieure de Lyon21, University of Wisconsin-Madison22, University of Notre Dame23, University of California, Riverside24, Oxford Brookes University25, University of Memphis26, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory27, University of Freiburg28, University of Kentucky29, University of Warwick30, University of Cologne31, University of Massachusetts Boston32, University of Göttingen33, North Carolina State University34, Colorado State University35, University of Georgia36, Arkansas State University37, Naturhistorisches Museum38, National Scientific and Technical Research Council39, University of Cincinnati40, University of Rochester41, Hebrew University of Jerusalem42, Max Planck Society43, University of California, Davis44
TL;DR: These analyses demonstrate how large-scale comparative genomics can provide broad new insights into the genotype to phenotype map and generate testable hypotheses about the evolution of animal diversity.
Abstract: Arthropods comprise the largest and most diverse phylum on Earth and play vital roles in nearly every ecosystem. Their diversity stems in part from variations on a conserved body plan, resulting from and recorded in adaptive changes in the genome. Dissection of the genomic record of sequence change enables broad questions regarding genome evolution to be addressed, even across hyper-diverse taxa within arthropods. Using 76 whole genome sequences representing 21 orders spanning more than 500 million years of arthropod evolution, we document changes in gene and protein domain content and provide temporal and phylogenetic context for interpreting these innovations. We identify many novel gene families that arose early in the evolution of arthropods and during the diversification of insects into modern orders. We reveal unexpected variation in patterns of DNA methylation across arthropods and examples of gene family and protein domain evolution coincident with the appearance of notable phenotypic and physiological adaptations such as flight, metamorphosis, sociality, and chemoperception. These analyses demonstrate how large-scale comparative genomics can provide broad new insights into the genotype to phenotype map and generate testable hypotheses about the evolution of animal diversity.
145 citations
TL;DR: Although the split-decomposition network indicated a high noise content in the data set, measures were able to both improve the analyses and give causal explanations for some incongruities mentioned from analyses of rRNA sequences, however, misleading effects did not completely disappear.
Abstract: Whenever different data sets arrive at conflicting phylogenetic hypotheses, only testable causal explanations of sources of errors in at least one of the data sets allow us to critically choose among the conflicting hypotheses of relationships. The large (28S) and small (18S) subunit rRNAs are among the most popular markers for studies of deep phylogenies. However, some nodes supported by this data are suspected of being artifacts caused by peculiarities of the evolution of these molecules. Arthropod phylogeny is an especially controversial subject dotted with conflicting hypotheses which are dependent on data set and method of reconstruction. We assume that phylogenetic analyses based on these genes can be improved further i) by enlarging the taxon sample and ii) employing more realistic models of sequence evolution incorporating non-stationary substitution processes and iii) considering covariation and pairing of sites in rRNA-genes. We analyzed a large set of arthropod sequences, applied new tools for quality control of data prior to tree reconstruction, and increased the biological realism of substitution models. Although the split-decomposition network indicated a high noise content in the data set, our measures were able to both improve the analyses and give causal explanations for some incongruities mentioned from analyses of rRNA sequences. However, misleading effects did not completely disappear. Analyses of data sets that result in ambiguous phylogenetic hypotheses demand for methods, which do not only filter stochastic noise, but likewise allow to differentiate phylogenetic signal from systematic biases. Such methods can only rely on our findings regarding the evolution of the analyzed data. Analyses on independent data sets then are crucial to test the plausibility of the results. Our approach can easily be extended to genomic data, as well, whereby layers of quality assessment are set up applicable to phylogenetic reconstructions in general.
132 citations
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TL;DR: UFBoot2 is presented, which substantially accelerates UFBoot and reduces the risk of overestimating branch supports due to polytomies or severe model violations and provides suitable bootstrap resampling strategies for phylogenomic data.
Abstract: The standard bootstrap (SBS), despite being computationally intensive, is widely used in maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses. We recently proposed the ultrafast bootstrap approximation (UFBoot) to reduce computing time while achieving more unbiased branch supports than SBS under mild model violations. UFBoot has been steadily adopted as an efficient alternative to SBS and other bootstrap approaches. Here, we present UFBoot2, which substantially accelerates UFBoot and reduces the risk of overestimating branch supports due to polytomies or severe model violations. Additionally, UFBoot2 provides suitable bootstrap resampling strategies for phylogenomic data. UFBoot2 is 778 times (median) faster than SBS and 8.4 times (median) faster than RAxML rapid bootstrap on tested data sets. UFBoot2 is implemented in the IQ-TREE software package version 1.6 and freely available at http://www.iqtree.org.
