Authors: Schäferhoff, Bastian; Müller, Kai F.; Borsch, Thomas

Source: Willdenowia - Annals of the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Volume 39, Number 2, December 2009 , pp. 209-228(20)

Publisher: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem

Abstract:

The Caryophyllales are one of the major lineages of angiosperms, including some 12 000 species and well known families such as Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Droseraceae, Nyctaginaceae and Polygonaceae. Phylogenetic hypotheses based on molecular characters have led to their circumscription and have considerably improved our understanding of interfamilial relationships. For this study, we generated a data set of the non-coding and rapidly evolving chloroplast petB-petD region, consisting of a transcribed spacer and a group II intron for 87 taxa of Caryophyllales and 22 outgroups. In addition, we analysed a complementary matK data set with complete sequences of the coding region. Trees obtained from both markers were well resolved and especially petD data yielded a well supported backbone for the Caryophyllales. The order is constituted by two sister clades, caryophyllids and polygonids, the latter containing a carnivorous subclade. Both Molluginaceae and Phytolaccaceae had been considered as polyphyletic, but not as severely as is now evident from this study with improved taxon sampling. As a great surprise, the hitherto unsampled genus Microtea is found with high support in an isolated position as the fourth branch in the caryophyllid clade. On the other hand, Lophiocarpus as the second genus of the Phytolaccaceae subfamily Microteoideae is sister to an Aizoaceae-Nyctaginaceae-Phytolaccaceae lineage. In line with their morphological distinctness, Microteaceae are described as a new family. Our data further resolve a distinct Mollugo clade, whereas Hypertelis appears to have affinities with Limeum, suggesting an expanded Limeaceae.

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Keywords: EUDICOTS; ANGIOSPERM CLASSIFICATION; MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY; PETD; MATK; NEOTROPICAL PLANT FAMILIES

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3372/wi.39.39201

Publication date: 2009-12-01

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• Willdenowia is a peer-reviewed botanical journal with an international authorship, publishing original research papers in English from the entire fields of plant, algal and fungal taxonomy and systematics, also covering related fields. Its precursor was founded in 1895 as Notizblatt des Königlichen Botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin and 1954 continued with its present title commemorating Carl Ludwig Willdenow, 1765-1812, director of the Botanic Garden, first professor of botany in Berlin and author of the fourth edition of Linne's Species Plantarum. Willdenowia appears in two issues per year in a print edition and an open access online edition.
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