First molecular data and phylogenetic relationships of the harvestman genus Metaphalangium Roewer, 1911

In determining taxonomic relationships, morphological data alone may be insufficient in some cases. Therefore, the integration of molecular data with morphological evidence enhances the reliability of studies, both in the identification of new taxa and in the elucidation of phylogenetic relationships. Metaphalangium Roewer, 1911 is a harvestman genus, and to date, no molecular data has been reported for this genus or species. This study investigated, the 16S rRNA gene region of the mitochondrial genome of Metaphalangium cirtanum (Koch, 1839), collected from Cyprus was sequenced, yielding an approximately 457 bp long fragment. Based on these molecular data, the phylogenetic relationships of the species and its genus are here inferred for the first time using Bayesian Inference (BI) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) analyses.Purpose: This study aims to present the first molecular data on the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene region for the genus Metaphalangium and the species M. cirtanum, for which no molecular data previously existed, and to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships of the genus using these data.Method: 16S rRNA gene region of the species Metaphalangium cirtanum, collected from Cyprus, was amplified using the PCR method; the resulting DNA sequences were analyzed to calculate genetic distances between species, and phylogenetic trees were constructed using the Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods.Findings: As a result of the analyses, a 457-bp sequence from the 16S rRNA gene region of this species was obtained. In the Maximum Likelihood analysis conducted using the obtained sequences, high bootstrap support values were obtained, while high posterior probability values were obtained in the Bayesian inference analysis. Since the phylogenetic trees derived from both methods exhibited similar topological structures, the results were combined and presented on a single tree.Conclusion: In this study, molecular data for the species Metaphalangium cirtanum were obtained for the first time. In the future, conducting studies that utilize additional gene regions and encompass a broader taxonomic sample will contribute to a clearer understanding of the phylogenetic relationships and systematic position of the genus Metaphalangium.