Fig. 1.
Mylonchulus sigmaturus Cobb, 1917, Female: A: Pharyngeal region; B: Anterior region; C. Tail; D: Reproductive system; E. Cardia; Male: F: Anterior region, G. Tail region, H. whole body; I. Tail having precloacal genital papillae.
Fig. 2.
Mylonchulus sigmaturus Cobb, 1917, A–D: Anterior region of P1–P4 populations; E–H: Cardiac Junction (P1–P4); I: Vulval region; J: Whole-body female; K: Male tail; L–O: Female tail (P1–P4).
Table 1.
Morphometric data of different populations of Mylonchulus sigmaturus along with other populations of M. sigmaturus from different ecological zones. All measurements are in µm except body length.
| References | Present specimens | Koohkan et al., (2014) | Ahmad et al., (2010) | Farahmand et al., (2009) | De Bruin & Heyns (1992) | Chaves (1990) | Khan & Saeed (1987) | Coetzee (1966) | Mulvey (1961) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locality | Pakistan | Iran | Japan | Iran | South Africa | Argentina | Pakistan | South Africa | Sweden | |
| n | 40♀♀ | 1♂ | 5 ♀♀ | 10♀♀ | 11♀♀ | 1 ♀ | 18 ♀♀ | 1♀ | 4 ♀♀ | 58♀♀ |
| L | 1.22 ±1.056 (1.04– 1.46) | 1.21 | 1.294 ± 4.94 (1.22 – 1.36) | 1.30 ± 0.08 (1.16 – 1.46) | 1.20 ±1.29 (1.01 – 1.46) | 1.25 | 1.12 ± 0.1 (1.0 – 1.32) | 0.95 | 1.1 (1.1 – 1.2) | 1 – 1.7 |
| a | 28.04 ±2.02 (25.8 – 33.7) | 31.8 | 31.7 ± 1.3 (30.1 – 33.3) | 29.7 ± 1.27 (27.3 – 31.8) | 28.0 ± 2.1 (24.1 – 30.7) | 34.7 | 29.7 ± 2.3 (26 – 36.2) | 23 | 23.1 (29 – 33) | 24 – 47 |
| b | 3.475 ± 0.196 (3.1 – 3.9) | 3.4 | 3.5 ± 0.1 (3.4 – 3.6) | 3.37 ± 0.12 (3.16 – 3.55) | 3.7 ± 0.2 (3.2 – 3.9) | 3.3 | 3.3 ± 0.2 (3.2 – 3.8) | 4 | 3.2 (3.1 – 3.3) | 3 – 4 |
| c | 35.17 ± 3.52 (26.0 – 40.93) | 28.8 | 32.8 ± 5.6 (27.8 – 42.1) | 35 ± 2.4 (30.5 – 38.6) | 27.5 2.6 (26.6 – 30.7) | 37.9 | 30 ± 2.6 (2558 – 32.2) | 17.9 | 26.9 (25 – 29) | 24 – 39.2 |
| ć | 1.205 ± 0.115 (1.0 – 1.42) | 1.2 | 1.5 ± 0.2 (1.2 – 1.9) | 1.21 ± 0.07 (1.1 – 1.3) | 1.4 ± 0.2 (1.1 – 1.8) | 1.5 | 1.4 ± 0.2 (1.2 – 1.6) | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1 – 1.8 |
| V | 65.72 ± 2.217 (60.41 – 70.6) | -- | 64 ± 1.1 (63.1 – 65.9) | 65.14 ± 1.4 (62.9 – 67.3) | 62.8± 1.9 (59.7 – 66.4) | 65 | 64.6 ± 1.5 (62 – 68) | 58.4 | 66.0 (66 – 67) | 50 – 77 |
| G1 | 9.92 ± 1.50 (6.1 – 14.0) | -- | 18.7 ± 1.5 (18 – 20) | 14.15 ± 3.69 (7 – 20) | 12.1 ± 0.8 (11.1 – 12.9) | - | - | 13.7 | 1.4 (9.2 – 11.8) | - |
