Chemotaxonomy of Gonospermum and related genera

Aerial parts of Gonospermum fruticosum collected at several locations in the Canary Islands afforded, in addition to known compounds, four sesquiterpene alcohols related to costol and a sesquiterpene lactone, whose structures were established on the basis of their spectroscopic data and chemical transformations. Except for Gonospermum species collected on the island of Tenerife, those collected on the island of El Hierro and, in a previous study those from La Gomera, contain sesquiterpene lactones that can be used as chemotaxonomic markers confirming the inclusion of Gonospermum, Lugoa, and species of Tanacetum endemic to the Canary Islands in a genus that does not support the monophyly of Gonosperminae.     

Chromosome numbers in Hypericum and related genera

New or confirmatory chromosome counts for 16 taxa ofHypericum in Britain, one of northwest Africa, and 24 of North and Central America are reported. First records for any member of the genusVisma (n = 10) are also included. The counts are discussed with respect to those previously reported forHypericum and related genera. Some of this chromosomal information is incorporated in a diagram showing suggested evolutionary trends withinHypericum. There appears to be a descending series of basic numbers (x = 12, 10, 9, 8, 7), of which all but the last have been recorded in polyploid, as well as diploid, form. Observations of chromosome morphology suggest thatHypericum is cytologically relatively unspecialized. Studies of chromosome morphology, therefore, are not likely to yield much information about the evolutionary history of the genus. It is suggested that the basic number forAllanblackia andPentadesma is 7 or 14, whereas inCalophyllum andMesua it is probably 8 or 16. Known gametic chromosome numbers inMammea (n = 16, 18) andGarcinia (n = 24, ca. 27, ca. 29, ca. 38, ca. 40, and 48) do not indicate an obvious basic number for these genera, although x = 8, 9, and 16 might be involved. Ring-formation of theOenothera-type, possibly indicative of structural hybridity, is reported for the first time inHypericum mitchellianum Rydb., a close relative ofHypericum punctatum Lam., which was previously shown to possess this anomalous chromo some condition.     

Mitochondrial phylogeny of Locustella and related genera

We used maximum likelihood analysis of complete mitochondrial ND2 sequences (1041 bp) to clarify the taxonomy and relationships of various species and genera of grass and bush warblers. The tree revealed two clades of grass and bush warblers. One clade was comprised of all four western Palearctic Locustella and two species of Asian Bradypterus . The other clade included five eastern Palearctic Locustella (including the distinctive Sakhalin warbler Locustella amnicola ) and the marsh grassbird Megalurus pryeri . African Bradypterus and Australian little grassbird Megalurus gramineus were distantly related to their Asian congeners. Therefore, current taxonomy of these genera does not reflect their evolutionary history and needs revision. It is proposed that a phylogenetic analysis of morphology and ecological preferences would show that the current taxonomy of grass and bush warblers reflects species' habitat preferences and morphology related to locomotion and foraging in their habitats, rather than their shared ancestry. Distinct clades were found in grasshopper warbler Locustella naevia and Pallas's grasshopper warbler L. certhiola . Detailed phylogeographic studies are needed to elucidate the species status of the clades within these two species.     

Pollen morphology inParis and its related genera

Pollen grains ofParis, Medeola, andScoliopus have been examined with light, scanning electron, and transmission electron microscopies.P. quadrifolia L.,P. verticillata Bieb.,P. delavayi Franch. andP. polyphylla Smith have monosulcate pollen characterized by psilate, foveolate or reticulate exine sculpture. In contrast to the former species,P. japonica (Fr. et Sav.) Franch. andP. tetraphylla A. Gray have monosulcate pollen with gemmate (rarely rugulate) exine.Medeola has monosulcate pollen with reticulate exine that is distinct from that ofParis. Scoliopus has monosulcate pollen characterized by a peculiar reticulate exine pattern. The palynological evidence suggests thatParis andTrillium are closely related to each other, andMedeola andScoliopus should be separated fromParis andTrillium.     

Molecular phylogeny of Trametes and related genera

Mitochondrial small subunit ribosomal DNAs were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed for Trametes and related genera of Ryvarden's Trametes group. Parsimony and distance analyses indicated that most of trimitic genera with white rotting habit of the Trametes group clustered within a single clade, suggesting that they may have originated from a common ancestor. The phylogenetic position and generic placement of Trametes consors was uncertain as yet. Trametes trogii grouped with Coriolopsis gallica and indicated that color of the basidiocarp is a poor character at generic level. Nucleotide differences between Daedaleopsis confragosa and D. tricolor were quite few and both species closely grouped together in a same clade, thus supporting that D. tricolor might be an ecotype of D. confragosa.     

