Antitropical distribution of Lobelia species (Campanulaceae) between the Ryukyu Archipelago of Japan and Oceania as indicated by molecular data

2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goro Kokubugata ◽  
Koh Nakamura ◽  
Paul I. Forster ◽  
Yumiko Hirayama ◽  
Masatsugu Yokota

We tested the antitropical distribution of Lobelia loochooensis, endemic to the Ryukyu Archipelago of Japan, and its putative sister species of the same section Hypsela in Oceania (Australia and New Zealand). Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on cpDNA sequences were conducted for 41 Lobelia species of 11 sections including all the species of sect. Hypsela investigated in Asia and Malesia and 32 species of 16 allied genera of family Campanulaceae, because the genus Lobelia is known to be polyphyletic. In the result, L. loochooensis and an Australian endemic L. fluviatilis formed a clade, and this clade was sister to a clade of four New Zealand endemics: L. carens, L. fatiscens, L. fugax and L. ionantha. These two clades were nested in a clade with two other Australian congeners. We conclude that: (1) the lineage of L. loochooensis and the five Lobelia species occurring in Oceania demonstrate an antitropical distribution pattern; and (2) L. loochooensis has likely originated from a dispersal event from Australia to the Ryukyu Archipelago.


2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goro Kokubugata ◽  
Koh Nakamura ◽  
Paul I. Forster ◽  
Gary W. Wilson ◽  
Ailsa E. Holland ◽  
...  

Morphological comparisons and molecular phylogenetic analyses were conducted to resolve taxonomic confusion in Cassytha glabella and C. pubescens, both of which were first described from Australia and subsequently considered to be disjunctly distributed between Australia and the Ryukyu Archipelago of Japan. In the morphological comparisons, plants considered as C. pubescens in the Ryukyus differ from C. pubescens in Australia in the presence or absence of hairs on the petals, and those considered as C. glabella in the Ryukyus differ from the C. glabella in Australia in bract and peduncle morphology. The molecular analyses indicated that plants attributed to C. pubescens in the Ryukyus were not closely related to C. pubescens in Australia, and were nested in a clade of populations of a Pan-Western Pacific species C. filiformis. Plants attributed to C. glabella in the Ryukyus were distantly related to C. glabella in Australia. We concluded that plants considered as C. pubescens and C. glabella in the Ryukyus are to be respectively treated as C. filiformis and the Ryukyu endemic species C. pergracilis.



2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Fernández-López ◽  
M. Teresa Telleria ◽  
Margarita Dueñas ◽  
Mara Laguna-Castro ◽  
Klaus Schliep ◽  
...  

AbstractThe use of different sources of evidence has been recommended in order to conduct species delimitation analyses to solve taxonomic issues. In this study, we use a maximum likelihood framework to combine morphological and molecular traits to study the case of Xylodon australis (Hymenochaetales, Basidiomycota) using the locate.yeti function from the phytools R package. Xylodon australis has been considered a single species distributed across Australia, New Zealand and Patagonia. Multi-locus phylogenetic analyses were conducted to unmask the actual diversity under X. australis as well as the kinship relations respect their relatives. To assess the taxonomic position of each clade, locate.yeti function was used to locate in a molecular phylogeny the X. australis type material for which no molecular data was available using morphological continuous traits. Two different species were distinguished under the X. australis name, one from Australia–New Zealand and other from Patagonia. In addition, a close relationship with Xylodon lenis, a species from the South East of Asia, was confirmed for the Patagonian clade. We discuss the implications of our results for the biogeographical history of this genus and we evaluate the potential of this method to be used with historical collections for which molecular data is not available.



2021 ◽  
Vol 307 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pau Carnicero ◽  
Núria Garcia-Jacas ◽  
Llorenç Sáez ◽  
Theophanis Constantinidis ◽  
Mercè Galbany-Casals

