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Petal micromorphology and its systematic implications in Rosaceae tribe Spiraeeae

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Abstract

We used scanning electron microscopy to describe petal epidermal cell patterns and evaluate their systematic implications for 22 representative taxa belonging to all 9 genera of the Rosaceae tribe Spiraeeae, including the monotypic Korean genus Pentactina. Characters of both the adaxial and abaxial surfaces of the petal epidermis, including cell type (papillose conical cells, papillose knobby rugose cells, or tabular rugose cells), anticlinal wall shape (sinuous or curved), and cuticle sculpturing (striate or rugose) were observed. Here, we present the first comprehensive analysis of the tribe based on petal micromorphological data in the context of a molecular phylogeny. We conclude that petal epidermal characters provide strong evidence in support of the independent taxonomic position of the Korean endemic genus Pentactina. Moreover, mapping epidermal characters on the molecular phylogeny indicates that some of the characters are synapomorphies for clades within the tribe. Thus, this study presents new perspectives for future work on the evolution of morphological characters in tribe Spiraeeae.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the directors of the herbaria E, F, KH, KHUS, and NY for permitting the examination of specimens through loans, as well as two anonymous reviewers and the associate editor, Dr. Antoine Nicolas, whose constructive comments and corrections improved the manuscript. We are also grateful to our colleagues, Drs. Moon, H.-K., Kong, M.-J., and Oak, M.-K. for their assistance in general and to Drs. Yang, S. and Park, I. for assisting with the molecular analysis. This study is supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Sciences, and Technology (grant number NRF-2018R1D1A1A09083715) to S.-P. Hong.

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  1. Department of Biology, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea

    Jun-Ho Song, Hee-Seon Roh & Suk-Pyo Hong

  2. Herbal Medicine Resources Research Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Naju, 58245, Republic of Korea

    Jun-Ho Song

  3. Office of Research Facilities, Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, 04310, Republic of Korea

    Hee-Seon Roh

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Appendix

Appendix

Appendix 1 Voucher specimens of tribe Spiraeeae examined in the present study.
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Appendix 2 Taxa, GenBank accession numbers, and vouchers for the sequences used in this study.
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Song, JH., Roh, HS. & Hong, SP. Petal micromorphology and its systematic implications in Rosaceae tribe Spiraeeae. Brittonia 72, 111–122 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12228-020-09609-w

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