A tough nutlet to crack: Resolving the phylogeny of Thesium (Thesiaceae), the largest genus in Santalales

Miguel A. García; Ladislav Mucina; Daniel L. Nickrent

doi:10.1002/tax.13123

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A tough nutlet to crack: Resolving the phylogeny of Thesium (Thesiaceae), the largest genus in Santalales

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A tough nutlet to crack: Resolving the phylogeny of Thesium (Thesiaceae), the largest genus in Santalales

Miguel A. García, Ladislav Mucina and Daniel L. Nickrent

Taxon, Vol.73(1), pp.190-236

2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.13123

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Abstract

horizontal gene transfer

incongruence

parasitic plants

phylogenetics

Santalaceae

Thesium

With over 350 species, Thesium is the largest genus in Santalales. It is found on all continents except Antarctica; however, its highest diversity is in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa where approximately half the species occur. Thesium samples of ca. 590 collections from throughout its entire geographic range were obtained and nuclear ribosomal ITS sequenced from 396 accessions representing 196 named taxa and 30 currently unnamed taxa for a total of ca. 230 species. In addition, two chloroplast genome spacers ( trnDT , trnLF ) were sequenced from 269 and 315 accessions, respectively. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods were employed to generate gene trees and infer phylogenies. The value of the morphological characters traditionally used in the taxonomy of the genus and previous infrageneric classifications are discussed. Broad scale relationships were generally congruent among the ITS and the chloroplast trees. For example, both the nuclear and chloroplast trees support the presence of Eurasian and African clades. In contrast, major incongruence was detected between nuclear and chloroplast trees for a number of taxa including the recently described T. nautimontanum that is sister to the entire African clade on the ITS tree. Although the causes of this incongruence are currently unknown, a novel form of chloroplast capture is hypothesized. A hypothesis of the biogeographical history of the genus based on our molecular phylogeny is presented.

Details

Title: A tough nutlet to crack: Resolving the phylogeny of Thesium (Thesiaceae), the largest genus in Santalales
Authors/Creators: Miguel A. García - Real Jardín Botánico
Ladislav Mucina - Murdoch University, Centre for Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and Sustainability
Daniel L. Nickrent - New York State College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Publication Details: Taxon, Vol.73(1), pp.190-236
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association for Plant Taxonomy.
Identifiers: 991005634766407891
Murdoch Affiliation: Harry Butler Institute
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology; 3.64 Phylogenetics & Genomics; 3.64.34 Phylogenetic Relationships
Web Of Science research areas: Evolutionary Biology; Plant Sciences
ESI research areas: Plant & Animal Science