Phylogenetic relatedness among Spirulina and related cyanobacterial genera

Molecular polymorphisms in a selected set of Spirulina and related genera using random primers based on repetitive sequences along with biochemical parameters, led to the unambiguous differentiation of the strains and understanding of their phylogenetic relationships. A combination of 10 sets of dual primers generated 100% distinct polymorphic bands ranging from 150 to 5,000 bp. Total number of fragments ranged from 68 to 159 whereas polymorphic bands ranged from 13 to 32 for different Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) reactions. Spirulina platensis strains, Sp-2 and Sp-3, possessed quite comparable chlorophyll and protein content besides having maximum similarity coefficient (0.88) between them on the basis of RAPD reactions, thus proved to be closely related. Sp-8 (Spirulina from Loktak Lake) having the highest protein content and protein: chlorophyll ratio, showed close similarity with the mutant of Spirulina platensis (Sp-7) on the basis of RAPD analysis. Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT) ranking for the biochemical parameters were quite closer for the strains of Spirulina and Arthrospira. This is also supported by the cluster analysis based on RAPD data, as the strains of Spirulina and Arthrospira are placed together in the same subcluster in the dendrogram. The comparative closeness among the strains of Lyngbya, Oscillatoria and Phormidium is reflected by the low content of protein and protein: chlorophyll ratio, which is also supported by the dendrogram based upon RAPD; thus, exhibiting the usefulness of multiplex RAPD along with biochemical parameters for the phylogenetic analysis of Spirulina and related genera.     

Molecular phylogeny of Hypoxylon and closely related genera

Phylogenetic relationships were inferred among several xylariaceous genera with Nodulisporium or nodulisporium-like anamorphs based on the analyses of beta-tubulin and alpha-actin sequences. One hundred nine cultures and three specimens of 83 representatives of these four genera were included in the study. Biscogniauxia taxa formed a well supported clade that was basal to the other taxa, while taxa of Hypoxylon and Daldinia comprised a large monophyletic group that contained two subclades. The first subclade encompassed Hypoxylon sect. Annulata and is accepted here as the new genus Annulohypoxylon. The second subclade contained taxa of Hypoxylon sect. Hypoxylon and Daldinia. Hypoxylon is restricted to include only those taxa in sect. Hypoxylon. Thirty-three epithets are made in Annulohypoxylon. Hypoxylon cohaerens var. microsporum is raised to the species level and accepted as A. minutellum. Hypoxylon polyporoideum is recognized as distinct from H. crocopeplum. Hypoxylon placentiforme is accepted as Daldinia placentiformis.     

Phylogenetic relationships between Bryum and supposedly closely related genera

Abstract

The phylogeny of the genus Bryum was studied using cladistic analyses under the maximum parsimony criterion of evolution of anatomical and morphological characters. Three analyses were made with 32 Bryum species plus 20 species from genera supposedly closely related to Bryum, and with Amblyodon dealbatus (Sw. ex Hedw.) Bruch & Schimp., Meesia uliginosa Hedw., and Leptostomum macrocarpum (Hedw.) Bach. Pyl., as outgroups. It is here suggested that under earlier systematic concepts the genus Bryum is paraphyletic. A clade with Bryum billarderi Schwägr., B. capillare Hedw., B. donianum Grev., B. russulum Broth. & Geh., Rhodobryum giganteum (Schwägr.) Paris, and R. keniae (Müll. Hal.) Broth. are circumscribed by spathulate stem leaves that are crowded in the stem apex, suggesting that the rosulate species of Bryum are more closely related to Rhodobryum than to the rest of Bryum. Stem leaf costae without stereids and spores that mature in the winter are synapomorphies for a clade with Anomobryum julaceum (P. Gaertn. et al.) Schimp. and Bryum argenteum (Hedw.). The tropical species B. cellulare Hook. and B. flaccum Wilson ex Mitt. appear in a clade with Plagiobryum zieri (Dicks. ex Hedw.) Lindb. and Synthetodontium pringlei Cardot. In one analysis, B. limbatum Müll. Hal., Epipterygium tozeri (Grev.) Lindb., Leptobryum pyriforme (Hedw.) Wilson, and Roellia roellii (Broth. ex Röll) H.A. Crum came out in a clade with Mniobryum atropurpureum (Wahlenb.) I. Hagen, Mnium hornum Hedw., Pohlia cruda (Hedw.) Lindb., P. longicollis (Hedw.) Lindb., and Pseudopohlia didymodontia (Mitt.) A.L.Andrews. It is here suggested that gametophytic features, such as the orientation and anatomy of the stem leaves and the appearance of vegetative propagules, are important for the internal relationships within the studied ingroup, whereas characters related to the sporophyte, especially those of the peristome, may obscure phylogenetic relationships. Most of the subgenera and the sections of Bryum, as defined by earlier authors, appear to be paraphyletic. However, due to the low stability of most clades it is suggested that analyses including anatomical, morphological, and molecular data are needed.     

