| Abstract Detail
Systematics Roman, Maria Jose [1], Burleigh, J Gordon [1], Scherson, Rosa [2]. Tecophilaeaceae in Chile: A target sequencing study of a highly endemic geophyte clade. Tecophilaeaceae is a small geophyte family (Monocot, Asparagales), with eight genera and about 27 species found in California, Africa, and Chile. The three Tecophilaeaceae genera in Chile, Conanthera Ruiz & Pav., Tecophilaea Bertero ex Colla, and Zephyra D. Don., form a well-supported clade, and are all endemic, with many of their species rare and endangered. Taxonomy in this clade has been controversial, and the number of species varies among revisions. A phylogenetic study (Buerki et al., 2013) proposed to fuse Zephyra and Tecophilaea, since the first appeared nested within the latter; however, this study included samples from only one Zephyra species. The number of species within Conanthera also remains contentious. Some authors consider Conanthera sabulosa Ravenna to be a synonym of Conanthera campanulata Lindl; however, Buerki (2013) did not find support for these two species as a clade. Resolving the taxonomy within the Chilean Tecophilaeaceae group is important for conservation since all its species are narrow endemics, and clear taxonomic entities are needed to prioritize conservation efforts. In this study, we investigated the phylogeny of the Chilean Tecophilaeaceae using a targeted capture dataset generated with the GoFlag angiosperm 408 probe set. This is the first molecular phylogenetics study to include all species in the Chilean clade. We performed both maximum likelihood analyses on a concatenated supermatrix as well as ASTRAL species tree analyses. Our results strongly support the monophyly of Conanthera, which is made up of major clades consisting of C. bifolia + C. parvula + C. trimaculata and C. campanulata + C. sabulosa + C. urceolata. C. sabulosa appears more closely related to C. urceolata than C. campanulata, suggesting that C. sabulosa is not a synonym. Still the relationships within the two major clades in Conanthera are complex, indicating possible interspecific gene flow, which also is consistent with the many intermediate morphs observed in the field. Zephyra appears nested within Tecophilaea with high support, suggesting Tecophilaea is not a clade. We discuss the evolutionary and taxonomic implications of this phylogenetic work.
1 - University of Florida, Department of Biology, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
2 - Departamento de Silvicultura y Conservación de la Naturaleza, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Conservación de la Naturaleza, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
Keywords:
Chilean Tecophilaeaceae
systematics
Taxonomy .
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Number: SYST I010
Abstract ID:614
Candidate for Awards:None |