| G2 | 9.731 ± 1.77 (5.4 – 14.4) | -- | 18.0 ± 4.0 (13 – 22) | 11.3 ± 2.5 (9 – 18) | 10.5± 1.3 (8.5 – 11.7) | - | - | - | 9.5 (9.1 – 9.8) | - |
| Lip region width | 24.54 ± 1.44 (22 – 27) | 22 | 24.2 ± 1.5 (23 – 27) | 25.1 ± 1.4 (23 – 27) | 24.6±1.8 (22.4 – 28) | 23 | 21.5 ± 1.8 (20 – 25) | 23.2 | 19.1 | - |
| Buccal cavity length | 25.75 ± 1.198 (25 – 27) | 26 | 24.7 ± 0.8 (24 – 26) | 25 ± 1.06 (24 – 27) | 22.9± 1.4 (21 – 25.2) | 26 | 22.7 ± 1.4 (20 – 25) | 26.5 | 22.1 | 20 – 31 |
| Buccal cavity width | 16 ± 2.01 (15 – 17) | 15 | 14.1 ± 0.4 (14 – 15) | 15.2 ± 0.4 (15 – 16) | 15.8±0.7 (15.4 – 16.8) | 13 | 14.3 ± 1.0 (13 – 16) | 13.1 | 9.6 | 11 – 17 |
| Dorsal tooth apex % of buccal cavity | 78.5 ± 1.945% (74 – 80%) | 77 | 81.2 ± 2.6 (79 – 85) | 80.2±4.6 (72.2 – 87.6) | 15 | 77.2 ± 2.6 (74 – 81) | 20 | - | ||
| Amphid position from anterior end | 9 ± 1.07 (8 – 10) | 11 | 12±0.0 (12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Amphidial aperture diameter | 4.50±0.31 (4 – 5) | 5 | 3.0±0.0 (3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Excretory pore from anterior end | 102.5 ± 3.05 (94 – 113) | -- | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Nerve ring from anterior end | 82.166 ± 3.46 (80– 90) | 84 | 104.9±11.3 (89 – 117) | 108 ± 3.6 (102 – 114) | 99.6±11.9 (87.5 – 122.5) | - | - | - | - | |
| Neck length | 348.8 ± 17.6 (318 – 372) | 352 | 367.5± 10.2 (355 – 379) | 386 ± 12 (370 – 410) | 330.6±29.3 (297.5 – 392) | - | 293.7 ± 12.3 (279 – 309) | - | - | |
| Body diameter at: | -- | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| Neck base | 37.12 ± 3.91 (30 – 47) | 36 | 37.1±1.8 (35 – 39) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Mid body | 43.75 ± 3.78 (38 – 50) | 38 | 40.9±2.3 (39 – 44) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Anus | 29.04 ± 1.92 (26 – 33) | 37 | 27.3±3.0 (24 – 31) | - | 30.9±1.4 (28 – 31.5) | - | - | - | - | - |
| Rectum | 21.91 ± 1.49 (20 – 24) | -- | 21.4±2.1 (18 – 24) | 21 ± 2.4 (17 – 25) | 24.5±3.1 (21 – 28) | - | - | - | - | |
| Tail length | 35 ± 4.20 (30 – 50) | 42 | 40.3±6.2 (31 – 47) | 38.6 ± 2.6 (35 – 42) | 44.2±5.5 (35 – 52.5) | 33 | 33.2 ± 3.5 (29 – 37) | 26.5 | - | |
| Tail length as % of total body length | 2.76 ± 0.288 (2.26% – 3.38%) | 3.46 | 3.1±0.5 (2 – 4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Spicules | -- | 46 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Gubernaculum | -- | 18 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Table 2.