Numerical classification of species of Vibrio and related genera

Data from 1091 strains of the family Vibrionaceae collected in five different studies have been merged into a single data matrix and analysed in a taxonomic study. A set of 142 characters was selected to compare these data. Seventy-nine characters were common to all studies, but data for the other 63 characters were incomplete. Cultures of 90 strains, examined in more than one of the original studies, were used to estimate test error and inter-study variability. The data from these replicate strains also allowed the problem of merging data from different studies to be assessed. Taxonomic resemblance was estimated on the basis of 111 characters using the S_SM coefficient and UPGMA clustering. A taxonomic analysis based on 999 strains, which included most of the major species of the family Vibrionaceae, gave 59 clusters and 44 unclustered strains. A table of properties of these phenons was produced. The results showed that data obtained from studies carried out at different times and in different locations, but using standard techniques, could be combined and used to provide useful taxonomic information.     

Biochemical systematics and evolution ofzea,tripsacum and related genera

Antibody systems were produced in rabbits by immunization with antigen systems from seed ofZea mays, Z. mexicana andTripsacum dactyloides. Antigen systems were generally ranked in the following order using Zeaantibody systems: Zea > Tripsacum > Elyonurus ≈ Bothriochloa > Coix ≈ Manisuris > Andro-pogon ? Triticum. Tripsacum antibody systems also ranked these antigen systems in a similar order except that Tripsacum > Zea, and Manisuris ≈ Bothriochloa ≈ Elyonurus. Some Tripsacum species produced anomalous results. Serology suggests that Zea and Tripsacum should be placed together in the subtribe Tripsacinae of the tribe Andropogoneae: the tribe Maydeae is probably an unnatural assemblage. Tripsacum and Zea have probably evolved from ancestors with affinities to the subtribes Rottboellinae and Bothriochloeae of the tribe Andropogoneae. The high degree of serological correspondence shown by Elyonurus to Zea suggests a close common ancestry, but Manisuris appears no more similar to Tripsacum than do other genera of the Rottboellinae and Bothriochloeae. By polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, no differences were found between maize and teosinte from Mexico and north Guatemala. Teosinte from south Guatemala consistently lacked bands present in both maize and Mexican teosinte but shared no greater similarity to Tripsacum and cannot therefore be considered as tripsacoid. The high degree of band homology between maize and Mexican teosinte supports a parental relationship and it is suggested that Mexican teosinte represents the germ plasm from which maize was domesticated. Neither electro-phoretic nor serological results supported the hypothesized hybrid (viz. Zea x Manisuris) origin of Tripsacum.     

Molecular phylogenetics of Vanda and related genera (Orchidaceae)

The genus Vanda and its affiliated taxa are a diverse group of horticulturally important species of orchids occurring mainly in South‐East Asia, for which generic limits are poorly defined. Here, we present a molecular study using sequence data from three plastid DNA regions. It is shown that Vanda s.l. forms a clade containing approximately 73 species, including the previously accepted genera Ascocentrum, Euanthe, Christensonia, Neofinetia and Trudelia, and the species Aerides flabellata. Resolution of the phylogenetic relationships of species in Vanda s.l. is relatively poor, but existing morphological classifications for Vanda are incongruent with the results produced. Some novel species relationships are revealed, and a new morphological sectional classification is proposed based on support for these groupings and corresponding morphological characters shared by taxa and their geographical distributions. The putative occurrence of multiple pollination syndromes in this group of taxa, combined with complex biogeographical history of the South‐East Asian region, is discussed in the context of these results. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 173 , 549–572.     

Distinction of species in Aureobasidium and related genera by PCR-ribotyping

Taxonomic markers for differentiation of the anamorph genera Aureobasidium, Hormonema and Kabatiella were developed using PCR-ribotyping with the primers 5.8S-R and LR7 for amplification and the restriction enzymes Alul, DdeI, Hhal, MspI and RsaI for digestion. Aureobasidium and Hormonema are optimally differentiated with MspI; DdeI is particularly useful to distinguish aureobasidium, Kabatiella and Selenophoma. Relationships of the anamorph genera Aureobasidium, Hormoneng and Kabatiella with the teleomorph genera Pringsheimia and Dothiora are discussed.     