AbstractThe eastern Mediterranean basin hosts a remarkably high plant diversity. Historical connections between currently isolated areas across the Aegean region and long-distance dispersal events have been invoked to explain current distribution patterns of species. According to most recent treatments, at least two Cymbalaria species occur in this area, Cymbalaria microcalyx and C. longipes. The former comprises several intraspecific taxa, treated at different ranks by different authors based on morphological data, evidencing the need of a taxonomic revision. Additionally, some populations of C. microcalyx show exclusive morphological characters that do not match any described taxon. Here, we aim to shed light on the systematics of eastern Mediterranean Cymbalaria and to propose a classification informed by various sources of evidence. We performed molecular phylogenetic analyses using ITS, 3’ETS, ndhF and rpl32-trnL sequences and estimated the ploidy level of some taxa performing relative genome size measures. Molecular data combined with morphology support the division of traditionally delimited C. microcalyx into C. acutiloba, C. microcalyx and C. minor, corresponding to well-delimited nrDNA lineages. Furthermore, we propose to combine C. microcalyx subsp. paradoxa at the species level. A group of specimens previously thought to belong to Cymbalaria microcalyx constitute a well-defined phylogenetic and morphological entity and are described here as a new species, Cymbalaria spetae. Cymbalaria longipes is non-monophyletic, but characterized by being glabrous and diploid, unlike other eastern species. The nrDNA data suggest at least two dispersals from the mainland to the Aegean Islands, potentially facilitated by marine regressions.



Phytotaxa ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 218 (2) ◽  
pp. 137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiyin Song ◽  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Guoxiang Liu ◽  
Zhengyu Hu

Coccoid green algae are abundant in subaerial habitats, but they are largely unexplored because of their morphological uniformity. Several new genus-level lineages have recently been described on the basis of molecular data. In this study, a coccoid green alga was isolated from surface soil in Zhoukou, Henan Province, China, and the cultured cells were described using light and electron microscopy. The ellipsoidal cell had smooth cell wall and parietal chloroplast with a pyrenoid surrounded by a starch envelope. Reproduction occurred by formation of 2‒16 autospores. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on the nuclear 18S rDNA gene and the chloroplast ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase gene (rbcL) indicated that this coccoid green alga represents a new lineage of the Watanabea clade (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta). Here, we describe this organism as a new genus and species, Polulichloris henanensis, gen. et sp. nov.



2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Yoshimasa Kumekawa ◽  
Haruka Fujimoto ◽  
Osamu Miura ◽  
Ryo Arakawa ◽  
Jun Yokoyama ◽  
...  

Abstract Harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) are soil animals with extremely low dispersal abilities that experienced allopatric differentiation. To clarify the morphological and phylogenetic differentiation of the endemic harvestman Zepedanulus ishikawai (Suzuki, 1971) (Laniatores: Epedanidae) in the southern part of the Ryukyu Archipelago, we conducted molecular phylogenetic analyses and divergence time estimates based on CO1 and 16S rRNA sequences of mtDNA, the 28S rRNA sequence of nrDNA, and the external morphology. A phylogenetic tree based on mtDNA sequences indicated that individuals of Z. ishikawai were monophyletic and were divided into clade I and clade II. This was supported by the nrDNA phylogenetic tree. Although clades I and II were distributed sympatrically on all three islands examined (Ishigaki, Iriomote, and Yonaguni), heterogeneity could not be detected by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism of nrDNA, indicating that clades I and II do not have a history of hybridisation. Also, several morphological characters differed significantly between individuals of clade I and clade II. The longstanding isolation of the southern Ryukyus from the surrounding islands enabled estimation of the original morphological characters of both clades of Z. ishikawai.



2021 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 763-779
Author(s):  
Chatmongkon Suwannapoom ◽  
L. Lee Grismer ◽  
Parinya Pawangkhanant ◽  
Mali Naiduangchan ◽  
Platon V. Yushchenko ◽  
...  

Abstract The integrated results of morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses confirmed the new species status of a recently discovered population of Ansonia from Suan Phueng District, Ratchaburi Province, Thailand. Ansonia karensp. nov. is separated from all other species of Ansonia by a unique combination of mensural, discrete morphological, and color pattern characteristics and is the sister species of A. thinthinae from Tanintharyi Division, Myanmar. This discovery fills a geographic hiatus of 350 km between it and A. kraensis from Ranong Province, Thailand. Ansonia karensp. nov. is the newest member of a long list of range-restricted endemics having been recently discovered in the northern Tenasserim Mountain region of western Thailand and continues to underscore the unexplored nature of this region and its need for conservation.



