Phylogeny of the ingoid clade (Caesalpinioideae, Fabaceae), based on nuclear and plastid data

We investigated generic relationships in the ingoid clade (Fabaceae) (sensu Koenen & al. 2020a), with main focus on genera with a taxonomic history in Calliandra s.l. of the tribe Ingeae (i.e. Afrocalliandra, Calliandra s.s., Sanjappa, Thailentadopsis, Viguieranthus, Zapoteca), and three genera of the tribe Acacieae (i.e., Acacia, Acaciella, Senegalia). The nuclear ribosomal ETS and ITS, and the plastid matK, trnL-trnF and ycf1 DNA-regions were analysed for 246 representatives from 36 genera using maximum likelihood as implemented in IQ-tree. The results show an Ingeae-Acacia clade within the ingoid clade, resolved in three major clades. Clade 1 (Calliandra s.s. and Afrocalliandra) is sister to clades 2 and 3. Clade 2 comprises Faidherbia, Sanjappa, Thailentadopsis, Viguieranthus and Zapoteca. Clade 3 comprises the remaining genera of the Ingeae, plus Acacia. The ingoid genus Senegalia is excluded from the Ingeae-Acacia clade. Acaciella is sister to the remaining ingoid clade when nuclear ribosomal data is included in the analyses, but included in the Ingeae-Acacia clade based on plastid data. Acacia and perhaps also Acaciella are thus nested within Ingeae. Species traditionally referred to Calliandra (Calliandra s.l.) are resolved in two clades, and the Calliandra-pod has apparently evolved independently several times.

Generic Relationships between Field Uses and Their Geographical Characteristics in Mountain-Area Dairy Cattle Farms

In mountain farms, challenges posed by the degree of land slope, altitude and harsh climate further compound multiple other possible constraints, particularly in relation to the distance of the farm from the farmstead. This study focused on how mountain-area dairy farmers factor the geographical characteristics of their fields into their field-use decisions. To that end, we surveyed 72 farmers who farm the traditional Salers breed of cattle and 28 specialised dairy system farmers in the central Massif region, France. Information was collected on the uses and geographical characteristics of all grassland fields (n = 2341) throughout the entire outdoor grazing season, without identifying farmers’ rationales for their field-use decisions. Field-use classes were constructed for the traditional Salers system per group of fields (grazed-only, cut-only, grazed-and-cut) and then used to classify fields in the specialized dairy system. The geographical characteristics, which were associated afterwards, were significantly different between the field groups and between field-use classes. Grazed-only fields were found to be more sloping and cut-only fields were smaller and further from the farmstead. Distance/area combinations were different according to field use (animal category, earliness of first cut, grazing and cutting sequence) and were decisive for all field-use classes. This study allowed the identification of generic relationships between field uses and their geographical characteristics in mountain-area dairy cattle farms.

The plastome sequence of Bactris gasipaes and evolutionary analysis in tribe Cocoseae (Arecaceae)

The family Arecaceae is distributed throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Among the five subfamilies, Arecoideae is the most species-rich and still contains some ambiguous inter-generic relationships, such as those within subtribes Attaleinae and Bactridineae. The hypervariable regions of plastid genomes (plastomes) are interesting tools to clarify unresolved phylogenetic relationships. We sequenced and characterized the plastome of Bactris gasipaes (Bactridinae) and compared it with eight species from the three Cocoseae sub-tribes (Attaleinae, Bactridinae, and Elaeidinae) to perform comparative analysis and to identify hypervariable regions. The Bactris gasipaes plastome has 156,646 bp, with 113 unique genes. Among them, four genes have an alternative start codon (cemA, rps19, rpl2, and ndhD). Plastomes are highly conserved within tribe Cocoseae: 97.3% identity, length variation of ~2 kb, and a single ~4.5 kb inversion in Astrocaryum plastomes. The LSC/IR and IR/SSC junctions vary among the subtribes: in Bactridinae and Elaeidinae the rps19 gene is completely contained in the IR region; in the subtribe Attaleinae the rps19 gene is only partially contained in the IRs. The hypervariable regions selected according to sequence variation (SV%) and frequency of parsimony informative sites (PIS%) revealed plastome regions with great potential for molecular analysis. The ten regions with greatest SV% showed higher variation than the plastid molecular markers commonly used for phylogenetic analysis in palms. The phylogenetic trees based on the plastomes and the hypervariable regions (SV%) datasets had well-resolved relationships, with consistent topologies within tribe Cocoseae, and confirm the monophyly of the subtribes Bactridinae and Attaleinae.

