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Phylogenetic relationships, molecular taxonomy, biogeography of Betula, with emphasis on phylogenetic position of Iranian populations

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Abstract

Birch trees inhabiting the high-altitude Hyrcanian forest (the southern shores of the Caspian Sea of Iran and Azerbaijan) are classified in the EN (endangered) category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationship of Iranian populations, molecular taxonomy, and biogeography of the genus Betula in the world have been considered. Four remnant populations of Betula were selected from north and northwestern parts of Iran. The internal ITS and trnH-psbA intergenic spacer regions were sequenced. Based on the trnH-psbA and ITS, Iranian birch and white birch were placed in a clade, but based on trnH-psbA divided into two subclades. Phylogenetic trees based on ITS and trnH-psbA data did not completely support the morphological classification. Network analysis confirms a close relationship of B. pendula with B. platyphylla and B. papyrifera with B. humilis, and B. ermanii were in a group with the other tetraploid species of the subgenus Neurobetula. Divergence time analysis showed that about 75 Ma ago the Betula genus separated from the other genus of Betulaceae and then divided into two main clades in Oligocene. Our divergence analysis supports that two subgenera of Betulenta and Betulaster are the oldest subgenera in the genus Betula and they date back to Eocene. The ancestral reconstruction suggests that ancestors of the genus Betula originated from Southeast Asia.

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  • 25 January 2018

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Hamid Bina, Hamed Yousefzadeh & Mohammad Esmailpour

  2. Center for Biotechnology and Microbiology (CBM), University of Swat, Swat, KPK, Pakistan

    Syed Shujait Ali

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  1. Hamid Bina
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Correspondence to Hamed Yousefzadeh.

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This work was supported partly by the Tarbiat Modares University.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Data archiving statement

All used sequences in this study are available in Supplementary Data.

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Communicated by P. Ingvarsson

Author contributions

Hamed Yousefzadeh was the supervisor of this work and contributed to the data analyses and writing of the paper. Hamid Bina and Mohammad Esmailpour contributed to data collections and molecular lab work. Syed Shujait Ali assisted with the writing and English editing of this paper.

A correction to this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-018-1228-2.

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Bina, H., Yousefzadeh, H., Ali, S.S. et al. Phylogenetic relationships, molecular taxonomy, biogeography of Betula, with emphasis on phylogenetic position of Iranian populations. Tree Genetics & Genomes 12, 84 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-016-1037-4

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