Evolution of Asparagus L. (Asparagaceae): Out-of-South-Africa and multiple origins of sexual dimorphism

Maria Vibe Norup, Gitte Petersen, Sandie Burrows, Yanis Bouchenak-Khelladi, Jim Leebens-Mack, J. Chris Pires, H. Peter Linder, Ole Seberg

    18 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    In the most comprehensive study to date we explored the phylogeny and evolution of the genus Asparagus, with emphasis on the southern African species. We included 211 accessions, representing 77 (92%) of the southern African, 6 (17%) of the tropical African, 10 (56%) of the strictly European and 6 (9%) of the Eurasian species. We analyzed DNA sequences from three plastid regions (trnH-. psbA, trnD-T, ndhF) and from the nuclear region phytochrome C (PHYC) with parsimony and maximum likelihood methods, and recovered a monophyletic Asparagus. The phylogeny conflicts with all previous infra-generic classifications. It has many strongly supported clades, corroborated by morphological characters, which may provide a basis for a revised taxonomy. Additionally, the phylogeny indicates that many of the current species delimitations are problematic. Using biogeographic analyses that account for phylogenetic uncertainty (S-DIVA) and take into account relative branch lengths (Lagrange) we confirm the origin of Asparagus in southern Africa, and find no evidence that the dispersal of Asparagus follow the Rand flora pattern. We find that all truly dioecious species of Asparagus share a common origin, but that sexual dimorphism has arisen independently several times.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalMolecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
    Volume92
    Pages (from-to)25-44
    Number of pages20
    ISSN1055-7903
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2015

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