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A molecular phylogenetic assessment of the advanced Asiatic and Malesian didymocarpoid Gesneriaceae with focus on non-monophyletic and monotypic genera

Plant Systematics and Evolution volume 292, pages 223–248 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

Based on a considerably enlarged sampling, a phylogenetic analysis of the largest group of didymocarpoid Gesneriaceae, the “advanced Asiatic and Malesian genera”, was performed, covering all but 3 of the 60 genera presently recognised in this group (20 of these, mostly from China, are monotypic). The results suggest that no fewer than 17 out of the 57 genera examined are poly- (or rarely para-)phyletic. Highly polyphyletic are Briggsia, Chirita, Henckelia and Raphiocarpus. Only a dozen of the non-monotypic genera (including the three species-richest genera, Cyrtandra, Aeschynanthus and Agalmyla) are confirmed as monophyletic entities, though some exhibit considerable genetic variation. For eight genera, no statement can be made, as only one (of two or several) species was included in the analysis. For a dozen of the (particularly Chinese) monotypic genera a close relationship (or possible congenerity) with other genera was found. In China, only Allostigma, Cathayanthe, Conandron and Metapetrocosmea seem to have no strong affinities to other genera, indicating that they represent phylogenetically isolated lineages or represent remnants of previously larger and earlier diversified groups. The present study forms the foundation for targeted molecular, morphological and phytogeographic studies of the polyphyletic and monotypic genera and particular of clades of genera with interrelations uncovered here for the first time.

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Notes

  1. Originally, the genus was established as monotypic with C. coccinea (Li 1982) and characterised by the presence of red, long-tubed flowers with a four-lobed upper lip and single-lobed lower lip. Burtt (2001b) transferred the generically misplaced Didymocarpus bonii to Calcareoboea, though it did not match any of the floral characters mentioned. In the same paper he also announced the transfer of Didymocarpus hancei to Calcareoboea, but this action was never taken.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to many people contributing at various levels to the successful completion of the work presented here. MM is particularly grateful to the director of the Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB, CAS), Prof Dr. D.Z. Li, and to Dr. L.M. Gao for technical and scientific support while staying in China. For providing DNA samples and sequences our thanks go to F. Wen, L.M. Gao, N.B. Ming, Y.M. Shui, Y.Z. Wang, D.W. Zhang, R. Kiew, M.A.M. Hairuf, Y.T. Leong, A.R. Rafidah, Y.T. Leong, L.C. Lu, J. Sang, C. Geri, P. Triboun, G. Kokubugata, B. Adhikari, D.J. Middleton, C. Puglisi, G. Argent and M. Mendum (†). Last but not least, thanks to the horticulturists at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), S. Scott and S. Barber, for expertly maintaining and curating the living Gesneriaceae collections at RBGE. We also would like to thank A. Chautems and an anonymous reviewer for critical comments on the manuscript. The work was carried out in cooperation between the University of Vienna (supported by the Austrian Science Fonds, FWF-Project no. P-13107-Bio) and the RBGE. RBGE is supported by the Scottish Government Rural and Environment Research and Analysis Directorate (RERAD). Fieldwork of MM was supported by the Davis Expedition Fund of the University of Edinburgh, Oleg Polunin Memorial Fund, Percy Sladen Memorial Fund, the Royal Horticultural Society, the RBGE Expedition Fund and the Science & Technology Innovation Program of Guangxi Academy of Sciences Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR, UK

    Michael Möller & Alan Forrest

  2. The Botanical Institute of Guangxi, Guilin, 541006, China

    Yi-Gang Wei

  3. Faculty Center of Botany, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030, Vienna, Austria

    Anton Weber

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  1. Michael Möller
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  2. Alan Forrest
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  3. Yi-Gang Wei
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  4. Anton Weber
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Correspondence to Michael Möller.

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Möller, M., Forrest, A., Wei, YG. et al. A molecular phylogenetic assessment of the advanced Asiatic and Malesian didymocarpoid Gesneriaceae with focus on non-monophyletic and monotypic genera. Plant Syst Evol 292, 223–248 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-010-0413-z

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Keywords

  • Bayesian inference analysis
  • ITS
  • Maximum parsimony
  • Molecular phylogeny
  • Monotypic genera
  • Old World didymocarpoid Gesneriaceae
  • Taxonomy
  • trnL-F intron-spacer