| Institution: | 1.Africa & Madagascar Department,Missouri Botanical Garden,St. Louis,USA;2.Institut de Systématique, évolution et Biodiversité (UMR 7205 – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, école Pratique des Hautres études),Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle,Paris Cedex 05,France;3.Mécanismes Adaptatifs et évolution (UMR 7179 – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle),Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle,Paris Cedex 05,France;4.Cullman Program for Molecular Systematics,The New York Botanical Garden,Bronx,USA;5.Plant Systematic and Ecology Laboratory, Higher Teacher Training College,University of Yaoundé I,Yaoundé,Cameroon;6.Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology,Harvard university,Cambridge,USA;7.AMAP Lab, IRD, CNRS, INRA,Université Montpellier,Montpellier,France;8.Herbarium et Bibliothèque de Botanique africaine,Université Libre de Bruxelles,Brussels,Belgium;9.Botanic Garden Meise, Domein van Bouchout,Meise,Belgium |
| Abstract: | Recent molecular studies have suggested the monophyly of Bolusiella, a small orchid genus comprising five species and one subspecies from Continental Africa, but sampling has been limited. Using the species delimitation presented in the recent taxonomic revision of the genus, this study aimed to confirm the monophyly of Bolusiella and assess the interspecific relationships using a comprehensive sampling and various analytical methods. DNA sequences of one nuclear spacer region (ITS-1) and five plastid regions (matK, rps16, trnL–trnF, trnC–petN, and ycf1) from 20 specimens representing all five species of the genus were analyzed using static homology, dynamic homology, and Bayesian methods. The monophyly of both the genus Bolusiella and each of its five species was confirmed, corroborating the previously published taxonomic revision. The use of dynamic homology methods was not conclusive for this particular group. The results of the total evidence analysis (combining all six sequence regions) using the dynamic homology approach yielded a slightly different hypothesis regarding interspecific relationships (namely the exchange of B. talbotii and Bolusiella iridifolia as the earliest diverging lineage), probably because the nodes in question are supported by a small subset of conflicting characters, compared to the hypotheses resulting from the static homology and Bayesian methods, which are congruent with the results of previous studies. |