Systematic Placement of the Enigmatic Southeast Asian Genus Paralamium and an Updated Phylogeny of Tribe Pogostemoneae (Lamiaceae Subfamily Lamioideae)

Paralamium (Lamiaceae) is a monotypic genus within the subfamily Lamioideae and has a sporadic distribution in subtropical mountains of southeast Asia. Although recent studies have greatly improved our understanding of generic relationships within Lamioideae, the second most species-rich subfamily of Lamiaceae, the systematic position of Paralamium within the subfamily remains unclear. In this study, we investigate the phylogenetic placement of the genus using three datasets: (1) a 69,276 bp plastome alignment of Lamiaceae; (2) a five chloroplast DNA region dataset of tribe Pogostemoneae, and (3) a nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region dataset of Pogostemoneae. These analyses demonstrate that Paralamium is a member of Pogostemoneae and sister to the monotypic genus Craniotome. In addition, generic-level phylogenetic relationships within Pogostemoneae are also discussed, and a dichotomous key for genera within Pogostemoneae is provided.

Review of Uvarovistia (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae; Tettigoniinae): genetic data indicate a new cryptic species, Uvarovistia munzurensis sp.n.

Genus Uvarovistia ranged along the Zagros Mountain belt. We presented first genetic data from three species of the genus and a taxonomic rectification indicated by these data. Sequences of three mitochondrial and two nuclear gene segments were obtained from different populations. Phylogenetic and automatic species delimitation analyses consistently suggested three distinct phylogroups as U. zebra, U. satunini and the third a new species, U. munzurensis Uluar & Yahyaoğlu sp. n. Time estimation and population genetic analyses supported consistent results. The following conclusions were reached: (i) five species in the genus constitute two distinct species groups named as Zebra Group and Satunini Group, (ii) data suggest intra generic relationships as U. zebra + ((U. satunini + U. munzurensis) + (U. bakhtiara +U. iraka)), (iii) molecular clock estimations indicated a deep divergence time and no gene flow between U. satunini and U. munzurensis, (iv) although these two species cannot be clearly distinguished by morphology, range of U. munzurensis seems to be isolated from other by lowlands of Euphrates Valley, and (v) age of generic ancestor is around five million years a time corresponding to connection of Anatolian and Zagros plates, and genus radiated along Zagros belt after dispersal of ancestral stock here.

Generic relationships of New World Jerusalem crickets (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatoidea:Stenopelmatinae), including all known species of Stenopelmatus