Factor loading for different populations of M. sigmaturus.
| F1 | F2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Body length (BL) | 0.486 | 0.360 |
| a | 0.170 | 0.833 |
| b | 0.110 | −0.568 |
| c | 0.106 | 0.550 |
| c′ | −0.621 | 0.398 |
| V | 0.116 | 0.430 |
| G1 | −0.799 | 0.256 |
| G2 | −0.816 | 0.231 |
| Lip region width (LW) | 0.897 | −0.109 |
| Buccal cavity length (BCL) | 0.576 | 0.164 |
| Buccal cavity width (BCW) | 0.614 | 0.350 |
| Dorsal tooth apex (DTA%) | 0.141 | −0.357 |
| Amphid to anterior end | 0.109 | 0.532 |
| Amphid diameter | 0.082 | −0.769 |
| Nerve ring to anterior end (NR) | 0.412 | 0.150 |
| Neck length | 0.851 | 0.005 |
| Neck base diameter (NBD) | 0.104 | 0.646 |
| Mid-body diameter (MBD) | 0.980 | −0.123 |
| Anal body diameter (ABD) | 0.867 | −0.180 |
| Rectum | 0.941 | −0.123 |
| Tail length (TL) | 0.903 | 0.083 |
| TL%BL | 0.803 | 0.380 |
Table 3.
Factor score for different populations of M. sigmaturus.
| Observation | F1 | F2 |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | −0.629 | −1.704 |
| P2 | −0.112 | −2.305 |
| P3 | 0.224 | 0.378 |
| P4 | 0.436 | 0.645 |
| Koohkan et al., (2014); Iran | −0.725 | 1.769 |
| Chaves (1990); Argentina | −2.506 | 0.567 |
| Coetzee (1966); South Africa | −2.479 | −0.303 |
| de Bruin & Heyns (1992); South Africa | −1.260 | 2.193 |
| Khan & Saeed (1987); Pakistan | −1.636 | −4.145 |
| Ahmad et al., (2010); Japan | −0.034 | 1.920 |
| Farahmand et al., (2009); Iran | 0.122 | −0.773 |
| Mulvey (1961); Sweden | −0.414 | 2.491 |
| M. arenicolus | 9.168 | −0.271 |
Fig. 3.
Principal component analysis biplot for M Mylonchulus sigmaturus from Pakistan and Mylonchulus arenicolus.
Fig. 4.
18S rDNA Bayesian tree inferred from known and newly sequenced Mylonchulus sigmaturus from Pakistan.
Fig. 5.
28S rDNA Bayesian tree inferred from known and newly sequenced Mylonchulus sigmaturus from Pakistan.
Fig. 6.
Phylogenetic median-joining network showing the relationships between the 18S rRNA gene sequences of Mylonchulus sigmaturus. The sizes of circles are proportional to the number of identical sequences. The number of changes between haplotypes are given in hatch marks.
Table 4.
Genetic pairwise distance estimating for different populations of M. sigmaturus (numbers 1–7) and M. arenicolus (number 8) [upper matrix indicates standard error).
| species | Accession number | Locality | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M. sigmaturus N18_988 | OM278259 | Pakistan | 0.003 | 0.004 | 0.003 | 0.003 | 0.004 | 0.003 | 0.004 | |
| 2 | M. sigmaturus N19_988 | OM278260 | Pakistan | 0.008 | 0.004 | 0.003 | 0.004 | 0.003 | 0.004 | 0.003 | |
| 3 | M. sigmaturus N21_988 | OM278261 | Pakistan | 0.012 | 0.016 | 0.004 | 0.007 | 0.008 | 0.006 | 0.007 | |
| 4 | M. sigmaturus N22_988 | OM278262 | Pakistan | 0.007 | 0.010 | 0.016 | 0.003 | 0.004 | 0.003 | 0.003 | |
| 5 | M. sigmaturus | AB361447 | Japan | 0.012 | 0.012 | 0.045 | 0.009 | 0.002 | 0.000 | 0.002 | |
| 6 | M. sigmaturus | AY284755 | The Netherlands | 0.014 | 0.010 | 0.047 | 0.012 | 0.008 | 0.002 | 0.001 | |
| 7 | M. sigmaturus | AB361446 | Japan | 0.012 | 0.012 | 0.033 | 0.009 | 0.000 | 0.008 | 0.002 | |
| 8 | M. arenicolus | AF036596 | UK | 0.013 | 0.010 | 0.042 | 0.010 | 0.007 | 0.002 | 0.008 |