Phylogenetic utility of avian ovomucoid intron G: A comparison of nuclear and mitochondrial phylogenies in galliformes

A novel nuclear marker, the avian ovomucoid intron G (OVOG) was sequenced f rom 19 galliform taxa. Results of the phylogenetic analyses using OVOG were compared to those obtained using the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gen e to determine the phylogenetic utility of OVOG. OVOG appeared to have stro ng phylogenetic signal for reconstructing relationships among genera and fa milies, and the only difference between OVOG and cytb was in the placement of the New World quail (Odontophoridae). Genetic distances estimated using OVOG are approximately half of those estimated using cytb, although that re lationship was not linear. OVOG exhibited patterns of nucleotide substituti on very different from cytb, with OVOG having little base compositional bia s, a relatively low transition-transversion ratio, and little among-site ra te heterogeneity.