The New World Jerusalem crickets currently consist of 4 genera: Stenopelmatus Burmeister, 1838, with 33 named entities; Ammopelmatus Tinkham, 1965, with 2 described species; Viscainopelmatus Tinkham, 1970, with 1 described species, and Stenopelmatopterus Gorochov, 1988, with 3 described species. We redefine the generic boundaries of these 4 genera, synonymize Stenopelmatopterus under Stenopelmatus, and synonymize Viscainopelmatus under Ammopelmatus. We then discuss, and illustrate, all the types of the species of Stenopelmatus, all of which only occur south of the United States’ border. We recognize as valid the following 5 described Mexican and Central American species: S. ater, S. piceiventris, S. sartorianus, S. talpa, and S. typhlops. We declare the following 13 described Mexican and Central American Stenopelmatus taxa as nomen dubium: S. calcaratus, S. erythromelus, S. guatemalae, S. histrio, S. lessonae, S. lycosoides, S. mexicanus, S. minor, S. nieti, S. sallei, S. sumichrasti, S. toltecus, and S. vicinus. We designate a neotype for S. talpa and lectotypes for S. ater, S. guatemalae, S. histrio, S. lessonae, S. mexicanus, S. minor, S. nieti, S. sallei, S. sumichrasti, and S. toltecus. We assign a type locality for S. piceiventris. We concur with the previous synonymy of S. politus under S. sartorianus. We describe 14 new species of Stenopelmatus from Mexico, Honduras and Ecuador, based on a combination of adult morphology, DNA, calling song drumming pattern, distribution, and karyotype: S. chiapas sp. nov., S. cusuco sp. nov., S. diezmilpies sp. nov., S. durango sp. nov., S. ecuadorensis sp. nov., S. faulkneri sp. nov., S. honduras sp. nov., S. hondurasito sp. nov., S. mineraldelmonte sp. nov., S. nuevoleon sp. nov., S. perote sp. nov., S. saltillo sp. nov., S. sanfelipe sp. nov., and S. zimapan sp. nov. We transfer the following 16 described United States taxa, plus S. cephalotes from the “west coast of North America”, from Stenopelmatus to Ammopelmatus: A. cahuilaensis, A. californicus, A. cephalotes, A. fasciatus, A. fuscus, A. hydrocephalus, A. intermedius, A. irregularis, A. longispinus, A. mescaleroensis, A. monahansensis, A. navajo, A. nigrocapitatus, A. oculatus, A. pictus, and A. terrenus, along with the Mexican taxon A. comanchus: these species will be discussed in a subsequent paper (Weissman et al. in prep). We believe that all new Jerusalem cricket species descriptions should include, at a minimum, calling drum (most important) and DNA information.

Laticifers in Sapindaceae: Structure, Evolution and Phylogenetic Importance

Laticifer occurrence and structure are poorly known in Sapindaceae. Occurrence is likely underestimated owing to the low production of latex in most species. We investigated 67 species from 23 genera of Sapindaceae to verify laticifer occurrence and their structural, developmental and chemical features, as well as their evolutionary history in the family. Shoots were collected from herbarium and fresh specimens for histological analyses. Three characters derived from laticifer features were coded and their ancestral states reconstructed through Bayesian stochastic mapping and maximum likelihood estimation. Only articulated non-anastomosing laticifers were found in Sapindaceae. Laticifers differentiate early during shoot development and are found in the cortex, phloem, and pith. Latex is mostly composed of lipids. Callose and suberin were detected in laticifer cell walls in some genera. Reconstruction of laticifer ancestral states showed that laticifers are present in most clades of Sapindaceae with some reversals. Callose in the laticifer cell wall was found exclusively in Serjania and Paullinia (tribe Paullinieae), a character regarded as independently derived. Occurrence of laticifers in Sapindaceae is broader than previously reported. Articulated non-anastomosing laticifers had five independent origins in Sapindaceae with some secondary losses, occurring in five out of six genera of Paullinieae and 10 other genera outside Paullinieae. Particularly, callose in the laticifer cell wall evolved independently twice in the family, and its occurrence may be interpreted as a key-innovation that promoted the diversification of Paullinia and Serjania. Our study suggests that laticifer characters may be useful in understanding the generic relationships within the family.

A New Phylogenetic Hypothesis for Cereinae (Cactaceae) Points to a Monophyletic Subtribe

Cereinae comprises 14 genera distributed in Neotropical dry forest formations such as in the Caatingas of northeastern Brazil or in rocky outcrops in the north of southeastern Brazil. Historically, the taxonomy of the group has been very controversial, especially regarding generic circumscriptions, and phylogenetic relationships within the group are still poorly understood. To investigate the delimitation of thesubtribe and infra-subtribal relationships, we performed a phylogenetic analysis including 50 taxa representing 13 genera using one nuclear (PhyC) and four cpDNA (petL-psbE, trnL-trnT, trnS-trnG, and rpl16) regions. Our results show a monophyletic Cereinae with high support in Bayesian, maximum parsimony, and maximum likelihood analyses based on combined matrices. Although our results expand the knowledge of generic relationships, we emphasize the need for further molecular phylogenetic studies combined with ecological evidence to clarify relationshipsat the more inclusive nodes of the subtribe.