4,342 citations
TL;DR: PartitionFinder 2 is a program for automatically selecting best-fit partitioning schemes and models of evolution for phylogenetic analyses that includes the ability to analyze morphological datasets, new methods to analyze genome-scale datasets, and new output formats to facilitate interoperability with downstream software.
Abstract: PartitionFinder 2 is a program for automatically selecting best-fit partitioning schemes and models of evolution for phylogenetic analyses. PartitionFinder 2 is substantially faster and more efficient than version 1, and incorporates many new methods and features. These include the ability to analyze morphological datasets, new methods to analyze genome-scale datasets, new output formats to facilitate interoperability with downstream software, and many new models of molecular evolution. PartitionFinder 2 is freely available under an open source license and works on Windows, OSX, and Linux operating systems. It can be downloaded from www.robertlanfear.com/partitionfinder. The source code is available at https://github.com/brettc/partitionfinder.
3,445 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: A case study explores the background of the digitization project, the practices implemented, and the critiques of the project, which aims to provide access to a plethora of information to EPA employees, scientists, and researchers.
Abstract: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides access to information on a variety of topics related to the environment and strives to inform citizens of health risks. The EPA also has an extensive library network that consists of 26 libraries throughout the United States, which provide access to a plethora of information to EPA employees, scientists, and researchers. The EPA implemented a reorganization project to digitize their materials so they would be more accessible to a wider range of users, but this plan was drastically accelerated when the EPA was threatened with a budget cut. It chose to close and reduce the hours and services of some of their libraries. As a result, the agency was accused of denying users the “right to know” by making information unavailable, not providing an adequate strategic plan, and discarding vital materials. This case study explores the background of the digitization project, the practices implemented, and the critiques of the project.
2,588 citations
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation1, Rutgers University2, Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies3, University of Jena4, University of Bonn5, University of Vienna6, Naturhistorisches Museum7, University of Tsukuba8, Landcare Research9, Johns Hopkins University10, University of Hamburg11, Ehime University12, Florida Museum of Natural History13, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart14, Australian National University15, Macquarie University16, National Evolutionary Synthesis Center17, American Museum of Natural History18, University of Memphis19, University of Guadalajara20, Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities21, Natural History Museum22, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology23, California Academy of Sciences24, South China Agricultural University25, North Carolina State University26, Hokkaido University27
TL;DR: The phylogeny of all major insect lineages reveals how and when insects diversified and provides a comprehensive reliable scaffold for future comparative analyses of evolutionary innovations among insects.
Abstract: Insects are the most speciose group of animals, but the phylogenetic relationships of many major lineages remain unresolved. We inferred the phylogeny of insects from 1478 protein-coding genes. Phylogenomic analyses of nucleotide and amino acid sequences, with site-specific nucleotide or domain-specific amino acid substitution models, produced statistically robust and congruent results resolving previously controversial phylogenetic relations hips. We dated the origin of insects to the Early Ordovician [~479 million years ago (Ma)], of insect flight to the Early Devonian (~406 Ma), of major extant lineages to the Mississippian (~345 Ma), and the major diversification of holometabolous insects to the Early Cretaceous. Our phylogenomic study provides a comprehensive reliable scaffold for future comparative analyses of evolutionary innovations among insects.
1,998 citations
TL;DR: RAxML-NG is presented, a from-scratch re-implementation of the established greedy tree search algorithm of RAxML/ExaML, which offers improved accuracy, flexibility, speed, scalability, and usability compared with RAx ML/ exaML.
Abstract: MOTIVATION Phylogenies are important for fundamental biological research, but also have numerous applications in biotechnology, agriculture and medicine. Finding the optimal tree under the popular maximum likelihood (ML) criterion is known to be NP-hard. Thus, highly optimized and scalable codes are needed to analyze constantly growing empirical datasets. RESULTS We present RAxML-NG, a from-scratch re-implementation of the established greedy tree search algorithm of RAxML/ExaML. RAxML-NG offers improved accuracy, flexibility, speed, scalability, and usability compared with RAxML/ExaML. On taxon-rich datasets, RAxML-NG typically finds higher-scoring trees than IQTree, an increasingly popular recent tool for ML-based phylogenetic inference (although IQ-Tree shows better stability). Finally, RAxML-NG introduces several new features, such as the detection of terraces in tree space and the recently introduced transfer bootstrap support metric. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION The code is available under GNU GPL at https://github.com/amkozlov/raxml-ng. RAxML-NG web service (maintained by Vital-IT) is available at https://raxml-ng.vital-it.ch/. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
1,765 citations