Utility of the dentin matrix protein 1 ( DMP1) gene for resolving mammalian intraordinal phylogenetic relationships

We sequenced exon 6 of the nuclear dentin matrix protein 1 ( DMP1) gene from 19 species of bats (order Chiroptera) to assess the utility of this gene for higher-level phylogenetic studies. Bayesian analysis revealed high support (posterior probabilities ⩾0.95) for monophyly of Noctilionoidea (Phyllostomidae, Noctilionidae, and Mormoopidae), all genera and most families examined. Comparison of the phylogenetic information present in DMP1 with mitochondrial rDNA and nuclear RAG2 genes indicated no significant heterogeneity. Thus, we concatenated these three data sets into a single “total evidence” phylogenetic analysis. Combined analysis was congruent with study of RAG2 and combined RAG2 and mtrDNA sequences, but improved support (Bayesian posterior probabilities) for many nodes. Our results indicate that exon 6 of DMP1 is rapidly evolving, able to tolerate non-frame shifting insertion and deletion events, is more variable than RAG2, and provides phylogenetic resolution from the interfamilial to infraclass levels in mammals.