2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 398-412
Author(s):  
Marcelo R. Pace ◽  
Brenda Hernández-Hernández ◽  
Esteban M. Martínez Salas ◽  
Lúcia G. Lohmann ◽  
N. Ivalu Cacho

Background: Astianthus is a monospecific arborescent genus of Bignoniaceae that occur in the Pacific Coast of central Mexico and northern Central America, where it grows in dense populations along riversides. Its phylogenetic placement has remained controversial since Astianthus has unusual morphological characters such as a four-loculed ovary, and simple, pulvinate, verticillate leaves. Methods: Here we used three plastid markers ndhF, rbcL, and trnL-F, wood, and bark anatomical data to investigate the phylogenetic placement of Astianthus and assign it to one of Bignoniaceae’s main clades. Results: Our molecular phylogenetic analyses indicated that Astianthus belongs in tribe Tecomeae s.s., where other charismatic Neotropical Bignoniaceae genera such as Campsis and Tecoma are currently placed. Wood and bark anatomy support this placement, as Astianthus reunites a unique combination of features only known from members of Tecomeae s.s., such as storied axial parenchyma, the co-occurrence of homo- and heterocellular rays, septate fibers, and scattered phloem fibers in the bark. Conclusions: The placement of Astianthus within Tecomeae s.s. provides further support to previous proposals for the Neotropical origin of this Pantropical tribe.



2020 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-209
Author(s):  
Yutaro Oku ◽  
Kenji Iwao ◽  
Bert W. Hoeksema ◽  
Naoko Dewa ◽  
Hiroyuki Tachikawa ◽  
...  

Recent molecular phylogenetic analyses of scleractinian corals have resulted in the discovery of cryptic lineages. To understand species diversity in corals, these lineages need to be taxonomically defined. In the present study, we report the discovery of a distinct lineage obscured by the traditional morphological variation of Fungia fungites. This taxon exists as two distinct morphs: attached and unattached. Molecular phylogenetic analyses using mitochondrial COI and nuclear ITS markers as well as morphological comparisons were performed to clarify their phylogenetic relationships and taxonomic positions. Molecular data revealed that F. fungites consists of two genetically distinct clades (A and B). Clade A is sister to a lineage including Danafungia scruposa and Halomitra pileus, while clade B formed an independent lineage genetically distant from these three species. The two morphs were also found to be included in both clades, although the attached morph was predominantly found in clade A. Morphologically, both clades were statistically different in density of septal dentation, septal number, and septal teeth shape. These results indicate that F. fungites as presently recognized is actually a species complex including at least two species. After checking type specimens, we conclude that specimens in clade A represent true F. fungites with two morphs (unattached and attached) and that all of those in clade B represent an unknown species and genus comprising an unattached morph with only one exception. These findings suggest that more unrecognized taxa with hitherto unnoticed morphological differences can be present among scleractinian corals.



Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4683 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. LEE GRISMER ◽  
PERRY L., JR. WOOD ◽  
EVAN S. H. QUAH ◽  
SHAHRUL ANUAR ◽  
NIKOLAY A. POYARKOV ◽  
...  

Molecular phylogenetic analyses of the sister species Sphenomorphus stellatus and S. praesignis based on the mitochondrial genes 12S and 16S rRNA recover the former as paraphyletic with respect to the latter in that a specimen of S. stellatus from the type locality in Peninsular Malaysia is more closely related to S. praesignis than to Indochinese populations of S. stellatus. Furthermore, the phylogeny indicates that the Indochinese populations represent two species, thus resulting in four major lineages within this clade. These relationships are consistent with multivariate and univariate analyses of morphological and discrete color pattern data which statistically define and diagnose the four lineages and together with the molecular data, provide the foundation for robust, testable, species-level hypotheses. As such, S. stellatus is herein restricted to Peninsular Malaysia; S. annamiticus is resurrected for the circum-continental populations ranging through southeastern Thailand, southern Cambodia, and southern Vietnam; a new species—S. preylangensis sp. nov.—is described from an isolated mountain, Phnom Chi, from the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary in central Cambodia; and the taxonomy of S. praesignis remains unchanged. The description of S. preylangensis sp. nov. underscores the necessity to conserve this remnant of lowland evergreen rainforest in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary. 



Phytotaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 297 (2) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Sletten Bjorå ◽  
MARTE ELDEN ◽  
INGER NORDAL ◽  
ANNE K. BRYSTING ◽  
TESFAYE AWAS ◽  
...  

Sister group relations of Ethiopian species of Anthericum and Chlorophytum and variation patterns in the C. gallabatense and C. comosum complexes were studied using molecular phylogenetic analyses, morphometrics, and scanning electron microscopy of seed surfaces. Results indicate that molecular data largely support previous morphological conclusions, and that speciation has occurred in Ethiopia at least three times in Anthericum and repeatedly within different subclades of Chlorophytum. Areas particularly rich in endemic species are the lowland area around Bale Mountains in SE Ethiopia and in the Beninshangul Gumuz regional state in W Ethiopia near the border to Sudan. A new species, Chlorophytum mamillatum Elden & Nordal, is described, and the names C. tordense and C. tetraphyllum are re-instated.



Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document