Evolution of mushroom mitochondrial DNA:Suillus and related genera

Summary Mapping studies were performed with 18 cloned probes on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 15 species ofSuillus and four species from three related genera of fleshy pore mushrooms (Boletaceae). WithinSuillus, mtDNAs vary in size from 36 to 121 kb, differ in gene order by only one major rearrangement, and have diverged in nucleotide sequence within the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene region by up to 2.9%. Three additional gene orders exist in related genera. Two of the three can be transformed into the predominantSuillus order by either one or two rearrangements. The fourth requires two to three rearrangements to be converted to any of the others. The minimum estimates of nucleotide divergence within the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene region vary from 8.3% to 11% in comparisons betweenSuillus and these related species. Trees based on restriction-site and size differences within the mitochondrial ribosomal RNA genes were consistent with the hypothesized sequence of genome rearrangements and provide suggestive evidence for a major expansion of the mitochondrial genome withinSuillus. Structural and sequence changes in mtDNA provided information about phylogenetic relationships within the Boletaceae.     

Distribution of Bs1 retrotransposons in Zea and related genera

Summary Thirty-eight accessions from Zea and 20 accessions from related genera were probed for the presence of Bs1, a retrotransposon originally found in maize. All maize and teosinte plants tested show the presence of Bs1 in one to five densely hybridizing bands. The mean copy numbers of Bs1 elements among the maize and teosinte accessions were similar: 2.92 and 3.25, respectively, with no large differences between any subgroups. Most exotic maize samples exhibited two common bands of 7.8 kb and 4.7 kb. Section Zea teosintes (but not teosintes of section Luxuriantes) also show the presence of a common band of the same size as the smaller common band in maize. At reduced stringency, Tripsacum dactyloides exhibited a single hybridizing band at 6.9 kb. Results argue for the evolution of maize from a mexicana or parviglumis teosinte, and the evolution of the Bs1 element within the tribe Andropogoneae. Additionally, recombinant inbred lines were probed for the presence of Bs1, in order to map the chromosomal locations of Bs1 elements in four different maize lines. Two of the recombinant inbred parental lines had an element (Bs1-F) on chromosome 5, while the other two lines had an element (Bs1-S) on chromosome 8. Restriction site polymorphisms have apparently arisen in the vicinity of Bs1-S since its insertion. Segregation analysis of other lines was also performed; the data indicate that Bs1 has the distribution expected of a transposable element, different locations in different lines, and not that of a fixed gene locus. However, the common bands in the Zea mays lines and the recombinant inbred data imply that Bs1 is not highly mobile.     

An approximation to the phylogeny of Sclerotinia and related genera

Phylogenies are constructed based on nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) DNA sequences from an ingroup consisting of 50 isolates representing 24 species of the discomycete family Sclerotiniaceae and an outgroup consisting of five related taxa of the same family. The ingroup taxa are: three Botrytis spp., two Botryotinia spp., one Ciborinia sp., one Dumontinia sp., one Grovesinia sp., six Myriosclerotinia spp., nine Sclerotinia spp. and one Sclerotium sp. The outgroup taxa are: one Ciboria sp., one Encoelia sp. and three Monilinia spp. The type species is included for all taxa except for Ciborinia and Encoelia. Several of the included taxa are important plant pathogens. The resulting phytogenies are discussed with regard to morphology, life history and taxonomy. A suspected relationship between Sclerotinia borealis and S. tetraspora , and Myriosclerotinia is rejected, while a suspected relationship between Ciborinia ciborium and Myriosclerotinia is strongly supported. Sclerotinia ulmariae , previously synonymized with Dumontinia tuberosa , is reinstated as an independent species of Dumontinia. Two new combinations, Dumontinia ulmariae and Myriosclerotinia ciborium , are proposed. The imperfectly known taxon Sclerotium cepivorum seems most closely related to Dumontinia. We conclude that Dumontinia , and Myriosclerotinia , as currently conceived, are monophyletic, and that Botryotinia along with Botrytis anamorphs probably also constitute a monophyletic lineage. The genus Sclerotinia is probably polyphyletic and characterized by symplesiomorphies rather than synapomorphies. Two putatively new taxa, Sclerotinia sp. 1, and Sclerotinia sp.2 are most closely related to S. minor, S. sclerotiorum and S. trifoliorum , and to S. borealis , respectively.