Welcome to the 31st IUBS General Assembly and Conference on ...

computational biology. Herein, we report on various
efforts geared <strong>to</strong>wards designing a potential model as
part of strategies for incorporating quantitative biology
modules in<strong>to</strong> undergraduate life science. Some of <strong>the</strong>se
include employing ma<strong>the</strong>matical methods underlying
bioinformatics <strong>and</strong> computational biology <strong>to</strong>ols <strong>and</strong>
software applications, as well as simple ma<strong>the</strong>matical
algorithms that constitute <strong>the</strong> core of systems biology
fundamental <strong>to</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>the</strong> pathophysiology of
diseases.
DNA barcoding technology: an ongoing
molecular <strong>to</strong>ol for biological studies
Nancai PEI
using a resolved barcode phylogeny, ra<strong>the</strong>r than a
poorly‐resolved phylogeny. The excellent performance
of rapid identification, resolved‐phylogeny
reconstruction <strong>and</strong> powerful ecological interpretation
indicate that DNA barcode technology is potentially
qualified as an effective <strong>to</strong>ol for current biological
studies.
Early radiation of Mollusca
Pavel Yu PARKHAEV
Borissiak Paleon<strong>to</strong>logical Institute of <strong>the</strong> Russian Academy of
Sciences, Profsoyuznaya 123, Moscow 117647, Russia. Email:
pparkh@paleo.ru
Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of
Forestry, #682 Guangshan Road 1, Tianhe, Guangzhou 510520,
China. Email: nan‐caipei@scib.ac.cn
Molecular <strong>to</strong>ols play an important role when processing
<strong>the</strong> data <strong>and</strong> obtaining results for biological studies. DNA
barcoding, a kind of newly developed molecular
technology, aims <strong>to</strong> discriminate biological species by
utilizing a short universal gene sequence taken from a
st<strong>and</strong>ardized portion of <strong>the</strong> genome. Besides <strong>the</strong> ability of
species’ correct identification, DNA barcoding can work
as <strong>the</strong> founder <strong>to</strong> discover potentially new species,
especially un‐described <strong>and</strong> cryptic species. Toge<strong>the</strong>r
with traditional taxonomy, DNA barcoding, providing with
a huge amount of molecular sequence data, emerges a
modern discipline named integrative taxonomy. Based on
<strong>the</strong> DNA barcode sequence data, a resolved phylogeny can
be obtained by adopting a combination comprising of
genes with slow evolving rates (as <strong>the</strong> Anchor) <strong>and</strong> genes
with fast evolving rate (as <strong>the</strong> Identifier). Fur<strong>the</strong>r,
benefiting from <strong>the</strong> resolved phylogeny, phylogenetic
diversity for biological communities across large spatial
scales can be computed accurately than before.
Better‐resolved phylogenies, based on a matrix of
multi‐loci DNA barcodes, can increase <strong>the</strong> power when
interpreting <strong>the</strong> observed patterns in <strong>the</strong> biological
communities, <strong>and</strong> can decrease <strong>the</strong> probability of type II
statistical errors often happened when a poorly‐resolved
phylogeny present. Much previously published literature
has detected significantly phylogenetic structure both in
tropical forest plots <strong>and</strong> subtropical forest plots when
The phylum Mollusca is one of <strong>the</strong> largest metazoan
group including approximately 130 000 nominal recent
<strong>and</strong> 70 000 nominal extinct species. In addition <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>
high taxonomic diversity, molluscs are characterized by
a number of different bauplans. Molluscs dwell in
almost all types of habitats, occupying variable
ecological niches in all range of marine <strong>and</strong> freshwater
basins, <strong>and</strong> on <strong>the</strong> l<strong>and</strong>. Such diversity <strong>and</strong> ecological
success of <strong>the</strong> phylum were achieved during <strong>the</strong> long
evolution, lasting at least during <strong>the</strong> entire
Phanerozoic.
The earliest finds of undoubted molluscs come from
<strong>the</strong> terminal Precambrian (uppermost
Nemakin–Daldynian) – basal Cambrian (lowermost
Tommotian). The Vendian soft‐bodied animal
Kimberella, recently declared as molluscan ances<strong>to</strong>rs,
has principle ethologic <strong>and</strong> structural differences,
hence representing different animal phylum, but not
Mollusca. Studies of ancient molluscs reveal important
data for general <strong>and</strong> evolutionary malacology, shedding
<strong>the</strong> light on <strong>the</strong> earliest diversification <strong>and</strong> evolution of
major branches of <strong>the</strong> phylum. As a result, we can
affirm <strong>the</strong> following peculiarities of <strong>the</strong> earliest
molluscan radiation:
(1) The oldest representatives of phylum appear just
below <strong>the</strong> Precambrian–Cambrian boundary. The
classes Monoplacophora, Polyplacophora,
Gastropoda, <strong>and</strong> Bivalvia have been formed already
in <strong>the</strong> earliest Cambrian. O<strong>the</strong>r classes, Cephalopoda
<strong>and</strong> Scaphopoda, have originated later, by <strong>the</strong> Late
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