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Phylogeny of Isolepis (Cyperaceae) revisited: non-monophyletic nature of I. fluitans sensu lato and resurrection of I. lenticularis

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Abstract

The aquatic and wetland ephemeral genus Isolepis (Cyperaceae) comprises 76 species mostly in the southern hemisphere, and especially Africa and Australasia. The latest taxonomic revision recognizes three subgenera (Fluitantes, Isolepis and Micranthae) and three sections in subgen. Isolepis. Subgen. Fluitantes, mat-forming perennial herbs typically bearing a single terminal spikelet, comprises nine species with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution except in Americas and Antarctica. Of these, I. fluitans includes infraspecific taxa from Africa–Europe and Asia–Australasia that are distinguished by the length of the involucral bract relative to the spikelet. This morphological character is also used in the key to subgen. Fluitantes that separates African–European and Asian–Australasian species. The overall morphological evidence conflicts with the species recognition of I. fluitans sensu lato and rather indicates the non-monophyly of I. fluitans, which we tested in a phylogenetic framework. Sequence data from three plastid DNA regions and nuclear ITS were analyzed using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference. We obtained moderately resolved phylogenies with the plastid DNA and ITS data sets. Although partially conflicting, both phylogenies rejected the monophyly of I. fluitans and instead revealed inter-continental pattern with infraspecific taxa showing close relationships with species in the subgenus within their geographic area. A revised key to species of subgenus Fluitantes is provided with the Asian–Australasian I. fluitans var. lenticularis resurrected to species rank as I. lenticularis. The phylogeny reveals a single dispersal event from Africa to Australasia, or vice versa in subgen. Fluitantes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank curators of the following herbaria for arranging loans from their institutions and/or for hospitality during our recent visits: E. Cameron and D. Ranatunga (AK), E. Kapinos, L. Csiba, and T. Fulcher (K); C. Ishii (Japan) for help with DNA sequencing. We would also like to thank P. de Lange (New Zealand), P. B. Pelser (CANU), K. Wilson (NSW), J. Li (Kunming), J. Murata, H. Ikeda, and T. Ohi-Toma (TI), and T. Hoshino (OKAY) for their continuous encouragements and supports. This research was partly supported by FY 2012 Researcher Exchange Program between JSPS and RSNZ to YI, JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 25440224 to NT, and the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) to AMM.

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  1. Yu Ito

    Present address: Plant Phylogenetics & Conservation Group, Centre for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223, People’s Republic of China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botanical Gardens, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 112-0001, Japan

    Yu Ito

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa

    Jan-Adriaan Viljoen & A. Muthama Muasya

  3. Tsukuba Botanical Garden, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, 305-0005, Japan

    Norio Tanaka

  4. Faculty of Biosphere-Geosphere Science, Okayama University of Science, Okayama, 700-0005, Japan

    Okihito Yano

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  1. Yu Ito
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  2. Jan-Adriaan Viljoen
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  4. Okihito Yano
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  5. A. Muthama Muasya
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Correspondence to Yu Ito.

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Handling editor: Pablo Vargas.

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606_2015_1253_MOESM1_ESM.docx

List of the GenBank accessions of Isolepis used in the phylogenetic analyses of the plastid DNA and nuclear ITS sequence data sets. Sequences generated in the present study are underlined and their voucher information is provided. (DOCX 65 kb)

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Ito, Y., Viljoen, JA., Tanaka, N. et al. Phylogeny of Isolepis (Cyperaceae) revisited: non-monophyletic nature of I. fluitans sensu lato and resurrection of I. lenticularis . Plant Syst Evol 302, 231–238 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-015-1253-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-015-1253-7

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